


Draco Malfoy Must Die

by Holz9364



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-05
Updated: 2015-09-27
Packaged: 2018-04-19 04:24:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 71
Words: 431,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4732727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Holz9364/pseuds/Holz9364
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Draco Malfoy spent the summer between his 5th and 6th year dating three girls; a Slytherin, a Hufflepuff, and a Ravenclaw. He never thought that they would find out about each other but when they do, they want revenge. They pull in their best secret weapon, Hermione Granger, who has been spending far too much time crying over Ron Weasley. Their plan for revenge halts when they find out what Draco isreally up to that year however...  Rated M for sexual content & violence in later chapters. [ALSO UPLOADED ON FANFICTION.NET UNDER 'Holz9364'].</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Forging of Unlikely Friendships

Hermione Granger was 100% done with Ronald Weasley. Once more she had been made to look like the fool by the ignorant, clueless redhead. She had been the one running away with tears in her eyes, she had been the one Dean and Seamus had sniggered at and Ginny had looked at with such a pathetic look of sympathy.

And Ron? Well he was living it up snogging Lavender Brown, and Hermione was done with it. Here she was, sitting on a staircase with some stupid yellow birds fluttering over her head and tear tracks on her cheeks. Where was Ron? Doing God knows what with Lavender Brown probably.

Hermione pushed the bitter thought from her head and heard footsteps approaching. They weren’t heavy and awkward enough to be Ron’s, or light and quiet enough to be Ginny’s.

Harry.

The last thing Hermione wanted was sympathy, but she wouldn’t get that from Harry anyway. She wanted to be alone, and Harry would take Ron’s side. He always did. He didn’t during the Triwizard Tournament, Hermione’s brain reminded her. That was different, Hermione thought back, to her own brain.

She rolled her eyes and got to her feet as the footsteps got closer, “I don’t want company Harry,” she said in what she hoped was a firm, strong voice, “so don’t you dare think of finding me on the Marauders map and following me!”

Without waiting for a response she was out of the corridor like a shot, and the next thing she knew she was jogging down the grand staircase. It was rather therapeutic, so she didn’t stop until she reached the entrance hall and heard Filch nearby. She shot down the nearest corridor and found herself near the kitchens.

She wasn’t sure if Filch knew where she was, who cares if he finds me? She thought rather miserably as she sank down in an alcove cut into the wall. She sighed heavily, Ron clearly didn’t realise Hermione’s feelings for him, but then again she had a tendency to like boys who treated her like a shit. Although there had been Viktor, he had been so sweet and lovely, and Hermione really missed him. They still wrote to each other, but Bulgaria and Hogwarts were just too far away to keep a relationship going. Maybe one day when Hogwarts is over…Hermione thought hopefully. 

“Shouldn’t you be celebrating?”

Hermione jumped as the vaguely familiar voice pulled her out of her thoughts. She looked up and recognised the girl standing in the entrance to her little alcove. It was Susan Bones, the Hufflepuff in her year with red hair, and green eyes. She and Susan didn’t talk much, they were pretty much polar opposites. Susan was a Lavender, a party girl who liked fun and boys. Hermione had always assumed that made her ditzy, and she didn’t have the time of day for people who couldn’t keep up with her.

Hermione shrugged, “Should I? It’s just a Quidditch game.”

“Right, and you don’t like anything that’s fun,” Susan said with a raised eyebrow.

“I do know how to have fun,” Hermione shot back with a slight glare, “just because I don’t snog people in public or have a reputation for-” she cut herself off.

“Shagging people?” Susan finished, looking vaguely amused, she tutted, “you shouldn’t believe everything you hear in the rumour mill Hermione.”

Hermione’s cheeks flushed, “I didn’t mean…”

“Yes, you did,” Susan said swiftly as she sat opposite Hermione in the small, and now cramped alcove, “but like I said, don’t believe everything you hear.”

Hermione didn’t say anything, and they fell into a slightly awkward silence.

“What’s got you so far from home?”

“I was jogging,” Hermione said weakly, that sounds pathetic, her inner voice chided. Why was her inner voice so similar to Draco Malfoy? Don’t ask me, you determine how your inner voice sounds, it’s your brain.

Susan eyed Hermione curiously, “Jogging? In jeans? On a Saturday night?”

Hermione rolled her eyes, “I’ve never even talked to you. Why should I tell what I was doing?”

“You don’t have to,” Susan said, raising her hands, “I was just curious.”

Hermione didn’t say anything, she was judging Susan based on what she knew from the rumour mill, they had never actually spoken. So you have no cause to distrust her, or treat her like crap. This is how Ron treats you, do you want to do it to other people?

Hermione shivered at that thought, “The person I…well…he was acting like he liked me too, and I just saw him snogging a….slut…in the Gryffindor common room. I wanted distance.”

Susan was smiling slightly, Hermione had stuttered over the word, “I never thought I’d hear you swear,” she teased, “so who made the first move then, Lavender or Ron?”

Hermione’s eyes widened, and Susan laughed, “No offence, but it was obvious you had a thing for him. The whole insulting each other thing gave it away, and as for sluts, Lavender is pretty much the only one in Gryffindor. Mind you, Ginny Weasley is getting herself a bit of a reputation these days.”

Hermione snorted, “No wonder, she just needs a Slytherin to add to her portfolio and she’ll have a full house.”

“Aren’t you two friends?” Susan asked, surprise and amusement lacing her voice.

“Yes, but we don’t have much in common anymore. I’m sensible, and logical, and Ginny’s…fun and not sensible,” Hermione explained awkwardly.

Susan grinned, “You can’t be sensible all the time Hermione. We’re at Hogwarts, we’re supposed to have our crazy days here. Being sensible is for life, not for school.”

“But-”

“You can have fun and still get good grades,” Susan said, predicting what Hermione would say, “I’m third in the year, behind you and Draco Malfoy.”

Hermione tried to hide her surprise, but from Susan’s smirk, she knew it had obviously flitted through her bloodshot eyes.

“You need to party, drink firewhiskey, kiss boys, while you can,” Susan said with a smile. She got up and held out her hand to Hermione, “come on.”

Hermione looked at it cautiously, “To where?”

“Don’t ask questions, just enjoy yourself,” Susan said, once more raising an eyebrow at the Gryffindor. 

Hermione was hesitant but took Susan’s hand all the same. Susan’s grin widened as she led Hermione along the corridor and into a small, nearly hidden away nook in the wall. All that was in front of them was a pile of barrels, and Hermione frowned as Susan dropped her hand and tapped out some kind of rhythm on one of the barrels. The lid of the barrel swung open, revealing a passageway large enough for the average sized person to crawl through.

“Wow,” Hermione said as she stared at it in shock. 

Susan grinned, “Bet the entrance to the Gryffindor common room isn’t so cool.”

“It’s just a portrait,” Hermione admitted.

“Come on then, we’re having a party,” Susan said, getting to her knees and crawling into the passage. Hermione followed her, not quite sure why she was doing this. Because you know deep down you want to have fun. Hermione supposed that was true, she didn’t enjoy working all of the time, but her grades were important to her. Come on, you’ll get to see the Hufflepuff Common Room, you know you want too.

“Why are you having a party?” Hermione asked as they crawled through the passageway.

“Because it’s a Saturday night. Let’s face it, when do Hufflepuffs get to celebrate anything? We’ve not won the House Cup or the Quidditch cup in years, and then our Triwizard champion died.”

Hermione was silent, not sure if that was a joke or not. She studied her surroundings to avoid conversation. The passage was clearly magically enlarged because it felt comfortable, it smelled earthy, although the ground was clean and dry. At the end of the passage there was a circle of light, and as Susan climbed out and straightened up, she offered her hand to Hermione and helped her out.

Hermione took in the common room, it was amazing, far nicer than the Gryffindor one. It was late, past curfew, so the common room wasn’t too busy. It seemed to be filled with people 5th year and above, the younger students had obviously gone to bed.

The room was circular with 4 circular doors, presumably leading to the dormitories. There was a fireplace with a painting of Helga Hufflepuff above it, and it was roaring and warm. There were sofas, and armchairs, but they were black and yellow, instead of red and gold. Plants hung from the ceiling which was a glass dome. All of the windows were circular, and on the window sills were potted plants. The whole place felt earthy, and warm, and sunny. Hermione loved it. 

“Pretty neat huh?”

“It makes the Gryffindor common room seem dreary,” Hermione said honestly.

“What brings you to our domain, Hermione?” Justin Finch-Fletchley asked cheerfully.

“Fun,” Susan said with a grin, “she’s just had her heart broken, and we’re going to convince her that she needs to enjoy herself more.”

Justin chuckled and handed her a glass, “Don’t suppose you’ve ever tried Firewhiskey before?”

Hermione shook her head, it smelled incredibly strong, which probably meant that it was strong. This is stupid, you’ve spent your whole life avoiding situations like this. Hermione told herself. But on the other hand, you’re only young once…

So she did it, properly. She may never have had firewhiskey, but she had done shots in the Muggle world. The Hufflepuffs cheered as she downed the liquid, which burned her throat, “Merlin, that is strong,” Hermione said as she put the glass down.

They chuckled, and Hannah Abbott joined the welcoming party, “Come on Hermione, dance with us,” she said, grabbing Susan and Hermione and dragging them to the centre of the room where a wizarding radio was pumping out dance tunes. Forgetting for one night about Ron, and her homework, Hermione let herself have fun.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When Hermione woke up the next morning her head hurt. She had been drunk only once before. The summer before she had come back to Hogwarts for her 6th year, she had met up with a few girls she had gone to primary school with. They had all gone round to one of the girls houses, and Hermione had gotten a little carried away. The next morning she had felt rotten, and this felt like a not dis-similar feeling.

She groaned, and someone chuckled next to her.

Her eyes shot open and she glanced besides her to where the chuckle had come from. Susan grinned and handed her a vial, “It’s a pick me up potion, great for hangovers.”

Hermione frowned, she was in a double four poster bed decked with a heavy quilt and surrounded by black and yellow checked curtains. 

“You’re in my bed, we didn’t think you’d be able to get back to the Gryffindor Common Room last night,” Susan said in amusement as she opened the curtains and let the bright light of the morning stream into the room.

“Ugh,” Hermione said, shying away from the light.

Susan laughed, “Seriously, drink that.”

Without wasting another moment, Hermione did. The liquid felt thick as it made its way down her throat, and she thought she might gag, but she didn’t. It reached her stomach and soothed it, the churning stopped and the headache began to ebb away. She began to see clearly, and the light stopped hurting, and for the most part memories of the night before flooded back.

Hannah giggled from a nearby bed as Hermione’s cheeks flushed with colour, “Last night was fun, right?”

Hermione nodded vacantly. She had had fun last night, and for the most part it had been innocent. Firewhiskey, butterbeer, dancing, laughing, insulting the stupid boys who had screwed them over. 

But then there had been the kiss, with Justin.

“Don’t worry,” Susan said, her voice not in its usual amused, joking tone. She sounded friendly, and genuine, “Justin has kissed more girls in this school than I can count, he’s a lightweight. He’s not going to try and date you or anything.”

Hermione felt flooded with relief, but she still felt guilty. Kissing people just out of the blue, that wasn’t her style.

As if sensing her thoughts Hannah said, “You need to let loose a little Hermione. Justin instigated that kiss, you’re not hurting anyone, don’t worry.”

As her blush began to fade, Hermione nodded, “Right.”

“Stop talking so loud,” a voice moaned from another of the 5 beds. The curtains on it were drawn, but Hermione recognised the voice from the night before. 

Susan and Hannah shared an amused smile as Susan shoved a vial, like the one she had given Hermione, through the curtains, “Drink that, and shut up, Meg.”

Hermione chuckled. Last night she had met and talked with almost all of the Hufflepuffs in her year. She and Hannah were already friends, and talked quite often in Herbology. Hannah was quiet, with long blonde curly hair, and dark blue eyes, but she was sweet. Hermione had gotten to know Susan a little better the night before, and befriended Megan Jones. Megan was Welsh, she was outgoing and loud, but clearly not a morning person. She too was blonde, her hair was wavy, almost verging on bushy, but it was twice as long as Hermione’s, she had dark brown eyes and she was fairly short and petite.

“Thanks Suse,” Megan said gratefully as she opened the curtain and peeked out. Hermione had to hide a smirk, Megan did have bushy hair, she obviously used charms to calm it down, like Hermione had been doing since the start of her 5th year.

The other two Hufflepuff girls were still in bed. They were Leanne Fox, and Sally-Anne Perks. Leanne was fairly quiet with dark brown hair and eyes, Hermione talked to her in class occasionally and knew of her through Katie Bell. Sally-Anne was even quieter, and very similar to Hermione. She had dark skin and curly hair, and she spent a lot of time in the library, often sharing a table with Hermione. She hadn’t been around much the previous night, opting for an early night.

“What time is it?” Hermione asked, pulling herself out of her thoughts.

“9,” Hannah said as she slipped into a room that was clearly the bathroom.

“We’re heading down to breakfast,” Susan said, scanning Hermione, “but you can’t go like that. What size are you, a 10?”

Hermione nodded, she was self-conscious about clothes sizes, weren’t all girls?

“Perfect,” Susan said brightly, “you can borrow something of mine.”

She pulled open a large wooden wardrobe and said, “Take your pick.”

“Uh, are you sure?” Hermione asked, glancing at her clothes. Her jeans and t-shirt were crumpled from being slept in, walking into the great hall like this would be an embarrassment.

Susan just nodded as she flung on her own clothes, so Hermione settled for a pair of the Hufflepuffs jeans and a green t-shirt which was a little more low-cut than the clothes Hermione would normally wear. They took turns in the bathroom, and half an hour later Hermione’s hair was smoothed down so that it was curly, rather than a frizzy, bushy mess.

Hannah had thrown her hair up into a loose bun, and Susan’s was left down as usual. It was straight and long, and it always looked radiant. It was a darker red than Ginny’s, more like Auburn.

“Hang on, I’m coming too,” Megan said as she emerged from the bathroom, her hair curled and no longer frizzy which made Hermione chuckle.

The four girls crawled through a tunnel into the common room which was empty. They then went through the passage that took them out of the common room and back into the main school.

“So did you enjoy your introduction to Hufflepuff culture?” Megan asked casually.

Hermione smiled slightly, “I did actually, thanks Susan, for helping me relax a little.”

“She’s right, you should have fun while you’re at Hogwarts,” Hannah said with a smile, “don’t the Gryffindors do parties?”

“Only after we’ve won a Quidditch game,” Hermione said, “or Harry’s done something heroic,” she added sarcastically.

For some reason this made the others laugh loudly, and Susan chuckled, “You all worship him then, that’s true?”

Hermione snorted, “I don’t worship him, Ron does though. Most of the younger students seem to, but it’s not just the Gryffindors.”

“It’s mostly the Gryffindors,” Megan said in amusement, “don’t get me wrong, he’s all for the good of the wizarding world, and I’m with his cause, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to start bowing down to him.”

Hermione laughed, “He wouldn’t thank you for it, he hates his fame.”

“He should party with us more often,” Susan remarked, “we don’t care about his fame.”

“You don’t judge people on first impressions, or appearances, do you?” Hermione asked curiously.

Hannah shook her head, “We’re Hufflepuffs, I know people say that makes us stupid, or pointless. But we aren’t losers, we stick up for our friends and for what we believe in. We’re also pretty open-minded, and we don’t judge people until we know them.”

“It’s refreshing,” Hermione admitted as they walked into the great hall. She found herself feeling quite jealous of these Hufflepuffs, she liked their outlook on life, and she didn’t know why she hadn’t talked to them sooner.

Susan grinned, “Well feel free to hang out with us, you don’t just have to stick with our lord the almighty saviour, and his sidekick all the time. There are decent folk in other houses too.”

Hermione laughed and said goodbye to them as she walked over to the Gryffindor table. She ignored the tug in her stomach as she saw Ron and Lavender all loved up at one end of the table. A few seats up was Harry, who was watching her curiously. She rolled her eyes inwardly and sat down next to him, awaiting his inevitable questioning.

“Where were you last night?”

“How do you know I wasn’t in the girls dormitory?” Hermione asked, avoiding his gaze as she helped herself to some food, “did you stay up all night waiting for me?”

It was asked sarcastically, but his answer was serious, “Yes.”

Wait, really?

That threw Hermione a little, but she still maintained her I’m-pissed-off-with-you attitude. She wasn’t sure why, Harry hadn’t done anything wrong, apart from pick Ron as a friend.

“Hermione? Hello?”

He was waving his hand in front of her face, Hermione snapped back to reality.

“Are you okay?” Harry asked, and she still avoided his gaze.

“I’m fine,” Hermione said honestly, apart from all the thoughts about nasty ways that Ron could accidentally die.

“Where were you last night?” Harry asked again.

Hermione finally looked up at him, her gaze catching his, “Cut the crap Harry. You know exactly where I was, you were watching me on the Marauders map.”

Harry’s cheeks flushed and his eyes filled with guilt, “I’m sorry.”

Hermione scoffed, “Do you know what privacy is?”

“Yes,” Harry said in annoyance, “I wish I could get more.”

“Well maybe you should stop invading everybody else’s,” Hermione suggested calmly.

“Why were you in the Hufflepuff common room all night?” Harry asked, “I mean, I know you were in one of the dorms but clearly the Marauders hadn’t been there because they aren’t labelled as boys and girls dorms,” he took a breath, “but it looked like you were in bed with Susan Bones.”

Hermione smiled slightly, Harry really was just worrying about her, “I was in the girl’s dorm. They had a party there last night, Susan found me in the corridor and invited me, and I couldn’t get back to the Gryffindor common room so I slept there.”

Harry was watching her curiously, “That isn’t like you. I thought you didn’t like parties.”

“I don’t not like parties,” Hermione said irritably, “I like parties, I just don’t like the ones they throw in Gryffindor.”

“And how are Hufflepuff different?” Harry asked, he wasn’t annoyed, just curious.

“It’s not all about alcohol and stupid games that embarrass people, and snogging,” Hermione said, her glare directed at Harry, but really aimed at Ronald bloody Weasley, “sure there is alcohol, but we just danced and talked.”

“I didn’t even know you were friends with Susan Bones,” Harry said, glancing at the redheaded Hufflepuff.

“I wasn’t really, but she was nice to me last night. They all were,” Hermione said honestly, “I’d only really talked to Hannah before.”

Harry was smiling slightly, and it took Hermione by surprise, “What?” she asked self-consciously.

“Nothing, it’s just nice to see this more relaxed side to you,” Harry said honestly, “I’m jealous. I don’t really like the Gryffindor parties either, they all admire me too much…I can never really relax.”

“Well the Hufflepuffs told me this morning that you are welcome at their parties,” Hermione said with a chuckle, “and they said they agree with you and are with your cause, but they definitely won’t worship you.”

Harry genuinely laughed at that, “They said that? Fantastic, I might take them up on their offer.”

Hermione smiled, and accidentally looked down the table to where Ron and Lavender were snogging, “Ugh.”

“I know, it’s sickening,” Harry said as Ginny walked into the hall and sat down across from them.

“What’s sickening?”

“Your brother and the thing attached to him,” Hermione said distastefully.

Ginny grinned at the phrase Hermione had used, but her grin turned to disgust when she saw Ron and Lavender, “Ew, don’t they ever stop to breathe?”

“Apparently not,” Harry said, he was now focusing on anything apart from Ron and Lavender, and Hermione followed his lead.

“Are you alright, Hermione? You just disappeared last night,” Ginny said, casting that same sympathetic glance at Hermione that she hated.

“I’m fine.”

“You should date. Ron’s a lost cause, but there are other guys out there,” Ginny said, and Harry tried to tune out of the ‘girl’ chat.

Hermione smiled, “I don’t really want to date just for the sake of it Gin. If I start to like someone, then maybe I’ll think about it.”

“Well, you need someone to take to Slughorn’s Christmas party, don’t you?” Ginny asked as she drank her pumpkin juice.

Hermione pondered that, “I suppose so…I was going to ask-” she cut herself off before she could say Ron. Time to change the subject.

“Harry, who are you taking to Slughorn’s party?”

Harry who had been pretending very hard to not listen to the conversation, now tuned in, “Huh?”

Hermione laughed, “Slughorn’s party, you need a date.”

Harry nodded, “Right, I don’t know. I hadn’t really thought about it yet.”

“You’d better ask someone soon. There’s only a week to go now, and all of your admirers are getting anxious,” Hermione teased, pointing down the table to the group of 4th and 5th year girls who followed Harry around.

Ginny smiled, but Hermione could see that she was disappointed. She obviously still held out some hope that Harry would one day return her feelings, “I guess I’ll ask Dean,” she voiced, to which Hermione only nodded.

“Got any plans for today?” Harry asked to break the silence.

Hermione shook her head, “Just homework, do you still want me to look over your Potions essay?”

And just like that she was back to the bookworm Hermione Granger that all of her friends knew. But last night was a lot of fun, maybe Susan and the others were right about letting my hair down every so often…

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It was the middle of December. Classes had been going on for 3 and a half months now, and the seating arrangement had not changed since the beginning of term.

In this time, Hermione’s desk partner in Ancient Runes had never spoken to her. But the Monday morning after her Saturday night Hufflepuff ‘experience’, things changed.

“Morning, Granger.”

Hermione raised an eyebrow in surprise, “Good morning,” she said.

“I’m Daphne Greengrass,” the girl, Daphne, said. Hermione knew who she was, the Slytherin ice queen. The nickname wasn’t just because of her ice blue eyes, it was her attitude. She had some sort of charm, she reeled in boys and then rebuffed them. She never let anyone in, she held everyone at arm’s length. That was what they said, that was why they called her the ice queen. 

“I know who you are,” Hermione said, “I might be a bookworm, but I do share a dormitory with Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil, I listen to the rumour mill.”

Daphne grinned, her teeth were white and sparkling, up close her eyes really were an icy blue. Her long blonde hair was pulled up into a ponytail, and her skin was clear and flawless. Nobody can be that perfect, she has to have Veela blood.

“What do you hear in the rumour mill, Granger?”

“That you’re the ice queen, you lead guys on but never give them what they want,” Hermione said honestly.

“Which is sex,” Daphne pointed out with a smirk, “ironic that the rumour mill is talking about how I’m not shagging everyone.”

Hermione thought about that for a moment, “True,” she agreed.

“You walked into the great hall with the Hufflepuffs yesterday,” Daphne said as they got their parchment and quills out of their bags.

“So?”

“The clothes you were wearing, not your style. From that I guess they were probably Susan’s which means you spent the night in the Hufflepuff domain,” Daphne said simply, “will the rumour mill be talking about that next?”

Hermione blushed as she realised what Daphne was implying, “No,” she replied smoothly, “Susan invited me to a Hufflepuff party and I had to stay the night there because I couldn’t get back to Gryffindor.”

“Because you were too drunk,” Daphne grinned, flashing those pure white teeth again.

“Yes,” Hermione said reluctantly.

Daphne laughed, and the sound was almost musical, she’s definitely got Veela blood.

“Why are you talking to me anyway?” Hermione asked, aware the Professor would be here soon and their chatter would end, “you haven’t said one word to me since the start of the term.”

“I like the Hufflepuffs,” Daphne said simply, “if they’ve accepted you I guess I don’t mind you.”

Hermione raised an eyebrow at the blonde, “You don’t mind me? You’re a Slytherin, and I’m a Gryffindor, a Mudblood at that.”

Something akin to anger flashed in Daphne’s eyes, “Don’t call yourself that. It’s a horrible term, how can you say that about yourself?”

“Everyone else says it,” Hermione pointed out.

“Well that doesn’t mean you should call yourself it,” Daphne said swiftly, “you’re a Muggle-born. Even then it’s disputable whether that makes you worth so much discrimination. My Aunt works in the Department of Mysteries, and I think they’re doing work on genealogy. Muggle-borns must come from somewhere, magic doesn’t just manifest itself you know.”

Hermione frowned, “You have a very different outlook from most Slytherins, but your theory does make sense.”

“I know it does,” Daphne said simply, “and by most Slytherins, you mean Draco, Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy, right? Draco’s a prat, and Crabbe and Goyle just repeat everything their Fathers say.”

“And Pansy?” Hermione asked in amusement.

Daphne rolled her eyes, “A dramatic, bitchy pain in the arse. Can you imagine sharing a dorm with her? You think Lavender Brown is bad?”

Hermione chuckled and decided that she liked Daphne Greengrass. For a Slytherin she was okay. Maybe you should have made an effort to talk to people in other houses before.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Ancient Runes was right before lunch. When class finished, Hermione and Daphne rose and walked to the door together.

“Are you going to the great hall?” Daphne asked casually.

Hermione nodded, and just like that they fell into step with each other. Really, you go to one party and all of a sudden people who have never looked twice at you, are talking to you?

“So your theory on Muggle-borns, you never really told me all of it,” Hermione pointed out.

“Oh, right,” Daphne said, “well I think all Muggle-borns are descended from the 20 or so big pure-blood families. Pure-blood families produce almost as many squibs as they do magical children. Those squibs got killed in some of the more extreme families, I think you know which ones I mean.”

The Malfoys.

“But most couldn’t kill their own flesh and blood, even if the kid was a squib. I think all Muggle-borns are descended from squibs like that, but for some reason the magic is just dormant for a few generations,” Daphne finished as they walked out onto the grand staircase together.

“That makes a lot of sense, you should put some research into that,” Hermione said thoughtfully.

“I plan to as soon as I’m done in Hogwarts. Give it a few years and my theory will be front page news,” Daphne said confidently.

“It wouldn’t surprise me, if you can find proof…” Hermione trailed off, pondering the fact she could be descended from a very powerful wizarding family somewhere along the line.

Daphne nodded, “Look Granger, don’t get it into your head that we’re friends or anything…acquaintances maybe.”

Hermione raised her eyebrow at the blonde for what felt like the umpteenth time, “Don’t worry, I didn’t think we were friends.”

“Good,” Daphne said simply. They were nearing the entrance hall and Daphne looked like she had something to say. Hermione didn’t push and as they walked down the marble stairs into the entrance hall she spat it out.

“Tell Potter to keep an eye out. I’ve heard girls talking about slipping him love potions,” Daphne said very quickly after an internal debate as to whether or not she should have said it at all.

“Since when do you care about Harry’s welfare?” Hermione asked in surprise.

“I don’t,” Daphne said honestly, “but nobody deserves to get arrested for sleeping with a 4th year under love potion. It’s still time in Azkaban, and no man deserves that from scheming, immature girls,” she said scathingly.

Hermione nodded, still surprised, “Right, I’ll warn him.”

“Good,” Daphne said sharply and without another word she walked swiftly away from Hermione into the great hall.

Hermione shook her head in surprise, it’s been a weird few days, she thought to herself as she walked into the great hall and sat down next to Harry. Ron was further away snogging Lavender, again.

“Listen, Harry,” Hermione said quietly, “be careful what you eat and drink. Daphne Greengrass just told me she’s heard girls talking about slipping you a love potion now you’re this famous, desirable chosen one.”

Harry’s cheeks flushed, but then he frowned, “Daphne Greengrass, the Slytherin?”

“Yes,” Hermione said, “she started talking to me in Ancient Runes today. She’s friends with the Hufflepuffs, so since they have apparently ‘accepted’ me she can deal with me.”

“But she’s a Slytherin,” Harry pointed out.

Hermione shrugged, “She seemed nice enough, I’m not saying we’re friends. I doubt I’d even call her an acquaintance, but I think she’s right on this love potion thing, so be careful.”

“I’ll be careful,” Harry promised, “but not quite Moody careful.”

Hermione smiled, “Damn, there goes my idea to buy you a hipflask for Christmas.”

Harry shot her an amused grin, “You got time to read over my Charms essay before lunch is over?”

GGG.

Late that night after Lavender had come up to the girls’ dormitory swooning over Ron, Hermione slipped down to the common room. It was practically empty as she took a seat in an armchair by the fire and buried herself in a book. 

She didn’t hear the portrait hole open, and when someone flopped down into the armchair next to hers she jumped slightly until she realised that it was just Harry.

“Where have you been?” Hermione asked, surveying his pink cheeks, and his heaving chest.

Harry’s cheeks flushed an even brighter shade of pink, “Running away from girls,” he muttered.

Hermione couldn’t help it as she laughed loudly, quickly covering her mouth with her hand when he glared at her, “I’m sorry,” she said, hiding her smile behind her hand, “but you are rather endearing that way. Most guys would like all the female attention you get.”

“Well I don’t,” Harry said defiantly, “they’re like groupies! Romilda Vane offered me 4 different drinks and then shoved this in my face,” he absentmindedly waved a box of chocolate cauldrons in the air, and Hermione chuckled.

“I guess Daphne was right,” she said.

“Why’d she even tell you?” Harry asked curiously, “I mean, surely it would be a laugh to her and all the Slytherins if I got bewitched by a 4th year.”

Hermione shrugged, “Maybe not to all of the Slytherins. We’re judging our hatred of them on a set few, there are hundreds of people in that house. They can’t all be bad, can they?”

Harry didn’t say anything, but Hermione could tell he was pondering this. 

“Do you have a date for Slughorn’s Christmas party yet?” Hermione asked as she got to her feet.

“No,” Harry replied, “do you?”

Hermione sighed, “No, and it’s on Saturday. I was going to ask Ron before…”

“I don’t think he knew you liked him, Hermione,” Harry said, it was a feeble attempt to stick up for his other best friend no doubt.

“That’s not important Harry,” Hermione said, keep it together, Ron’s a jerk, “I’ll just need to find someone else to go with. Goodnight.”

“Night,” Harry said as Hermione ascended the staircase to the girls dorm.

TBC :)


	2. Ulterior Motives

By Tuesday afternoon Hermione was still dateless.

“Hermione, partner up with me today,” Susan whispered on their way into the greenhouse for Herbology.

Hermione was confused, but relieved. Since Ron and Lavender had gotten together Ron hadn’t spoken to Hermione, clearly he sensed her anger, or more likely Harry had told him. This meant Ron and Harry were working together, and Hermione had been working with Neville. She liked Neville, but he talked a lot about Herbology and it got a bit tiresome, even for her.

“Sorry Neville,” Hermione said as they filed into the greenhouse, “I’m partnering Susan today.”

“I’ll partner you Neville,” Hannah said brightly. 

Neville smiled weakly, “Okay Hannah.”

Hermione slipped to the other side of the greenhouse and took the bench next to Susan, “Hey,” she said.

Susan grinned, “Hey. So, who are you taking to Slughorn’s Christmas party?”

“That’s why you asked to switch partners?” Hermione asked in surprise.

Susan smiled in amusement, “I guess that means you don’t have a date yet.”

“I was going to ask Ron,” Hermione admitted under her breath, “come on, who else can I ask? Nobody likes me.”

Susan scoffed, “Cormac McLaggen has a thing for you.”

“Cormac McLaggen is an idiot,” Hermione pointed out.

Susan laughed quietly, “Yes, there is that. But come on, there must be someone you want to ask.”

“Not really,” Hermione admitted, “I just want to go with someone that will really piss Ron off.”

“I didn’t peg you for the revenge type,” Susan teased.

Hermione shot Susan a sideways grin, “You can’t judge a book by its cover, remember?”

“Very true,” Susan said as they started the task at hand. The greenhouse got louder as everyone worked which meant they could talk at a normal volume.

“I’ll find a date for you, with a little help,” Susan said sneakily, “how good are you at avoiding being caught after dark?”

“I’m best friends with Harry Potter, I think I can handle myself after curfew,” Hermione said in amusement.

Susan laughed again, “Right. Come to the Hufflepuff common room tonight after curfew and we’ll work it out. Tap the bottom barrel to the rhythm of “Helga Hufflepuff”, but only come if you’re serious about revenge.”

Hermione nodded, “What do you have in mind?”

Susan brought a gloved finger close to her lips and said, “We can’t discuss it here. It’s far too dangerous.”

Hermione chuckled and got back to the task at hand, wondering what on earth Susan had planned for her.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Harry, can I borrow your invisibility cloak?” Hermione asked quietly as she slipped into the boys’ dorms.

“Hermione!” Harry hissed under his breath, “you shouldn’t be in here.”

Hermione tried not to laugh as Harry pulled the covers up over his bare chest.

“I’m sorry,” she said quietly as she sat down on the edge of his bed, “but I really need the cloak…and the map.”

“Why?” Harry asked suspiciously.

“I’m meeting Susan,” Hermione whispered.

“After curfew?” Harry asked with narrowed eyes, “what’s going on here Hermione?”

“If you really want to know,” Hermione said with a roll of her eyes. She swung her legs onto Harry’s bed and drew the curtains, “muffliato.”

Harry looked bemused, “What’s going on?”

“Susan’s helping me find a date for Slughorn’s party. Maybe it’s bitchy, but I want to go with someone that will really piss off Ron, and if it doesn’t piss him off, then clearly he doesn’t care at all,” Hermione said coldly.

“I don’t understand girls.”

“Look, the point is, I need to get to the Hufflepuff common room, and normally I have you and you have the cloak and the map-”

“So take me with you.”

“What?” Hermione asked quickly, not expecting this outcome. She knew he’d be suspicious, but she’d thought he’d just hand over the cloak and map anyway because she was his best friend.

“Let me come with you to the common room. It’s easier when there’s one person to read the map and another to make sure we don’t crash into walls,” Harry said simply.

It does make sense. But there’s more to it than that, what’s his ulterior motive?

Hermione raised an eyebrow at her best friend, “Harry, I’m not Ron. I can tell when you’re hiding something. Why do you really want to come with me?”

“I am worried about you,” Harry assured her, “but I want a date for Slughorn’s party too. And I want to piss people off, I’m not asking one of these groupies. I want to go with someone that no one will expect. If Susan’s helping you, maybe she can help me too.”

Hermione was smiling slightly, “Maybe,” she agreed, there’s more to Harry than I thought. Well his is growing up, we all are. Except maybe Ron.

“So, are we going?” Harry asked.

Hermione nodded, “Hurry up, or we’ll be late.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

5 minutes later Harry had changed out of his pajamas’ and he and Hermione were on the grand staircase. Hermione was navigating, and Harry was keeping an eye on the map as they carefully walked in step with each other.

“Jump the vanishing step,” Hermione said under her breath. Harry grabbed her hand and they jumped it, landing lightly on the other side.

Harry laughed quietly, “I could never do that with Ron, he always landed too heavily.”

Hermione smiled slightly, but talking about Ron still made that pain in her chest return. Harry seemed to sense this so he guiltily looked down at the Marauders map.

“We’re clear till the entrance hall and then we’ve got Mrs. Norris,” Harry said, they were still talking quietly but the portraits on the wall were looking around in confusion, “and I think she can see us.”

“She probably senses us,” Hermione whispered, “Cats have a good sense of smell. I’ll just put a masking charm on us, it will take away our scent.”

“You’re a genius Hermione. I should have taken you on my after curfew excursions instead of Ron,” Harry said with real admiration.

Hermione was glad the darkness hid her blush, “Ron’s still one of your best friends, Harry.”

“Is he?” Harry asked irritably, “he’s barely spoken to me since Lavender attached herself to him, and you saw how quick he was to abandon me in the Triwizard Tournament. Unlike you, you’ve never abandoned me, no matter how crazy the situation we were in got.”

Hermione didn’t know what to say to that. Ron and Harry had been inseparable for years, hadn’t they?

“But Harry, the one thing you were going to miss the most in the lake…it was Ron,” Hermione said with a frown, “I mean…that must mean something.”

Harry’s cheeks flushed with colour, and even in the dim light of the darkened school Hermione noticed it. Harry didn’t say anything at first, and she didn’t push him. Why is Harry acting so weird all of a sudden? Why is everyone acting so weird this year? Am I the only person who didn’t transition over the summer? Probably…

“Hermione, the thing with that task…I was the last one, so by the time they had to pick a person for me to save Krum had already chosen you, and Cedric had already chosen Cho,” Harry admitted sheepishly.

Hermione’s eyes widened, “So Ron was your third choice?”

Harry shrugged, “Ron is one of my best friends, and he has been there for me through a lot. But I can’t rely on him, especially not when he’s like this. It’s not fun to be around him, and well to be honest, you’re far more fun to be around at the moment. Sneaking around after curfew is far more exciting than hearing about Lavender’s latest dress or how his lips are chapped.”

Despite her annoyance with Ron, Hermione snorted out a laugh at that, and Harry grinned at her, “See.”

Hermione nodded as they neared the entrance hall. They stopped and she performed the masking charm, as they walked down the marble stairs Mrs. Norris didn’t budge. They managed to slip right past her into the corridor to the upper dungeons where the Hufflepuff common room was located.

“Nice one Hermione,” Harry said with appreciation, “we’ve got a clear path to the common room now.”

Hermione smiled, happy someone was appreciating her skills. They reached the little nook in the wall further along the corridor, and after flinging off the cloak Hermione tapped out the rhythm of “Helga Hufflepuff” on the same barrel Susan had done a few nights before. 

Harry watched in amazement as the barrels lid slid to the side, revealing a large, roomy passageway into the common room, “Come on,” Hermione said as she dropped down and crawled into the passage. Harry followed her, shoving the cloak and the map into his robes.

“This is so much cooler than the entrance to our common room,” Harry said as he looked around. They were essentially crawling through an underground passageway, even though they were indoors and there was no soil in sight.

“I told you,” Hermione said brightly, reaching the other end and straightening herself up. Harry followed her into the nearly empty common room. While he admired it, as Hermione had done when she first came here, Hermione scanned the room. Susan, Hannah and Megan were sitting by the fire.

“I brought Harry with me,” Hermione explained as she grabbed his wrist and dragged him over to the three girls, “he was worried about me being out after curfew on my own.”

Susan smirked, “Ah, we’re honoured to have you in our presence oh mighty one.”

Harry rolled his eyes and dropped down onto an armchair, “I was just looking out for her, dangerous world we live in you know.”

“Oh boy, you’re definitely going to be an Auror after Hogwarts,” Megan said in amusement.

“If I survive Hogwarts,” Harry retorted.

Hermione shot him a glare, “Of course you will,” she said as she sat down on the armchair next to his, “he has an ulterior motive anyway. He wants a date too.”

“And you think we can help?” Susan asked.

Harry shrugged, “You’re helping Hermione, aren’t you?”

“True,” Hannah said brightly, “who do you want to go with?”

“Someone that will piss people off…surprise people…and definitely not one of my bloody groupies,” Harry said.

“Surprise people?” Megan asked thoughtfully.

“You could always go with a bloke,” Susan suggested.

“Uh, no,” Harry said, “I’m not really into that.”

Hannah giggled, and Megan said, “Well let’s sort Hermione out first. Susan said you wanted to go with someone who’ll piss Ron off, right?”

Hermione nodded, “As vindictive as it is, yes.”

Susan grinned, “Go with the chosen one here then.”

Hermione’s eyes widened, she didn’t even look at Harry, “No! I can’t do that, Harry and Ron are best friends, Harry’s my best friend!”

Megan rolled her eyes and muttered something about compassion.

“Why don’t you go with one of Ron’s brothers?” Hannah suggested.

“I can’t do that,” Hermione said simply, “none of his brothers are at Hogwarts anymore.”

“Well how about his sister then?” Susan asked with a raised eyebrow.

Harry seemed to choke on his laughter on the armchair next to hers and Hermione’s cheeks turned bright pink, “Uh, no.”

“Well who does Ron hate?” Hannah asked.

“Apart from Draco Malfoy?” Harry asked in amusement, “and there’s no chance Hermione would go with him.”

“Why not?” a new voice asked. 

Everyone turned to the hole in the ground that Daphne Greengrass had just crawled through. Straightening her hair she walked towards them, perching on the end of the sofa, “It would certainly annoy the Weasel.”

“But Malfoy hates me,” Hermione pointed out, “and I’m not exactly keen on him.”

“Well, we have an ulterior motive too,” Hannah admitted as she glanced at Susan.

Susan smiled apologetically at Hermione, “Sorry, but we sort of do.”

Hermione frowned, “What do you mean?”

“She means these new friendships could be very useful,” a new voice said as somebody else crawled out of the entrance passage and stood up.

Hermione didn’t immediately recognise the girl, although she did look familiar. She had jet black hair that reached her mid-back and bright blue eyes. Her skin was pale and seemed to shimmer in the candlelight. She wore a black skirt, white shirt and a black vest with the Ravenclaw crest on it. 

“This is Lilly by the way, in case you didn’t know,” Megan said with a wave of her hand in Lilly’s direction.

“It’s short for Lillian but she threatens to curse anyone who calls her that,” Susan said with a slight smile, “and she’s pretty smart so we don’t.”

Hermione smiled slightly, “I’ve met you before, in the library.”

Lilly smirked as she dropped down onto an armchair, “I do spend some time there, but you spending time here, well that I did not expect.”

“Can I just ask, what are those two doing here?” Harry asked, looking between Daphne and Lilly.

“Well this is where our ulterior motive comes in,” Susan admitted, “when I saw you upset the other day I did want to help you Hermione but it was after I found out how fun you were that I had this idea.”

“This doesn’t sound good,” Hermione said warily.

“Look we hate Draco Malfoy,” Lilly said, “and by we I mostly mean me, Susan and Daphne. But I don’t think anybody else likes him much either.”

“Why?” Hermione asked with a frown, “I mean Daphne, you’re in his house.”

“That doesn’t mean I have to like him, do you like Lavender Brown?” Daphne asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Fair point,” Harry said thoughtfully, and Hermione glared at him.

“He cheated on all three of us,” Susan said, “he thought if he dated a girl from each house we would never speak to each other so we would never find out. He didn’t even risk dating a Gryffindor though, I don’t know if that’s because he’s scared of them or his Father.”

Hermione’s eyes widened, “Seriously? He’s that selfish?”

“Oh yeah,” Daphne said, “but of course we did find out because Susan invited us to one of the infamous Hufflepuff parties. We all broke it off with him, but he never found out that we knew.”

“So what do I have to do with this?” Hermione asked.

“You want to piss off Weasley,” Daphne said.

“And we want to rip out Malfoy’s heart,” Lilly said casually, “it’s only fair since he broke ours.”

“You hate Draco Malfoy as much as we do, and if you date him it would really piss off Ron,” Susan finished.

Hermione shook her head in disbelief, “That’s a great idea in theory and all but-”

“Malfoy hates Hermione,” Harry finished, “he doesn’t just dislike her. He hates everything she stands for, everything she is, he even hates her blood.”

“Wow, thanks Harry,” Hermione muttered.

“It’s true,” Harry said simply, “there is no way he would ever date you.”

“That is where you are wrong, chosen one,” Daphne smirked, “Draco does not hate you, Granger. On the contrary, he wants you.”

Hermione scoffed, “Is this some sick joke you all decided to play on me?”

“It’s the truth,” Susan said, “he teases you.”

“He bullies me,” Hermione corrected.

“It’s the only way he knows to show you he likes you,” Daphne said with a roll of her eyes, “it’s pathetic but it’s true. He can hardly ask you out with what his family stand for.”

“Even if you are right,” Hannah said logically, “he still might not date her for fear of his family finding out.”

“If you can win his trust and he believes your relationship will be kept a secret then he’ll date you,” Lilly said, “the question is, are you up for it?”

Hermione sighed, “I really don’t like Malfoy, how am I supposed to make this convincing? And don’t you think this is a lot of effort just to piss off Ron?”

“I think so,” Harry scoffed, “you could have just snogged me in the common room, that would have done it.”

Some of the others sniggered and Hermione hit Harry round the side of the head, “Harry!”

“I’m serious though, Malfoy is bad news. His family are Death Eaters, and assuming everyone in this room believes me that Voldemort is back,” Harry said, “how do you know they haven’t made Malfoy one of them?”

Hermione nodded, “You’re right.”

“Look we aren’t asking you to marry him, Hermione,” Susan said, “just date him for a couple of weeks, get him to like you and break up with him.”

“Draco Malfoy isn’t the kind of person I want to piss off,” Hermione admitted, “especially if he’s a Death Eater.”

“Come on you have your bodyguard there to protect you,” Daphne said with a pointed look to Harry.

Lilly smirked, and Harry rolled his eyes, “You know where I stand on this Hermione.”

Hermione looked around at the girls, “This is a really bad idea.”

“Maybe, but it could be fun, and you said yourself you need to have more fun!” Susan said.

Hermione knew she should have said no, but for some inexplicable reason that she was sure she would regret she said, “Alright, I’m in.”

Susan grinned, “Great! We start tomorrow, Malfoy is going to get what he deserves for this. That will teach him to mess with us.”

Hermione nodded weakly, already starting to wonder why she had agreed to this plan. Harry was right, a war was kicking off and Draco Malfoy was right in the middle of it all.

Susan added with a smile, “So, Harry Potter, you want to surprise people but you don’t want to go with a bloke?”

Daphne laughed, it was melodic, and Harry frowned. Hermione smiled slightly, I’ll tell him later that she’s got Veela blood.

“Go with a Slytherin then.”

“That would definitely surprise people,” Susan agreed.

“But Tracey is going with Blaise, and Pansy is horrendous,” Megan said.

“And you really don’t want to go with Millicent,” Hannah added distastefully.

Daphne smirked, “Which leaves me, and Sophie Roper.”

“Sophie Roper?” Harry asked as he wracked his brain.

“Quiet, not really a part of Pansy’s gang like Millicent and Tracey. She has tanned skin, dark hair…she sits with me in the library sometimes?” Hermione said.

“Vaguely familiar…” Harry said, but he couldn’t really picture her, “if she’s quiet then that’s not really going to surprise anyone.”

“I’ll go with you Potter,” Daphne volunteered, “I’m certainly not quiet, and it will definitely surprise people.”

“I…what, really?”

Hermione rolled her eyes at Harry’s cluelessness.

“Just say yes,” Hermione mumbled in amusement.

“Right, yeah,” Harry said, shaking himself out of his reverie, “we’ll go together.”

“Great,” Daphne said with a smile. She has an ulterior motive too…

“So is everyone happy?” Susan asked, looking between them all in amusement.

“Looks like it,” Hermione said, slightly surprised by this turn of events.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“What’s her game with Harry?”

Susan frowned, “Huh?”

“Daphne,” Hermione said under her breath. They were working together in Herbology, Hannah and Neville seemed pretty happy working together so the new pairing had stuck.

“Oh, her game?” Susan asked.

“Why does she want to go with him to Slughorn’s party?” Hermione asked.

Susan smiled slightly, “To boost her reputation probably, and to piss off Draco.”

Hermione chuckled, “I can see why that would piss him off.”

“Exactly,” Susan said, shaking her head in amusement, “she’s not really an ice queen, she has her reasons for being the way she is.”

“You know her well?”

“She’s my oldest friend,” Susan admitted, “we’re both pure-blood so we run in the same circles. I grew up going to parties with people like Draco and Neville. Daphne was always there and my Aunt was really close to her Mum.”

“I’m really sorry about your Aunt, Susan,” Hermione said honestly.

Susan smiled sadly, “So am I, but she knew it was coming, and she went out fighting. I guess that’s what’s important.”

Hermione nodded, “Someday soon I’ll have to erase my parents memories…make them forget me…”

“Because of Harry?”

Hermione nodded again, “I’d follow him to the end. I suspect I’ll probably end up dead by the end of this war.”

“So it really is a war then,” Susan said quietly.

“Yes,” Hermione replied sincerely, “and this is only the beginning.”

“That’s what I was afraid of,” Susan said softly, “and you want to protect your parents by making them forget you.”

Hermione nodded, she wasn’t sure where her voice was so she didn’t speak.

“You’d do that for Harry?”

“He needs me,” Hermione said, “and I made a promise to myself a long time ago that I would always be there for him. What’s he’s been through…what he’s going to go through…he shouldn’t have to do it alone.”

“I can see why you’re his best friend, not Ron,” Susan said, she smiled genuinely at Hermione and gripped her hand, “I mean it Hermione, enjoy this while you can. With all you’ve just told me there’s no telling how long it will last.”

“Enjoy it?” Hermione asked, “You think fake dating Draco Malfoy is going to be fun?”

Draco didn’t take this class so they could talk with ease. Susan shrugged, “Hey you never know, it might be.”

“And what if Harry is right, about Malfoy being a Death Eater?” Hermione asked.

“He isn’t. Draco’s just a kid, he won’t be a Death Eater,” Susan said, “Trust me.”

Hermione did, although she wasn’t entirely sure why, “So how are we going to do this?”

“Well you need to ask him to Slughorn’s party,” Susan said.

“And he’ll probably say no and insult me in front of a huge group of people,” Hermione said bitterly.

“Not if you catch him while he’s alone,” Susan said, “I mean he’ll probably still say no but then you have a perfect time to say you have feelings for him, and let him think on that one.”

“I’m a terrible liar, what if he sees right through me?” Hermione asked.

“He won’t,” Susan promised, “it will be fine Hermione, I swear. Just find him today, catch him alone and ask him. Okay?”

Hermione nodded grimly, “Okay.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

For the rest of the day Hermione was on edge. She didn’t see Malfoy apart from at lunch where he was surrounded by his cronies and she was barely listening to a thing in Ancient Runes as she tried to think of ways to catch him alone.

This was a stupid idea, Hermione. Really, really stupid and you should never have said yes in the first place.

“Stop freaking out Granger, you’re making me nervous,” Daphne whispered.

Hermione glanced at the professor who was busy answering another student’s question, “How am I supposed to find Malfoy alone? Slughorn’s party is in two days, and he’s always surrounded by people.”

“Go to the library tonight, he’s normally there alone for a while before curfew,” Daphne whispered, “and if that fails there’s this little alcove in the dungeons where he likes to hang out.”

Hermione nodded, and pulled herself together, she could do this, it wasn’t that difficult. Yeah, all I’m doing is pretending to date Draco bloody Malfoy, a prejudiced asshole who hates me. How could this not be difficult?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Hermione had been in the library for two hours when Malfoy eventually walked in. She was at one of the tables in the corner, hidden behind bookcases but with a clear view of the door. She had barely gotten any work done, and she was nervous as hell and seriously regretting ever agreeing to this. Come on, you punched him in the face when you were 13. Asking him out has got to me be easier than that.

He walked past her, completely ignoring her and sat down a few tables behind her close to the Restricted Section. Hermione took a deep breath, this was it. There was nobody else in the library apart from a couple of 4th year Hufflepuffs, this was the only chance she would have to ask him. She knew that, but she had also completely frozen. Why are you being such a wimp all of a sudden Hermione? She chastised herself, you’re a Gryffindor for crying out loud, you can do this.

Hermione stood up, held her head up high and walked over to Malfoy’s table. He didn’t even bother looking up at her as he asked with a sigh, “What do you want Mudblood?”

She cleared her throat and said with more confidence than she felt she had, “Well Malfoy, I was wondering if you…wanted to go to Slughorn’s party with me?’”

Malfoy didn’t obviously react to her words, but she did notice that he snapped the end of his quill, “What did you just say Granger?” he asked, turning his icy blue eyes towards her.

Hermione swallowed, and with that icy gaze her confidence evaporated, “I just…wondered if you wanted to go to the…the um, party…with me,” she said very quickly, struggling to get the words out.

Malfoy raised an eyebrow at her, “And why on earth do you think I would want to be seen in public with you?” he drawled.

Hermione’s confidence returned as her annoyance at the Slytherin peaked, “Well I’ll be honest with you. Ronald Weasley is a complete arse with terrible taste in women and-”

“So you want me to go with you to annoy him?” Malfoy asked in disbelief.

“Partly,” Hermione admitted, “but you could get something out of it too.”

Malfoy snorted, “What, pray tell, is that?”

“Nobody needs to know that I asked you. Wouldn’t it look good for your whole Slytherin player image if you had managed to get the one girl in school who hated you most to go to Slughorn’s party with you?” Hermione said, she had made that up on the spot, but she thought it sounded pretty convincing.

Malfoy scoffed, “I don’t care about whatever image everyone else in this school has of me, Granger. I am busy, and I do not want to go to Slughorn’s party with you, so you can leave me alone now.”

Hermione sighed, accepting defeat and said, “Fine, I’ll take Harry instead. He’s better looking than you anyway,” she spun around, grabbed her books and marched out of the library to “shh”s from Madam Pince. She couldn’t keep the smirk off of her face at the look of horror on Malfoy’s face at those words, and even though he had shot her down she still felt a sense of accomplishment. 

She was in a fantastic mood all the way back to the common room, and halfway up the stairs to Gryffindor tower she got a shock when she bumped into a blonde and dropped her books.

“Oh, I’m sorry!” the blonde said, and it was only then that Hermione recognised her voice and looked at the girl.

“Daphne!”

Daphne looked like a deer caught in the headlights as she handed Hermione her books and said, “Oh, hey Hermione,” very sheepishly.

Hermione frowned, “Why are you in this part of the school? All that’s up those stairs is Gryffindor tower.”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but you always have been nosy. I was, just getting acquainted with Potter. To make it look convincing at the party,” Daphne said with a shrug.

Hermione couldn’t help it, she laughed, “Getting acquainted? Is that what you’re going to call it?”

Daphne shuffled on her feet a little, “I just went up there to get to know him better for this whole charade to work. It was your perfect, chosen one who was forward with me.”

“How forward was he exactly, or do I not want to know?” Hermione asked in disbelief.

“Well while I was professionally quizzing him for our act on Saturday night, he kissed me,” Daphne said with a shake of her head.

Hermione frowned a little, “That doesn’t sound like Harry.”

Daphne shrugged, “I guess it’s just the Veela blood.”

“I thought you had Veela blood,” Hermione said, “how strong is it?”

“A quarter,” Daphne said, “My Grandmother was a Veela. I try and downplay it, but whenever I get close to a guy the charm thing sets in. Imagine not being able to touch a guy without him wanting to have sex with you, it sucks.”

Hermione smiled a little, “Well I don’t think that’s why he kissed you. Harry’s immune to the whole Veela thing. Don’t you remember Fleur Delacour in 4th year? All of the guys were drooling and doing stupid things, and Harry wasn’t.”

Daphne’s frown deepened, “Well what other explanation is there?”

“Were you doing anything to make him uncomfortable?” Hermione asked.

“No,” Daphne said, “I was just asking him about where he grew up so it seemed like I actually knew him. I want this party date to look legit.”

“Ah,” Hermione said sheepishly, “well he didn’t have a great childhood so he probably kissed you to make you feel uncomfortable, and to change the subject. Although, that still isn’t very much like him, but I guess he has more confidence around people who don’t worship him.”

Daphne looked confused for a moment, then smirked, “I like that. It’s a very Slytherin trait, actually, and it’s kinda hot.”

Hermione smiled a little, not disclosing the fact she knew that Harry had been a hat-stall between Gryffindor and Slytherin, “Oh, speaking of Slytherins. I just asked Malfoy to go to Slughorn’s party with me.”

“And he said yes since you’re in such a good mood?” Daphne guessed.

“He said no,” Hermione said with a smirk, “but to wind him up I said I’d ask Harry instead because he was better looking and the look of horror on his face is still making me laugh.”

Daphne sniggered and said, “Mark my words Granger, he’ll corner you tomorrow and tell you he’s changed his mind.”

Hermione scoffed, “I highly doubt that.”

Daphne grinned and said, “Trust me, it will happen,” as she walked down the stairs, and out of sight. 

Hermione shook her head and continued up the stairs, walking into the classroom next to the portrait of the Fat Lady where she found Harry. She knew he wouldn’t have met Daphne in the common room, so this was the first place she looked for him.

“You’ll never guess what I just heard on the staircases from a certain Miss. Greengrass,” Hermione said, sitting down on the edge of one of the wooden tables.

Harry rolled his eyes, “Serves her right, she spent the last hour making me feel uncomfortable. I thought it was about time I gave her a taste of her own medicine.”

Hermione shook her head, “That’s kind of cruel, and misleading. Do you even like her?”

“I’m not convinced yet,” Harry said honestly, “she’s quite abrasive.”

Hermione snorted, “Coming from you?”

Harry shot her a glare, “Not cool, where have you been all night anyway?”

“In the library,” Hermione admitted.

“With Malfoy?” Harry guessed.

“Yes, and as suspected when I asked him to Slughorn’s party he said no,” Hermione said as she and Harry left the room and shut the door behind them, “although there were minimal insults and only one occurrence of the word mudblood.”

“He’s a dick, Hermione,” Harry said, “and I’m really quite worried about you doing this. What if he’s a Death Eater?”

“He isn’t,” Hermione said, “I know all of that weird stuff in Diagon Alley has you thinking he is, but his family shop at Borgin and Burkes all the time. They were probably just buying some new dark artefact to display in their dark living room in their dark manor.”

Harry shook his head in annoyance as he said the password to the common room and they walked in together, lowering their voices, “Don’t joke about it, he’s really up to something. I’m telling you.”

“He’s the same Malfoy he’s always been, Harry,” Hermione said with a smile, “so just drop it, alright? And he said no anyway, so you have nothing to worry about.”

“Good,” Harry said, “just take Neville, that will piss Ron off enough.”

Hermione laughed, and shared a smile with Harry as they parted ways for their separate dormitories.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Hermione was on her way from lunch to Herbology the following day when the thing Daphne had predicted happened. She was minding her own business when someone jogged up behind her and fell into step with her towards the greenhouses.

“Hey, Granger.”

“Oh hey Malfoy,” Hermione said with mock surprise, “why are you talking to me, in public?”

“Well since we’re going to Slughorn’s party together tonight I thought I ought to talk to you first,” Malfoy said simply, that air of cockiness that he had lacked recently was back.

“Oh, we are, are we?” Hermione asked with some amusement.

“Well since you practically begged me, I feel I ought to help you fulfil your fantasy of going on a date with me,” Malfoy said with a cocky grin.

Hermione scoffed, “Keep dreaming Malfoy, this is an arrangement of convenience for both parties involved.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night Granger,” Malfoy said as they reached Greenhouse 3, “I’ll meet you in the entrance hall at 7.”

“Traditionally you should meet me at my door, which would be outside the Gryffindor common room,” Hermione pointed out matter of factly.

“Tradition would dictate that yes,” Malfoy said, in the same matter of fact tone, “however I would quite like to arrive at Slughorn’s party in one piece, Granger.”

“Pity,” Hermione said with a smirk, “I was sort of hoping to see what Ron would do when he saw you outside the portrait hole. See you tonight, Malfoy.”

“Later, Granger,” Malfoy drawled as Hermione walked into the greenhouse and took her spot next to Susan with a triumphant grin. 

“Was that Draco Malfoy I just saw outside with you?” Susan asked eagerly.

Hermione grinned, “Let’s just say, Girls: 1. Malfoy: 0.”

Susan frowned, “How does that work? You don’t get 1 point in Quidditch.”

Hermione laughed and said, “It’s a football reference, Susan.”

“Oh right, that boring Muggle sport with one ball where they don’t leave the ground,” Susan said with a wave of her hand.

Hermione laughed and said under her breath, “I asked him in the library last night, and he said no. So I said I’d go with Harry instead because he was better looking anyway, and Malfoy just came up to me all cocky talking about how we were going to the party together.”

“Totally his style,” Susan said, rolling her eyes, “don’t tell me you’re starting to actually like him though.”

Hermione scoffed, “He’s arrogant, and he’s only going with me to piss Harry off and make it look like he’s the biggest player at Hogwarts. Why would I possibly be attracted to someone like that?”

“Cause you’re grinning like an idiot,” Susan mumbled under her breath.

“I’m just glad we’re winning and he’s falling for it,” Hermione said honestly, “I can’t believe that actually worked!”

Susan laughed, “Keep it up and he’ll be getting a taste of his own medicine really soon,” she said.

Hermione smiled, but she was wary underneath it. Am I starting to have feelings for him? No, of course not. Years of him bullying me can’t be overridden by a few cocky remarks. He’s still the bastard who cheated on all three of these girls, how can I even think about liking Draco Malfoy?

TBC :)


	3. A Rather Sinister Twist

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to say in the summary, this fic is based on the movie “John Tucker Must Die”. With a slightly more sinister twist, obviously!

When Draco emerged from the Slytherin common room, feeling quite suave in his dark green robes, he stopped in his tracks at the person who he saw standing outside.

“Potter,” he practically spat.

Harry smiled and said, “Oh hey Malfoy. How are you?”

Draco rolled his eyes at the false cheery attitude, “Drop the act Potter, you don’t like me and I don’t like you. No need to act like we actually find each other’s company appealing,” he drawled.

“If you insist,” Harry said simply.

“What are you doing here?” Draco asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously at the Gryffindor.

“I am waiting for my date outside her common room, as is traditional,” Harry said neutrally.

“You’re going with a Slytherin?” Draco sneered, “Who would be desperate enough to go with you?”

Before Harry could answer, Daphne’s voice came from behind Draco.

“Me, apparently,” Daphne said as she walked into view, looking particularly lovely in a full length black dress that fitted her figure perfectly. 

Draco was speechless for a moment and then said, “You’re going with Potter? I thought you had standards Greengrass.”

“Apparently not, considering I dated you,’ Daphne said coolly, “who are you going with? You weren’t invited.”

“Well Granger practically begged me to go with her,” Draco smirked.

“She must have been desperate,” Daphne remarked.

Draco’s smirk seemed stuck on as he said, “Actually she asked me before she asked Potter.”

Harry grinned, “I think you’ll find she asked me first, but I was already taken. Sorry Malfoy, but you were her last resort.”

Draco couldn’t explain why he felt a little hurt by that, but he did. He decided to quit before he fell any further behind in this battle of wits so he turned and left, walking towards the entrance hall where he was to meet Hermione. He still wasn’t entirely sure why he had agreed to this in the first place, but it made him feel normal and that was a feeling he was craving badly at the moment. Going on a date with Granger, that was not normal. But being a snarky, arrogant bastard to Granger was normal, and he had to admit, her retorts were good enough to rival his.

When he walked into the entrance hall she was walking down the stairs and he had to pause and collect himself. He had seen her at the Yule Ball in 4th year and realised how much she had changed, and he had a similar moment as he saw her walking down the marble stairs towards him. She had changed over the summer, her hair was no longer bushy, but curly and glossy, and her teeth had been smaller ever since that incident in 4th year. But she looked less like the awkward girl he saw in oversized Gryffindor jumpers, and more like a woman tonight. He was certainly seeing Hermione Granger in a whole new light, and Mudblood or not he had to admit that she was beautiful. 

She was wearing a pale pink knee length dress and silver high heels. As she got to the bottom of the stairs and walked towards him he also couldn’t help but notice that the dress was quite low-cut, and he made a point of looking up at her face to avoid being slapped if she caught wind of what he was doing. He had been there before, and it had hurt a lot, he didn’t really want to get hit by her again. Her hair was left down, and curly and he could tell she was wearing make-up. When she reached him, he should have said something nice, instead what came out of his mouth was, “Not bad Granger. You almost look worthy to be on my arm tonight.”

Hermione rolled her eyes as he extended his arm to her, “Thanks Malfoy,” she said as she hooked her arm through his, “Personally I’m thrilled to be seen with a ferret like yourself,” she added sarcastically.

“This isn’t going to look very convincing if we snipe at each other all night now, is it Granger?” Draco drawled as they walked towards the dungeons.

“Well you lead, I’ll follow Malfoy,” Hermione said simply, “what is our plan of action?”

Draco raised an eyebrow at her, “Turn up, look amazing, leave.”

Hermione smiled a little, “I think you just inadvertently admitted that you think I look nice tonight.”

Draco was prepared for it, and combatted it easily, “Don’t be stupid Granger, I was talking about myself.”

Hermione shook her head in amusement, “Of course you were, Malfoy,” she said as they neared the party and heard sounds of talking, music and laughter ahead.

They did not talk anymore as they walked towards the sounds, and Hermione could feel her heart pumping in her chest. She was nervous because this was entirely out of her comfort zone and she was not dreading what people would say when they saw her walk into the party arm in arm with Draco Malfoy. She fished her invite out of her bag as they approached the door and were met by one of the ‘staff’ Slughorn had put on for the night. Hermione’s cheeks flushed when she realised that the person checking the invites was Neville.

Neville looked up when he heard their footsteps and his eyes widened, “Hermione…Malfoy is your plus one?”

Hermione’s cheeks flushed further, and Draco drawled, “Merlin, I thought Slughorn would at least put on competent staff.”

Neville glared slightly at Draco, which surprised Hermione. Normally his cheeks flushed and he looked down, but she was glad to see him fighting back. Hermione cleared her throat and nudged Draco in the ribs, “Now, now Draco. Be nice,” his name rolled off her tongue but it sounded strange to her ears. She had always thought of him as Malfoy.

Neville looked between them in bemusement, and Hermione held out her invite, “Sorry Neville, do you need to see this?”

Neville nodded, still frowning a little as he squiggled on the invite and handed it back to Hermione, “Uh, well have a good night Hermione.”

Draco smirked a little at Neville as he and Hermione walked into the room which was busy and bustling. Hermione was immediately uncomfortable because she knew the proper thing to do at parties like this was to mingle, and that was her worst nightmare. She tightened her grip on Draco’s arm a little and he muttered, “Relax Granger, it’s just a party.”

“Parties aren’t really my scene,” Hermione said, and when Draco turned to look at her he could see that she really did look uncomfortable and he felt a little guilty for assuming she was confident in every situation.

“Well luckily for you, they are mine,” Draco said as he steered her in the direction of one of Slughorn’s guests, “I’ll do the talking, just stand and nod knowingly.”

Hermione smiled a little, he’s actually kind of sweet. No, no he’s not! He’s Draco Malfoy!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“You look nice, by the way,” Harry said to Daphne as Draco stalked away to meet Hermione.

Daphne smirked and said, “You don’t look so bad yourself Potter,” his deep blue dress robes were actually quite dashing.

Harry held out his arm to her and she accepted it, “I wanted to say sorry for yesterday,” he said as they walked towards Slughorn’s party at the other end of the dungeons.

Daphne raised an eyebrow at him, “For kissing me to make me feel uncomfortable you mean?”

Harry looked sheepish, “You were bringing up things I didn’t want to talk about and it was the only way I could think of to make you uncomfortable back.”

“It was quite sly,” Daphne admitted, “and very Slytherin, although I expect you’ll hate to hear it.”

Harry smiled weakly, “I’m more Slytherin than you’d think,” he said, thinking to his connection to Voldemort. This whole thing with Daphne was a bad idea anyway, and he knew it which was why it would be nothing more than a stunt for this party. He didn’t have time for dating, and he didn’t want to draw anyone else into the mess that was his life.

“Well I think most of us are a mixture of all four houses,” Daphne said, “it’s very rare that someone truly belongs in just one house.”

Harry nodded thoughtfully as they turned the corner towards the noise that was Slughorn’s party, “That is very wise of you. Are you ready for this?”

“I was born ready, Potter,” Daphne smirked. They reached the door and Harry pulled his invite from his pocket.

“Hey Neville,” Harry said brightly.

Neville looked up with a frown, “What the hell is going on?”

Harry frowned as he held the invite out to Neville, “Uh, what do you mean?”

“Hermione just showed up with Malfoy, and now you’re here with another Slytherin,” Neville said, the poor guy was totally bemused.

“House unity Nev,” Harry said as Neville took his invite and scribbled on it, “it’s very important in these troubling times.”

Daphne nodded sincerely as Neville handed Harry his invite back, “Right,” he said, frowning deeply, “well…have fun.”

“Thanks Longbottom,” Daphne said, and she shot a smile at Neville as she and Harry walked past him into the crowded party.

“Let’s get this show on the road,” Harry said, surveying the room and noticing that Slughorn was already making a beeline for him.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Hi Hermione,” Harry said brightly as he walked over to Hermione and Draco with Daphne on his arm. He had just managed to get away from Slughorn after a 15 minute long commendation on how well he had chosen a date. He frowned, “What’s that smell? Oh wait, there it is. Hello Malfoy.”

Draco rolled his eyes, “Potter,” he said simply.

“No snarky retort?” Harry asked in surprise.

“He’s trying something new, it’s called rising above petty insults,” Hermione said with an amused smirk at Harry.

Harry raised his hands, “Hey, I tried to be nice earlier and he told me not to bother with a façade that we like each other, so I’m openly disliking him.”

“I think you ought to pretend to be nice to each other for one evening,” Daphne said diplomatically.

Harry shrugged, and Draco swallowed when he saw that Professor Snape was one of the guests at the party, and he was watching Draco suspiciously. He nodded, trying to keep up with the conversation, but he knew he needed to make a quick escape before Snape cornered him and questioned him on his being here with Hermione Granger.

“I’ll be back soon,” Draco said to Hermione, “I’m just going to the bathroom.”

Hermione frowned as Draco practically jogged from the room, and then she saw Professor Snape following him. She caught Harry’s eyes and realised that he had seen it too. He nodded and they both made excuses to leave, which of course left Daphne suspicious.

They emerged from the room and once they were satisfied that they were alone Harry threw the cloak over them both and they followed the sound of fast footsteps in the distance. What they did not know was that Daphne had followed them, she couldn’t see them and she had no idea that they were under an invisibility cloak, but she had a disillusionment charm on as she slipped silently along by the wall so as not to be noticed.

Harry and Hermione were silent as they followed, they had agreed in a single glance that there was something suspicious about what had happened, and as much as Hermione wanted to believe that Draco was not a Death Eater, she understood why Harry wanted to hear what was being said between Draco and Snape.

They finally found them in a dark, dead end corridor away from the noise of the party, and under the cloak they stood against the wall, listening and peering around the corner. Snape was holding Draco’s arm and had it pinned against the wall, he was speaking quietly, but they could hear him because they were close enough. They had no idea that Daphne was pressed up against the opposite wall, her eyes shut so she couldn’t be seen.

“You cannot afford to make mistakes Draco because if you are expelled-”

“I didn’t have anything to do with it!” Draco said under his breath.

“You better be telling the truth because it was clumsy and foolish and you are suspected already,” Snape hissed.

“I didn’t do it! And who suspects me? It’s Potter, isn’t it? That’s why he got Granger to ask me to this stupid thing!” Draco muttered, “look, Bell obviously has an enemy nobody knows about. I’ve never talked to the girl, why would I curse her?”

Snape stared at him silently, and Draco glared back, “Don’t look at me like that. I know what you’re doing and I can block you.”

“Your Aunt Bellatrix taught you occlumency?” Snape asked bitterly, “what are you trying to conceal from your Master, Draco?”

“I’m not trying to conceal anything from him,” Draco said, his voice shaking slightly, “but I don’t want you inside my head.”

Snape narrowed his eyes at Draco, “Does that have anything to do with your feelings for Granger?”

“I don’t have feelings for her,” Draco said coolly, “she’s using me, and I’m using her. She wants to get information out of me, and I want to get information about Potter from her.”

“You seem to be enjoying yourself rather a lot at this party with someone who you are using Draco,” Snape said quietly, “so forgive me if I do not believe you.”

“Look, she’s not going to distract me from what I’ve got to do,” Draco said firmly, “if anything she might be helpful. I know what I’m doing, and I don’t need your help to do it.”

“I made the Unbreakable Vow to your Mother that I would protect you Draco, I cannot leave this in your hands-”

“Well break it, because I don’t want or need your help!” Draco hissed and he turned and stalked down the corridor towards the party. Snape cursed and followed him, and under the cloak Harry and Hermione turned to look at each with wide eyes.

“Malfoy is a Death Eater,” Hermione breathed.

“I told you,” Harry said hotly, “I told you he was! That’s what was happening at Borgin and Burkes, he was getting the mark!”

From across the hall Daphne frowned and tiptoed to the voices, she initially assumed they were under disillusionment charms too but when she reached them and held out her hand she didn’t feel a person, but a material and when she yanked it they came into view.

They both turned to Daphne in shock as she disillusioned herself and appeared holding the invisibility cloak.

Harry yanked it off of her and glared at her, “Were you eavesdropping?”

“Like you were eavesdropping on Draco and Snape you mean?” Daphne asked with a raised eyebrow.

“You were under a disillusionment charm, so you were obviously eavesdropping too,” Harry pointed out.

Daphne shrugged, “I followed you two when you left so abruptly. But I just heard everything you two did, and I’m calling an emergency meeting. 11.30pm tomorrow, Hufflepuff common room.”

Harry nodded, “This is dangerous, we can’t have Hermione in the middle of it.”

“I know,” Daphne said, “but we have to get back to this party and act normal or people will get suspicious, Potter you go separately. It will look like I’ve been at the bathroom with Hermione that way.”

Harry nodded and they parted at a fork in the corridor, Daphne hooked her arm in Hermione’s as they entered through the door at the back of the room. She whispered, “Just act normal for tonight, we’ll figure this out.”

Hermione nodded and Draco walked over to them both with a forced smile on his face, “I was wondering where you ladies got to.”

“We were powdering our noses, and gossiping,” Daphne said with a shrug, “now where has my date gotten to?”

“I have not seen him,” Draco said, surveying the room.

Daphne sighed, “Gryffindors are such hard work,” she joked as she walked into the crowd to ‘look’ for Harry.

“Do you want to get out of here?” Draco asked, and Hermione now knew that he was only being nice as a façade to get information about Harry to pass onto Voldemort.

She hesitated, but she knew she had to act normal, and normal around Draco Malfoy was a sarcastic retort or an insult so she said, “Have too many people seen you in public with me Malfoy?”

Draco smirked as they left via the back entrance and Hermione’s heart began to race because she was alone with a Death Eater and she was scared. Gryffindor Hermione, you are a bloody Gryffindor. You were in a battle literally 6 months ago, you survived a werewolf chasing you two years ago. You can handle Draco bloody Malfoy.

“Where are we going anyway?” Hermione asked.

“My secret hiding place,” Draco replied.

“You do realise if you show me it that it won’t be a secret anymore, right?” Hermione pointed out.

“Stop being such a know-it-all and feel honoured. Nobody else knows where it is,” Draco remarked, and Hermione laughed inwardly because Daphne knew it was there, she had told Hermione about it the other day.

“You’re right Malfoy. I should be so honoured to be in your glorious presence and find out about all of your secrets,” Hermione remarked sarcastically.

“Maybe for once in your life you should try being grateful, Granger,” Draco said, and Hermione was sure she detected hurt in his voice. Your imagining it, he’s using you. Remember?

Hermione opened her mouth to come up with a retort to that, but she never got a chance because Harry interrupted.

“Hey Hermione, sorry to take you away from your date but we need to go,” Harry said as he walked towards her.

Hermione frowned, so much for acting normal, “Why?” she asked.

“You forgot to put out the hats for the house elves!” Harry compromised, “and they’ll be at the common room to clean it soon.”

“Oh my god, I totally forgot!” Hermione exclaimed, and Draco looked on with a raised eyebrow.

“Why are you putting out hats for house elves?” He asked.

“Because they are wrongfully imprisoned in this school and they deserve the chance to be free if they want it!” Hermione said, and the passion in her voice was real which probably helped convince Draco.

“You really are as weird as they say, Granger,” Draco said, looking bemused.

“I’ll take that as a compliment Malfoy,” Hermione said with the smallest hint of a smile, “but I should go and get those hats out….Thanks, for coming tonight.”

Malfoy shrugged and said, “Someone had to make you look good.”

Harry scoffed and took Hermione’s arm, “Come on, spew isn’t going to raise anymore money if you forget to put the hats out.”

“It’s not called spew!” Hermione said irritably, “it’s the Society for the Promotion of Elvish Welfare!”

Draco shook his head in amusement as they rounded the corridor and disappeared. He found himself smiling a little, and that scared him because this had gone beyond a stunt for the night. He couldn’t have feelings for Hermione Granger, so he wouldn’t, and that was his final thought on the matter, he would shut them off and concentrate on his task.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Have you got the map?” Hermione whispered.

“Of course I have the map,” Harry whispered back, “just keep a hold of the cloak. We’re getting too tall for it now, and if we aren’t careful someone might see our feet.”

“I’ve got it,” Hermione said quietly, “but we have to go or we’ll be late.”

“Late for what?” Ron asked, from where he was standing at the bottom of the boy’s staircase. They hadn’t seen or heard him follow them down into the common room.

Under the cloak Hermione and Harry shared a glance, and they knew they would have to come up with a quick lie because they couldn’t tell Ron the truth. He would blow his top, he hadn’t even heard about Hermione and Draco going to Slughorn’s party together yet.

Ron narrowed his eyes at where he guessed they stood, “What are you two doing? You’ve been weird all week, and I’ve hardly talked to you.”

“Well Ron if you weren’t so caught up in Lavender you would know that Hermione has been helping me and a couple of other people in our year get our Transfiguration up to scratch. McGonagall would go crazy if she knew we were doing it, so we’ve been meeting up in the Room of Requirement.”

“Well then I’ll come with you,” Ron said eagerly, “I need to get my Transfiguration grades up anyway.”

Hermione frowned, she was still angry at Ron so it was easy to harness that feeling and use it, “I don’t want you there Ron, or had you not noticed that I’ve been avoiding you? Come on Harry.”

“Sorry Ron,” Harry said sheepishly as Hermione dragged him out of the common room and the portrait hole shut behind them. They didn’t talk until they were on the grand staircase and the map confirmed that Ron had gone back up to his dormitory.

“I don’t like lying to him, he’s still our friend even if he is sucking Lavender’s face off all of the time,” Harry said under his breath.

“He won’t be our friend when he finds out tomorrow that we went to the party with Malfoy and Daphne. You know he hates Slytherins and pure-bloods, he’s a prejudiced bloody git!” Hermione hissed angrily.

“So is Malfoy, and he’s also a Death Eater,” Harry said angrily, “so don’t go calling Ron things you aren’t prepared to call Malfoy!”

“Malfoy is a prejudiced git and a Death Eater,” Hermione said, catching Harry’s eye, “I won’t deny that because it’s true, but Ron has had a good upbringing. Maybe he was poor, but he’s had love and good morals. Do you think Malfoy’s had that with Death Eater pure-blood crazy parents? He’s probably been brainwashed and forced into things since he was a kid.”

“So you’re sticking up for him?” Harry asked in disbelief.

“I just think we have to hear the whole story before we judge him Harry. I know Malfoy hasn’t been the nicest guy, but there’s a big jump from Hogwarts bully to bloody Death Eater!” Hermione hissed as they emerged in the great hall and shut up as they slipped past Filch and Mrs. Norris.

“I think we know the full story Hermione,” Harry muttered as they walked along the passage to the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room, “it’s simple, Malfoy is a Death Eater, he attacked Katie and he’s planning something diabolical.”

“Diabolical?” Hermione asked in disbelief, “this is Draco Malfoy we are talking about. He talks the talk, but when has he ever hurt anyone?”

Harry opened his mouth to argue, but Hermione hushed him by tapping out the rhythm to open the passage to the common room. As they removed the cloak and crawled in they were silent and when they emerged into the common room they realised that they were the last two to arrive. 

Lilly was sitting on an armchair, her black hair pulled into a bun and her legs tucked underneath her. Susan, Hannah and Daphne were all on the sofa together, dressed either in pajamas or comfortable clothes. But all of the girls had one thing in common, they all looked serious.

“You should sit down,” Daphne said.

Harry sat down in the last remaining armchair and with a sigh Hermione sat on his lap, pulling her legs up and slotting them in between Harry’s leg and the armchairs edge. They both looked at the group of girls expectantly, and then Susan said, “We’re terminating the mission. It’s too dangerous from what Daphne told us she heard. If Draco really is a Death Eater you could really get hurt if you get caught up in this Hermione.”

“But isn’t this the perfect way to work out what’s hes doing?” Hermione asked, “Malfoy is planning something, and if we keep this whole charade up I might be able to find out what it is and stop it.”

“Or Snape might cotton on and kill you,” Harry remarked, “didn’t you hear what they said? Malfoy’s using you to get information on me to give to Voldemort.”

“But I know that, so I’ll be careful not to give him any information,” Hermione insisted.

Lilly shrugged, “I think she has a point. This could be the perfect way to find out what Draco is doing. If he is a Death Eater and he hurt Katie Bell then he is definitely up to something.”

“But why would he hurt Katie?” Susan asked with a frown, “he doesn’t even know her, it doesn’t make any sense.”

“Because Bell wasn’t the person he meant to hurt,” Daphne said darkly, “and before you ask I don’t know who is. But Draco has been acting funny since we got back to school and he’s been especially jumpy since Bell was attacked. Think about it, we found out that he was cheating on us at the start of the school year and we broke things off with him, all three of us.”

“And?” Lilly asked.

“And he didn’t care. If a guy goes to that much effort to have three girlfriends at one time you would think he would be bothered or suspicious when all three of them break up with him within 24 hours,” Daphne pointed out.

“True,” Susan said slowly, “so you think he did hurt Katie but he meant to hurt someone else? Who would he want to hurt in Hogwarts?”

“Besides me, you mean?” Harry asked sarcastically.

“I can tell you this much Potter,” Daphne said with trepidation, “there is a no kill rule on you. I’m no Death Eater, but there are enough of wannabe Death Eaters in my house and I hear things.”

“A no kill rule?” Hannah asked with a frown.

Hermione caught Harry’s eye and said, “She means that under Voldemort’s orders nobody can kill Harry, so that he can do it himself.”

There was a gasp from Hannah, but Harry and Hermione ignored it as they communicated wordlessly. Voldemort knew about the prophecy, and they knew about the prophecy but there was no need for it to go any further than that so they didn’t say anything.

“Well that doesn’t come as any big surprise,” Harry said honestly, “and since Malfoy is a Death Eater now we can assume whatever he is doing is a mission from Voldemort.”

“Which means he isn’t just trying to hurt somebody,” Hermione realised, “he’s trying to kill somebody.”

Lilly had been fairly quiet as she took in this information, but she now spoke up, “It’s obvious, isn’t it?”

“Not to us normal human beings without super intelligence,” Susan remarked.

Lilly caught Hermione’s eyes and said, “You know, you just don’t want to say it.”

“Do you know Hermione?” Harry asked quietly.

“I think so,” Hermione said, her voice barely a whisper. She cleared her throat, “think about it. If Malfoy has been given this mission the target has got to be somebody in Hogwarts. Now think about people who are important enough to kill, within Hogwarts.”

Susan and Hannah looked confused, they still hadn’t worked it out. And then from the armchair Harry’s voice said quietly, but firmly, “Dumbledore.”

Daphne nodded, “It has to be.”

“But why?” Susan asked in disbelief, “Why would they ask a 16 year old to kill Dumbledore? He’ll never manage it!”

“Well that’s the easy part,” Harry said, his voice still quiet, “he isn’t supposed to manage it.”

“What do you mean?” Hannah asked with a frown.

“His Father was imprisoned,” Daphne said, “in Voldemort’s eyes that’s a failure and there must be a punishment. Lucius Malfoy is in Azkaban, so the only way Voldemort can punish him is by punishing Draco.”

“He isn’t supposed to manage to kill Dumbledore,” Harry said again.

Hermione spoke up, and her voice was so quiet the others had to strain their ears to hear her, “He’s supposed to die. That’s Lucius Malfoy’s punishment.”

There was silence in the room for a moment, nobody knew what to say to that.

“Shit,” Harry sighed.

“What now?” Susan asked sharply, hoping he didn’t have any more bad news.

“I hate to say this, but we have got to save him,” Harry said honestly, “I know he cheated on all of you, and he’s made my life and Hermione’s hell for the last 5 years, but he’s not a murderer.”

“This isn’t him,” Daphne said, “He’s a coward, and a bastard at times. But he isn’t a killer, he can’t want to do this and he must be so terrified right now. What do you think Voldemort told him to make him do it?”

“Probably that he’d kill his Mother and Father if he fails,” Harry said, “Voldemort uses people’s weaknesses. Why do you think I’m trying so hard not to let anyone in? He’ll only use them against me when I eventually have to fight him.”

“Draco might not let us help him, if he really is so afraid,” Lilly pointed out, “and from what Daphne said Snape is involved in this somehow too. If he won’t trust Snape why would he trust us? We’ve not known him for as long.”

“But we’re not Death Eaters,” Harry said firmly, “and regardless of what you say, Hermione, I do think Snape is a Death Eater. He certainly isn’t on our side, and if Malfoy is afraid then he’s not going to trust someone else who is working for Voldemort.”

“But Snape made the Unbreakable Vow to protect him, why would he do that if he wasn’t trying to protect Malfoy?” Hermione asked.

“Maybe he just wants to screw Narcissa Malfoy,” Daphne said crudely, “look, trusting Snape isn’t a good idea. Take it from someone who’s had him as their Head of House for 5 years. He’s as slimy as Slytherins come, I can see why Draco won’t trust him.”

“So where do we go from here?” Susan asked, looking between them all.

“I think it’s time to get the DA back together,” Harry said with a smile in Hermione’s direction, “well at least those members we trust, and possibly some new ones.”

“What the hell is the DA?” Daphne asked, she hadn’t been on the inquisitorial squad the year before so she had no idea what the DA was, and Lilly hadn’t been a part of it but she had heard it being talked about by people like Cho Chang and Luna Lovegood.

“It’s a secret organisation we formed last year to learn magic when Umbridge banned practical in her lessons,” Harry said, “it stands for Dumbledore’s Army which is appropriate given its new cause.”

Daphne rolled her eyes, “If I’m joining it has to have a new name.”

Hermione smiled slightly, “I think for the moment we should keep this between us. The less people that know about Draco the better, and the more chance we have to gain his trust.”

“I think that’s got to be your job, Granger,” Daphne remarked, “he’s not going to trust any of us. We broke up with him within 24 hours of each other. He’s got to know what happened and that we figured it out. He’ll be confused as hell if Hannah suddenly tries to get to know him, and he’ll never trust Potter.”

“I’m not much better than Harry in his books,” Hermione pointed out.

“But you’ve been on a date with him, which is more than Harry’s done,” Susan remarked.

Harry made a face at the thought, “That’s the stuff of nightmares,” he muttered.

Hermione managed a weak smile and said, “Look, you don’t have to convince me on this. I’ve never liked Draco Malfoy, but I don’t want to see him become a murderer. I don’t know if I’ll be able to get him to trust me, but I’ll certainly try.”

Hannah sighed, “This has all gotten so confusing. Can’t we ever have a simple year at Hogwarts?”

“Not while we’re friends with Harry bloody Potter,” Susan remarked.

“I should never have gotten myself into this,” Lilly joked.

Harry smiled weakly, “Sorry, trouble seems to follow me everywhere I go.”

“Well it looks like we’re all following you now, Potter,” Daphne said simply, “but we need a plan, and you’re the leader here.”

Harry looked at Hermione who smiled and nudged him, “You’re a natural leader, Harry. And you are the Voldemort expert. What are we going to do?”

“Until we can get Malfoy to trust us, not much,” Harry said honestly, “although figuring out how Katie Bell got mixed up in the middle of this might help.”

“What are we going to do about Ron?” Hermione asked, biting her lip, “we can’t keep lying to him and when he finds out who we took as dates to Slughorn’s party he’s going to go mental.”

“Well he won’t talk to us for at least a week when he finds out,” Harry said honestly, “probably after having a massive fight with us in the Great Hall. That gives us a bit of time before we need to figure out how to tell him. You said it yourself, he’ll just go mental.”

Hermione sighed and said, “You were the one who said you hated lying to him.”

“And I do, but frankly he can be a right arse at times,’ Harry said.

“So there’s our plan,” Lilly said, “Hermione focuses on gaining Draco’s trust, and the rest of us try and work out how Katie Bell got caught up in this and what Draco’s plan is so that we can stop it in the event that Hermione can’t gain his trust.”

“Everybody listen to the Ravenclaw,” Harry said, “as leader, those are my instructions.”

Daphne smiled slightly as she got to her feet, “You are a good leader Potter. When and where are we going to meet to discuss our progress? Two Hufflepuffs, two Gryffindors, a Ravenclaw and a Slytherin meeting all over the school is going to look suspicious.”

“There’s a room called the Room of Requirement on the 7th floor. Walk past the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy three times and think of what you need, which in this case is a meeting room and a door will appear. It’s secret, so don’t go telling everyone about the room. Hermione has these fake galleons that burn and then the time and date of the meeting shows up on them. She’ll slip you all one so you know when to meet,” Harry informed them all.

Susan and Hannah nodded, “We still have our DA ones, will they work?”

“I’ll re-enchant them for you so that they do,” Hermione said, “and I’ll make two for you,” she added for the benefit of Daphne and Lilly.

Daphne smiled at Harry and said, “I underestimated you two. I think I’ll start calling you the dream team.”

Lilly laughed and said, “Yeah, if it weren’t for the fact that there were lives at risk this whole secret group thing would have been a whole lot of fun. See you around then.”

“Yeah,” Daphne agreed as they both prepared to leave, “see you around, Potter.”

TBC :)


	4. How to Save a Life

Hermione was early to breakfast on Monday morning, as she always was. She had been reading a book and slowly making her way through some toast when Harry and Ron walked into the hall, arguing in hushed undertones. She could hear them, even if they did think they were being quiet.

“-just can’t believe you’d do that Harry! And what the hell was Hermione thinking? Was she imperiused?”

“It’s really not your business Ron, so back off!”

“Not my business? Last time I checked I was your best friend-”

“Was last time you checked before or after you attached yourself to Lavender?”

“At least she’s a Gryffindor not a dirty snake or a Death Eater wannabe!”

Hermione kept her head down as they neared her, but Ron spotted her right away. His face was red, and she could tell he was angry the moment she saw him.

“Hermione!” he said, in what he clearly thought was a quiet tone of voice, but half the hall were watching the three of them now, “how the hell could you go to Slughorn’s party with him? Bloody McLaggen would have been better than him!”

“It’s none of your business who I go to parties with Ronald,” Hermione said firmly

“None of my business?” Ron said, his voice getting louder, “You went with Draco Malfoy!”

“And?” Hermione asked shrilly, “why do you care? You have a girlfriend, remember?”

Ron’s face got even redder, “I’m not jealous, Hermione! I just don’t want you hanging around his lot.”

“Ron, you’ve got to calm down. Who Hermione, or I, go to parties with really isn’t your business. You can’t control who we’re friends with,” Harry said calmly.

Ron scoffed, “So you’re just replacing me with the schools biggest slut and Draco fucking Malfoy?” he practically shouted.

Harry raised his voice as he said, “You’re calling her a slut? Look at your girlfriend.”

Ron’s face burned bright red, and Harry was reminded of his Uncle Vernon, “Leave her out of this!”

“Why? You’ve gotten everyone else involved!” Harry said irritably.

“Well you should have asked me before you went with them!” Ron said hotly.

“We don’t need your permission to do anything!” Hermione said, now raising her own voice, “and for your information I was going to ask you but I had much more fun with Malfoy than I would have had with you anyway!”

Ron looked positively outraged at this and shouted, “Yeah well he probably only went with you to try and shag you anyway. Hermione Granger, the most recent notch on Malfoy’s broomstick.”

“How dare you!” Hermione shrieked as she got to her feet and pulled out her wand, “you are the one sneaking around in every classroom you can find with her! You are such a hypocrite, Ronald Weasley!”

She was reminded of the Yule Ball as tears burned at her eyes, and when she saw Draco and Daphne walk up behind Ron she knew things were about to get worse.

“I think you will find I was the perfect gentleman, Weasley,” Draco said coolly, “I don’t get caught trysting with my fellow students across the school.”

Lavender, who had heard about half of this argument since entering the hall glared at Draco as he looked pointedly at her, “Ron and I are dating-”

Draco waved her away, “Go away Brown and find some other Gryffindor to entertain.”

Lavender shut her mouth and looked thoroughly displeased, but Draco ignored this and said, “I do not appreciate you shouting profanities about me in front of the whole school Weasley, and I especially dislike falsities being spread. I think this boils down to one thing, you are jealous that Granger asked me instead of you.”

“And I don’t know why you care that Potter took me,” Daphne said with a raised eyebrow, “or do you want to screw him too?”

Harry’s face screwed up in disgust, and Ron was now thoroughly embarrassed as he spat out, “I just don’t want my friends joining your junior Death Eater gang! Or have you forgotten who killed your parents, Harry?”

Harry had a temper, and most of the time he could control it. But as he stared at Ron, he found it impossible to control that temper, “Do you want to repeat that?” he asked quietly.

Ron swallowed hard, and Neville spoke up from where he was sitting nearby at the Gryffindor table, “I was there for the whole party Ron. Nobody did anything bad, and they were all polite.”

Ron scoffed, glad that Harry’s attention was no longer on him. He turned to Neville, “So you’re sympathising with them too then Neville? Or have you forgotten what they did to your parents as well?”

Neville got to his feet, but Ron wasn’t scared because he didn’t think Neville would hurt him. That was why it came as such a surprise when Neville’s fist collided with his nose, and it cracked loudly. Ron shouted out in pain, and Neville said quietly, “First of all, they didn’t do it. Other people did, and that is private!”

Ron whimpered in pain, and McGonagall was standing in front of them in seconds, “That is enough! Potter, Weasley, Granger, Longbottom, Greengrass and Malfoy, I will see you all in detention tonight, 7pm, the entrance hall!”

Ron was still whining in pain and McGonagall said firmly, “Finnigan, take Weasley to the hospital wing.”

They walked towards the oak doors to the entrance hall, and McGonagall turned her gaze on Neville, “Longbottom, my office now!”

Neville swallowed as he was led out of the hall by McGonagall, leaving just Harry, Hermione, Draco and Daphne standing in the middle of the silent great hall awkwardly.

“I’m going to Potions,” Hermione and Draco said, practically simultaneously. They frowned at each other at the occurrence and Draco, going back to his old self shrugged and said, “See you there Mudblood.”

He turned and left, and Hermione frowned, “What was that?”

“It’s his defence mechanism,” Daphne said simply, “See you in Potions, anyway. Bye Potter.”

“Bye,” Harry said, slightly bemused as Daphne followed Draco out of the hall. 

Hermione grabbed her textbook, “I’m going too, everyone is watching us. Are you coming?”

Harry nodded, “Uh yeah,” he said, grabbing his bag and leaving the hall with Hermione as a plan began to hatch in his head. Slughorn loved him, and he could use that to his advantage so he had decided that he was going to try and do just that.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Professor Slughorn,” Harry said as he walked into the classroom after knocking on the door. Hermione, Daphne and Draco were still waiting outside.

Slughorn positively beamed at Harry, “Oh hello Harry my boy. What can I do for you today?”

“Well, I don’t know if you heard but I just had an argument with my friend in the Great Hall so I don’t really want to be sitting with him” Harry said, “and I was wondering if you could maybe shuffle the seating arrangement around a little? Maybe pair Slytherins and Gryffindors together, to help house unity and keep Dumbledore happy?”

Slughorn smiled, “Ah, you wouldn’t want to be seated with a certain Miss. Greengrass now, would you Harry? I couldn’t help but notice that you two seemed close at my party.”

“And what an excellent party it was,” Harry said passionately, “you really know how to throw them Professor.”

Slughorn stood up and patted Harry on the shoulder, he chortled, “Well played my boy. Of course, I think a shuffle in the seating arrangement could be greatly beneficial to the learning environment of the class,” he winked at Harry.

“Excellent news Professor,” Harry said brightly, “oh, and there is one more thing. Do you think you might be able to seat my friend Hermione with Draco Malfoy?”

Slughorn chortled again as the bell rang, “Any friend of Harry Potter is a friend of mine,” he said, opening the door and letting the students file in. 

Once they were seated Slughorn said, “Good morning 6th years. I have decided that for the next few months it will do this class good to have a shuffle in the seating arrangements so I would like Blaise Zabini and Lavender Brown in the front here, Ronald Weasley and Millicent Bulstrode here when he returns from the hospital wing. Dean Thomas and Susan Bones here, and I think we will have Harry Potter and Daphne Greengrass behind them. Lillian Moon and Ernie MacMillan to the right here. Padma Patil and Theodore Nott at the back, and Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy at the last table in the back.”

There was much grumbling as the class moved to their new seats, complaining about this new seating arrangement. Hermione shot Harry a glare amongst the shuffle, because she knew this had been his plan but she had to commend him, it was a good one. This way Hermione could talk to Draco and try and get him to trust her in a situation where he couldn’t just walk away when he got fed up or when she asked something he didn’t want to answer. She sat down, and took her books out and Draco did the same next to her, and they were silent.

“So…” Hermione said in a bid to start conversation.

“Just because we have to sit next to each other doesn’t mean we need to talk, mudblood,” Draco drawled.

“What is your issue?” Hermione asked in disbelief, “I thought we actually had fun the other night.”

“I do not have fun with Mudbloods,” Draco said, loud enough for Theodore Nott at the table next to them to hear, “I was bored and you were my ticket to that party. No need to think you’re special.”

Hermione pushed away the hurt feeling that bubbled up at his words. No, you can’t let getting hurt get in the way Hermione. If you don’t help him he’s going to hurt someone else, or himself and as much as he’s hurting your feelings you can’t let that happen.

She listened to her internal monologue and swallowed her pride, “Sorry Malfoy, I just thought you were actually a decent person the other night. But I guess that was all a façade.”

Hermione was sure she saw hurt in his eyes at her words, but he just shrugged and said, “Do you honestly think I would ever want to be friends with someone like you?”

Hermione just looked down at her book with red cheeks and ignored him as Slughorn started the class. He seemed to have gone back to hating her again, but he had defended her in the great hall this morning. She was so confused, and she had no idea how to gain his trust when he seemed to despise everything about her.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“What’s with the long face?”

“He hates me,” Hermione muttered angrily to Susan, it was after lunch and they were in the greenhouse together. The good thing about Herbology was that the sounds of the plants snapping and swaying, and the sounds of tools against ceramic pots meant they could talk quite comfortably without being overheard.

“I heard him defend you this morning,” Susan said, “I hardly think that’s hatred.”

Hermione cast her gaze away from Ron, who was glaring at her from where he stood with a strip over his nose. Neville was standing at the other end of the bench, a fair distance away from the hot-headed redhead. She turned to Susan, “You didn’t hear what he said to me in Potions. That I was a Mudblood, and he didn’t want anything to do with me. And I know he’s using me to get to Harry.”

“Is he though or did he just tell Snape that to get him off his back?” Susan asked, “I don’t think he knows how he feels about you. I think he’s trying to hate you, because it’s easier and safer for you if he does. If he gets involved with you and brings you into whatever he’s doing it’s dangerous for you, and he’ll know that.”

“How do you know him so well?” Hermione asked with a frown, “you can’t have dated him for that long.”

“I didn’t, but I grew up with him. I told you, I was at all of the pure-blood parties as a kid with families like his and the Greengrass’s. He nearly drove a wedge between Daphne and me when he dated us at the same time, but we’re still close,” Susan said, “I’ve known Draco since I was 4, and I know the way he thinks.”

“Then tell me how to gain his trust, because I don’t know how to when all he does is insult me and belittle me in front of people,” Hermione said a little desperately.

“He’ll try and play the big man in front of his friends, he always has done,” Susan said, “so talk to him in private. Ignore him in potions, but sit next to him and talk to him when the library is practically deserted.”

“Talk to him about what? We don’t get past petty insults,” Hermione pointed out.

“You have more in common than you know, Hermione,” Susan said with a slight smile, “he loves reading, he loves Potions and romantic epics. Use those things as basic starting points, offer to help him with his Transfiguration because it’s his weakest class and use those as building blocks.”

“You really know him well,” Hermione said, looking at Susan and having a bit of a revelation, “you still care about him, don’t you?”

“Of course I do. He was my friend for years, and because of what happened we don’t even talk anymore,” Susan said honestly, “and I’m scared for him right now.”

“So am I,” Hermione admitted, “that’s why I’m doing this.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

At 7pm that night Harry, Hermione, Ron, Neville, Draco and Daphne found themselves in the entrance hall with McGonagall, awaiting their detention. Nobody said a word to each other as McGonagall led them out into the dark, freezing cold grounds all the way down to the Quidditch Pitch.

“Your punishment is to clean the Quidditch Pitch, and Madam Hooch will not let you leave until it is cleaned to her standards,” McGonagall said, leaving them to be instructed by Hooch. They were split up, and much to Hermione’s annoyance she was tasked with picking up litter from the stands with Draco.

It was freezing cold, it was dark, and she didn’t have her wand. Needless to say, Hermione was not in a good mood.

“I know you don’t want to talk to me, Malfoy, but I’m going to talk at you because I hate awkward silences,” Hermione said, shivering as she picked up bits of litter and put them into the bags Hooch had given them.

Draco sniggered, and Hermione grumbled, “This is all Ronald Weasley’s fault. If he could just keep it in his pants and not flirt with his best friend for 5 years, leading her to believe he had romantic feelings for her, then none of this would have happened.”

“Not jealous at all Granger,” Draco drawled.

“Fuck off Malfoy,” Hermione bit back irritably.

“Well, you really are in a bad mood,” Draco said, amusement lacing his voice.

“I thought you weren’t talking to me Malfoy,” Hermione said, raising an eyebrow at him.

“I’m not,” Draco said firmly.

“Yes you are, you talked to me just now,” Hermione pointed out, “and to be honest, I can’t be bothered with you not talking to me while we have to clean every single one of these bloody stands. So, even if it’s just to insult me, can you please talk to me?”

Draco snorted, and Hermione muttered, “I never thought I’d rather spend the night with Draco bloody Malfoy instead of Ron.”

“That sounds like an innuendo,” Draco joked.

“Ugh!” Hermione groaned, “Get over yourself Malfoy. Not everyone wants to screw you.”

“No, but everyone seems to want to screw Brown at the moment. I can’t imagine why,” Draco drawled, “although Weasley doesn’t have much taste anyway.”

“Can you just leave Ron and bloody Lavender out of this for one fucking second?” Hermione said angrily, her pink cheeks becoming red, “I get that he doesn’t notice me because I’m just Hermione, his best friend, the girl with the bushy hair and bland personality! And Lavender is so bubbly and fantastic, and every guys dream, I get that okay! I don’t care Malfoy, but I’m freezing and I’m fed up and I just…I don’t want to talk about them okay!”

Her voice had gotten louder and louder as her rant continued, and by the time she was finished the tears burning behind her eyes were falling, and she felt like a complete idiot. She turned away from Draco, and wiped her eyes feeling embarrassed.

“You have some serious self-confidence issues, Granger,” Draco said from behind her, but it didn’t sound insulting, just a comment.

“Can’t imagine why,” Hermione said bitterly.

Draco cleared his throat, “I’m sorry Granger, I didn’t mean it like that-”

“Don’t pretend that you care Malfoy,” Hermione said in a choked voice.

“I’m…” his voice trailed off, and for a moment all they could hear was the wind. Hermione sat down on one of the benches, and the last thing she expected was for a warm, fur lined cloak to be gently placed over her shoulders.

“I’m sorry you’re having problems, Granger,” Draco said, sitting down next to her, “but he’s a Weasley. What do you expect?”

“Don’t,” Hermione said weakly, “don’t bring your family feud into this Malfoy.”

“I’m not,” Draco said, “but look at the Weasley kids. The oldest one might be settling down now, but he was wild before that, and the other older ones still single isn’t he? Look at Weaslette and the amount of guys she’s led on, and those twins were arses to women. And if somebody did want to date the other one, I’d be shocked, I can’t even remember the guy’s name.”

“Percy,” Hermione said, glaring at Draco.

“Merlin, don’t tell me you had a crush on the guy?” Draco said.

“He’s Ron brother, of course I didn’t,” Hermione muttered, but her mind was in over-drive, Malfoy can’t talk about Ron being an arse to women. He dated three girls at the same time! What a hypocrite!

“Anyway,” Draco said as he got to his feet, “enough about your relationship problems, if I talk about Weasley’s for too long I come out in a rash.”

Hermione rolled her eyes and stood up, feeling significantly warmer in Draco’s cloak. She frowned as a familiar smell invaded her nostrils, it was coming from his cloak and it smelled like…fancy cologne. Her frown deepened as she tried to remember where she had smelled it before, and then it hit her like a ton of bricks. Shit, amortentia. When I smelled it in Slughorn’s class it smelled like freshly mown grass, new parchment and cologne, fancy cologne that smelled just like the stuff on this cloak. That can’t be a coincidence, can it? Merlin, it has to be a coincidence! I can’t be attracted to Draco Malfoy!

“Granger, you alright?”

Hermione was drawn out of her reverie, and she was glad for the cold because she was certain that her face was bright red at the moment, “Uh, yeah I’m fine.”

Draco raised an eyebrow at her, “Are you sure? You don’t sound convinced.”

“I’m fine,” Hermione said simply, “but now that my breakdowns over, we can go back to hating each other Malfoy.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night Granger,” Draco teased, and just like that they fell back into the silence their detention had begun with.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“How was the litter pick-up with Malfoy?” Harry yawned as they walked up the grand staircase towards the Gryffindor common room. 

“Enlightening,” Hermione sighed, “what were you doing?”

“Cleaning the showers with Nev,” Harry said, “the company was fine, it was the job that sucked. What happened with Malfoy?”

“Well, I had an emotional breakdown about Ron and Lavender,” Hermione said, shaking her head in annoyance with herself, “and he told me I ought to have expected it because the Weasley’s were arses, and then gave me his cloak because I was cold.”

Harry frowned, “So he was nice to you?”

“A mixture of insulting, and comforting,” Hermione shrugged, “I don’t think he knows whether he likes me or not to be honest, and I don’t mean that in a romantic way. I mean in general, he can’t decide whether he thinks I’m a nice person or that he completely hates me.”

“He’s pretty complicated, but I can understand why now that we know what’s going on with him,” Harry sighed, “I feel sorry for the guy.”

“So do I,” Hermione said, “which is why I’ve finished the galleons and I’ll hand them out this week. We’ll get everyone together soon and try to figure what he’s planning, and why Katie got caught up in it.”

“Yeah, that’s the part I don’t understand,” Harry agreed, yawning the password to the Fat Lady. They entered the common room which was empty, and Harry said goodnight and went to his dorm. Hermione sat down on the sofa, and took a book from her bag. She didn’t want to go to bed yet because she knew she would just toss and turn, she hadn’t been sleeping well for a while. She didn’t know how long she was in the common room for when footsteps padded down from the girls dorm and Ginny walked into the common room in her pajamas.

“Oh, hey Hermione,” she yawned, “I just came down to grab my Charms book. Why are you still up so late?”

“I’ve got a lot on my mind,” Hermione admitted.

Ginny smiled and sat down next to her on the sofa, “Is this because of Ron? I heard the whole argument in the great hall this morning.”

“I only went to that party with Malfoy to annoy Ron,” Hermione admitted, “so I guess I got my way. But I just thought he would care more, I thought he had feelings…for me.”

“I don’t know what goes through my brothers mind Hermione,” Ginny admitted, “but if he lets you go then he really is an idiot, and I don’t know what he sees in that irritating bimbo. He’s bringing her home for Christmas this year, between her and phlegm I don’t know how I’ll cope.”

“You could always stay at Hogwarts,” Hermione suggested.

“Mum would kill me if I left her alone to deal with that,” Ginny said with a shake of her head, “she’s gonna flip at Ron when she finds out you and Harry aren’t coming. I’m assuming you won’t unless you make up with Ron?”

“Probably not,” Hermione admitted.

“This isn’t just about Ron, is it?” Ginny asked, reading Hermione like a book, “It’s about Malfoy. Merlin, do you actually like the guy?”

Hermione scoffed, “It’s impossible to like someone who’s that hot and cold,” she said irritably.

Ginny smiled a little, “Spill the beans, what happened on your detention tonight?”

Hermione did trust Ginny, despite their differences. They were friends and had been for years, so she opened up to the redhead, “One second he was insulting me and then when I had a bit of a breakdown over this whole Ron and Lavender thing he was actually quite comforting and….almost sweet. He gave me his cloak.”

Ginny chuckled, “Yeah, I see what you mean about being hot and cold. He’s probably just trying not to be nice to you, if people see that he is they’ll get suspicious, and ruin his reputation or whatever.”

Hermione nodded thoughtfully, “Ginny, what do you smell when you smell amortentia?”

Ginny frowned, “Uh, why?”

“I’m just curious,” Hermione said sheepishly.

Ginny replied, “Well I smell broomstick polish, cakes baking, and…the third thing is sort of hard to pin-point, it’s an earthy sort of smell like…”

“A greenhouse?” Hermione suggested.

Ginny frowned, “Sort of, I suppose. Anyway, what do you smell? You’re obviously asking me this for a reason.”

Hermione replied, “New parchment, freshly mown grass and…”

“Draco Malfoy’s cologne?” Ginny guessed.

Hermione’s head snapped up, “How did you…”

“I’ve known you for years Hermione, and you’re the least subtle person I know,” Ginny said in amusement.

“But it’s just cologne. Anyone could use the same stuff, right?” Hermione asked, only a little bit panicked.

Ginny smiled, “I hate to break it to you, but Draco Malfoy is a rich bastard. Hardly anyone in Hogwarts can afford the cologne he uses. What you smelled, it was unique to him.”

“But, I hate him Ginny!”

“I highly doubt that,” Ginny said, “and from what you just told me I don’t think he hates you either. Didn’t your Mum tell you as a kid that boys tease you because they like you and don’t know how to tell you?”

“We’re not kids anymore,” Hermione pointed out.

“I didn’t say he was mature,” Ginny said with a slight smile as she got to her feet, “just be careful Mione. There’s a war coming on, and he’s right in the heart of the opposition.”

“I know, Gin,” Hermione said with a smile, Ginny was just looking out for her after all, “I promise I’ll be careful.”

Ginny nodded, “Night Hermione,” she said, and not long after Ginny had left, Hermione decided that she really ought to get some sleep herself.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

They didn’t have much time to set their plan in motion before Christmas break, on Tuesday morning Harry and Hermione found themselves discussing that at the Gryffindor table over breakfast.

“We need to talk to McGonagall at break today,” Harry said as he put some jam on his toast.

Hermione frowned, “Why?”

“Because we’re supposed to be getting on the Hogwarts Express to go to the Burrow on Friday,” Harry said pointedly, “I somehow doubt Ron is going to want us to spend Christmas with him considering the fact he’s angry with us, and we’ve barely spoken to him since he got together with Lavender.’”

Hermione sighed, “But that’s just not right. We’ve always spent our Christmases together, we should talk to Ron, he’s our best friend.”

Harry glanced along the table to where Ron was sitting, with Lavender on his lap, and frowned, “Is he? How can he just completely stop talking to us for a girl?”

Hermione shook her head as she got to her feet, “We’re not talking to Professor McGonagall until we’ve talked to Ron first,” she said.

“Good luck with that,” Harry muttered as Hermione walked down the table, and paused behind Ron, “Um, Ron,” she said.

Ron detached himself from Lavender, and rather grossly wiped his face with his arm, “Oh hey Hermione,” he said a little awkwardly.

“Harry and I were just wondering what we were doing this Christmas,” Hermione said, sitting down next to him on the bench, “I mean we are supposed to be going to The Burrow but we haven’t exactly been on the best terms.”

Ron frowned, “Well you’ve gone and become friends with the Slytherins. It’s a bit awkward if I’m honest.”

“But we can’t only be friends with you for our entire life, Ron,” Hermione said calmly, “there are some really nice people in other houses and Harry and I are friends with them too.”

“Like Malfoy and Greengrass?” Ron asked bitterly.

“They are some of them, but we’ve made friends with some Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws too,” Hermione said, so far she thought this was going well.

“So what are you asking me? If you’re allowed to come to The Burrow or if I want you to?” Ron asked bluntly, “Because Mum will let you come even if I say no.”

“Well, do you want us there?” Hermione asked, trepidation hanging on her words. She still cared about what he thought of her, and what he said, even after all the stamping he had done on her heart.

“Not really,” Ron said bluntly.

Hermione swallowed and nodded, “Right. Well, have a good Christmas then,” she said, turning around and leaving the hall.

Harry caught up with her in their first period class, which was Transfiguration. He knew they wouldn’t have long to speak, so the moment he sat down he said, “So we’ll talk to McGonagall after class?”

Hermione sighed, “Yeah,” she said a little miserably.

“Hey, don’t worry about it Mione. We’re going to have a great Christmas,” Harry said, taking her hand underneath the table and squeezing it as he gave her a comforting smile.

Hermione looked up to smile back at him, and noticed that from the table across the aisle Draco was glaring at Harry, she averted her eyes before Draco saw her looking, “Thanks, Harry,” she said. So Susan’s right, he definitely doesn’t hate me, but then again he doesn’t exactly like me either. She sighed heavily, her life had gotten even more confusing than even she had thought possible.

All the way through double Transfiguration Hermione could feel Draco’s eyes on her and it made her feel uncomfortable. She ignored it, and never looked up, and all the while her brain was in over-drive with thoughts of what had happened in the past weeks. What had begun as a simple party in the Hufflepuff common room and become a mission regarding Voldemort.

The class dragged by, and when it was finally over Harry and Hermione purposefully took a long time to pack their bags and then walked up to McGonagall’s desk.

“Mr. Potter, Miss. Granger. What can I do for you?” McGonagall asked.

“We were hoping you could put our names on the list of students staying at Hogwarts over Christmas break,” Harry said.

“And why do you make that request, Potter?” McGonagall asked.

“We’re supposed to be staying at the Burrow, Professor,” Hermione said, “with Ron and his family.”

“I see,” McGonagall said knowingly, “of course, I will add your names to the list.”

“Thank you Professor,” Hermione said with a smile.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Wednesday night found Hermione alone in the library. She and Draco in Potions had ignored each other throughout the whole period of Potions which had been incredibly awkward. And on the way out, while Hermione packed her bags she heard Theodore Nott mutter something to Draco.

“You better have a shower after dinner Draco, you stink after sitting next to that filth for a whole hour.”

“Fuck off, Nott.”

Hermione was still dwelling on that occurrence as she sat with a book open in front of her, and a half written Charms essay to her side. Had he been defending her? Or was he just pissed off that Nott had insulted him? She sighed heavily, she wasn’t getting anywhere with Draco and on Friday Christmas break began. She hadn’t asked him, because she knew he wouldn’t answer her so Hermione didn’t know if Draco was staying at Hogwarts or going home.

“Thinking hard, Hermione?”

Hermione jumped at the voice in the silent library, but when she looked up at the person blocking her candlelight she realised that it was only Lilly. She looked very different in her school clothes, wearing a baggy Ravenclaw jumper and thick rimmed square glasses.

“Hey Lilly,” Hermione said with a tired smile.

“No offence, but you look like shit,” Lilly said bluntly as she sat down across from Hermione.

“I’ve not been sleeping well,” Hermione admitted.

“You should go to Madam Pomfrey about that. You don’t want to mess your grades up in 6th year,” Lilly said with a frown.

Hermione smiled weakly, “I think my grades are going to get messed up anyway. You heard Harry, there’s going to be a war and it’s going to kick off soon.”

“That’s not an excuse to forget to be a teenager when you still are one,” Lilly said with a smile, “look at me, I’m a Ravenclaw by day and a fun-loving Hufflepuff by night.”

Hermione laughed and said, “Yeah, I wondered why I hadn’t noticed you when I saw you at the party. You look pretty different by day.”

Lilly smiled and said, “I blend in during the day, it makes my life a whole lot easier but I still get to have fun.”

“That must be why Malfoy liked you,” Hermione said thoughtfully, “he seems to like fun girls.”

“He likes a lot of girls,” Lilly said with a shrug.

“Does he have a type?” Hermione asked, “I mean he dated you, Susan and Daphne at the same time. A brunette, a blonde and a redhead.”

“I don’t think even Draco knows his type,” Lilly said honestly.

“It sounds like its anything female,” Hermione retorted.

Lilly smirked a little, “That’s not what you really want to know is it? You’re wondering why he dated me because I’m a Muggle-born.”

“Well, I didn’t want to say,” Hermione admitted sheepishly.

“I’m a hard person to offend, Hermione,” Lilly said in amusement, “but to answer your unspoken question, I don’t think he actually hates Muggle-borns. He doesn’t terrorise every Muggle-born in this school, or do anything bad to them. I mean I guess he threatened them when the chamber of secrets was opened in second year, but since then the only person he insults for being Muggle-born is you.”

“Is this supposed to make me feel better?” Hermione asked with a raised eyebrow.

“It should,” Lilly said, “it means you’re special. It isn’t because you’re a Muggle-born, that’s just the excuse he uses. It’s because you are Hermione Granger, the one person whose comebacks are just as good as his and just as quick. He likes to get a rise out of you.”

“That’s one thing, but half the time he’s just downright nasty, and I try to pretend it doesn’t hurt but of course it does,” Hermione said, keeping her gaze down.

“He’s a dick Hermione,” Lilly said, “I’m not trying to convince you otherwise. He is a completely selfish, arrogant dick so who knows why he does the things that he does. He was nice enough to me, and he never mentioned my blood status, that’s all I know.”

“How did you two even meet?” Hermione asked curiously.

“The library,” Lilly said honestly, “we got talking on late nights in the library when we were alone and it went from there. He’s a secretive person, so I doubt in the 6 months I dated him I found out anything real about him, he’s complicated.”

“I’d gathered that much,” Hermione admitted with a sigh, “but I really don’t know how I’m supposed to gain his trust.”

“Stick to the library, it’s your common ground,” Lilly said, “if you try and talk to him in front of anyone else he’ll just block you or insult you. I dated the guy, and he pretended that I didn’t exist when we were in public together.”

Hermione nodded, “Alright,” she said finally, “oh, Lilly are you going home for Christmas?”

Lilly scoffed, “No way. I only go home when I absolutely have to, why?”

“Harry and I were thinking of having our first meeting,” Hermione said, reaching into her bag and giving Lilly a galleon, “it will be over the Christmas break but the galleon will burn and the date and time will appear.”

Lilly grinned, “Cool,” she said eagerly, “well I’ll definitely be there.”

Hermione smiled, “Good, I’m kind of glad of all this in a way. I know it’s horrible for Malfoy, but we’d never have been friends without it.”

“That’s true,” Lilly said as she stood up with a smile, “There’s a silver lining to every cloud. I’ll see you at the meeting.”

“Yeah, see you there,” Hermione said as Lilly grabbed a book and walked towards the door of the library. Hermione watched her go, and to her surprise as Lilly left, Draco walked in. Lilly smiled at him, and Draco blanked her then he scanned the library and saw Hermione who had been smart enough to keep her head down and make it look like she was reading.

She scrawled down some information from the book onto the essay in front of her, and when she turned her head to turn the page of her book she jumped when she saw Draco standing right by her table.

“Malfoy!” Hermione exclaimed in fright, “What do you want?”

“We need to talk,” Draco said simply.

“Really?” Hermione asked sarcastically, “I thought you spent half your time not talking to me.”

Draco rolled his eyes, “You’re being melodramatic Granger.”

“And you’re being an arse,” Hermione said irritably.

“Can we quit with the insults and talk?” Draco asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I don’t know, can you get through a conversation with me without calling me a mudblood?” Hermione asked.

“I came here to offer an olive branch to you, Granger,” Draco drawled.

“That would imply you want to be my friend,” Hermione pointed out.

“Well, maybe I do.”

“Do you?” Hermione asked sarcastically, “Because I don’t know what we are Malfoy and I’m sick of it so either hate me and leave me the hell alone, or be my friend. You can’t just pick and choose which one you want to do depending on your mood! I’m actually a human being, not one of your little playthings!”

“Can’t you ever just shut the hell up and let me talk?” Draco asked irritably, he had raised his voice too now.

Just as Hermione opened her mouth to yell back at Draco Madam Pince emerged from behind a bookcase and promptly kicked them out of the library. They were still annoyed at each other as they walked along the first floor corridor, and when they neared the grand staircase Draco grabbed Hermione’s arm and pulled her into a secret passageway behind a tapestry.

“What are you doing?” She hissed at him.

“I came here to talk to you Granger, and I’m not leaving until we’ve talked,” Draco said, not letting go of her arm.

“Fuck off and leave me alone. There, we’ve talked, you happy?” Hermione said in annoyance. She knew she wasn’t supposed to get riled up, that probably wasn’t helping in gaining his trust but he just pissed her off so much.

“Fucking hell you are so infuriating!” Draco said, letting go of her arm, “I don’t know whether to curse you or laugh and that pisses me off because I can’t like you Granger. I have to hate you, okay? I don’t have a choice.”

“Yes you do,” Hermione said hotly, “I know you do. I’m just asking you to like me as a friend. I don’t think that’s impossible considering you dated a bloody Muggle-born, why is being friends with one so hard?”

“Dated a Muggle-born,” Draco scoffed, “I don’t know where you get your information but-”

“Lilly told me, she’s my friend,” Hermione said, unable to help herself, “and she’s not a liar so don’t even bother denying it.”

The colour drained from Draco’s face, “You can’t tell anyone about her. If my family find out they’ll kill me, promise me you won’t tell anyone Granger!”

He had gripped her arm again and his grasp was so tight it hurt, “I won’t tell anyone!” Hermione said as she winced.

Draco noticed and dropped her arm, looking at the red mark he had left on it guilty. He sighed and pulled his wand from his pocket, “Here, let me fix that,” he said, and he sounded tired and resigned.

Hermione held out her arm to him, “If you’re so scared why did you date her in the first place?” she asked.

“Because for once I wanted to do what I wanted, not what my parents wanted,” Draco said honestly as he murmured a healing charm which instantly cooled the friction burn, “and I really liked Lilly.”

“So why did you break it off?” Hermione asked.

“You know why, you know as well as I do what happened last year with you lot and my Father. Do you think I wanted to draw her into it? It’s not her war,” Draco said.

“No,” Hermione agreed, “it’s ours.”

“And we’re on opposite sides,” Draco said, dropping her arm and looking up at her, “you would do well to remember that.”

“Do we have to be on opposite sides?” Hermione asked, meeting his eye, “nobody’s made that choice yet.”

“Some of us don’t have a choice, Granger,” Draco said, his voice regaining its icy indifference.

“Everyone has a choice,” Hermione said gently, “we just have to be brave enough to do what is right instead of what is easy.”

“Well we aren’t all Gryffindors, are we?” Draco said coolly.

“Is this what you wanted to talk about?” Hermione asked, with a raised eyebrow, “How we’re on opposite sides of a war?”

“I wanted to ask you what we were trying to achieve here,” Draco said, “because we can never be friends, I’ll always have to insult you in public or people will get suspicious.”

“Well then tell me that so I know it’s just a façade,” Hermione said, “If I know then it will hurt less.”

She noticed the guilt that flashed in his eyes, and she could see how torn he was, “I won’t risk it. You don’t want to risk getting mixed up in my world, trust me.”

“Like mine is that much safer,” Hermione retorted, “I nearly get killed every year following Harry on his stupid suicidal missions.”

Something flashed in Draco’s eyes at those words, so he knows hes on a suicide mission.

“If we both survive this war, then we’ll renegotiate,” Draco said, and he really did sound resigned to a fate of death.

“Deal,” Hermione said, holding out her hand.

Draco looked at it for a moment then took it and shook it.

“So for now we do what? Go back to not talking and pretend none of this ever happened?” Hermione asked, “Because I’m not sure I can do that.”

It was the truth, she was beginning to like Draco Malfoy, and she wanted to help him. Maybe that was Harry’s hero complex starting to rub off on her. But she couldn’t just go back to her life and forget that this had ever happened.

“Tell yourself whatever you want to help yourself sleep at night Granger,” Draco said, and his voice was just as cold as it had been when they had first met, “but whatever this was, it’s over.”

Before Hermione had a chance to say anything, Draco pushed past her and slipped out of the passage. She sighed as she sat down on the hard, concrete floor. You are beginning to do the exact thing you swore you wouldn’t do, you care about him.

Hermione couldn’t actually believe she was crying over Draco Malfoy, and it wasn’t because he had said something horrible to her. It was because she didn’t want him to die, in these past few days she had seen a different side to him. A funny, gentle, sweet, caring side, and that man did not deserve to die as a punishment to his Father.

Draco didn’t leave the hallway immediately after leaving the passageway. He leant against the wall, and listened as Hermione sat down on the floor. He heard her quiet sobs and he felt terrible but he knew he couldn’t risk bringing her into his suicide mission, because that was what this was.

He knew he wasn’t going to survive, and he didn’t want anyone else to get hurt, this was a punishment on his family and not on anyone else.

TBC :)


	5. We're Gonna Get Caught

“I need your help.”

“What with now?” Daphne asked under her breath.

“Draco,” Hermione muttered.

Daphne dropped the ‘I couldn’t care less façade’ and looked at Hermione with a raised eyebrow, “Draco now is he?”

Hermione glared at the blonde, trying to catch her alone before Christmas break had been difficult. They had been in Ancient Runes together on Thursday morning, but it had been a strictly no talking class and Hermione didn’t want to break the rules just to get information about Draco Malfoy.

“This is serious,” Hermione whispered.

“I gathered from the fact you pulled me into a broom cupboard!” Daphne asked in exasperation, “people will talk you know.”

Hermione glared at the blonde for a second time, “I didn’t know whether you were going home for Christmas, and we don’t have Ancient Runes tomorrow so I figured if you were going home I needed to talk to before you did.”

“Well Granger I am not going home for Christmas so you didn’t have to haul me into a broom cupboard,” Daphne said, the exasperation in her voice quickly turning into amusement, “but since we’re here anyway what’s the emergency?”

“Malfoy,” Hermione said, and she didn’t miss the smirk from Daphne at the fact she didn’t call him ‘Draco’ that time, “is he staying for Christmas or not? Because if he isn’t I’ll need to try and set something in place to get him to think about trusting me over Christmas break.”

“He’s staying, his names on the list along with mine,” Daphne said, “everyone else in Slytherin in our year is going home.”

“Then isn’t it a good chance for you two to talk?” Hermione asked, “You could see if you could get anything out of him? He must trust you more than he trusts me, you’ve known him your whole life.”

“I was also his first girlfriend and I broke up with him a couple of months ago,” Daphne said pointedly, “I’m sure we’ll get back to being friends but for the moment he kind of hates my guts.”

“But he’s scared, you said that yourself. If it’s just the two of you and you reach out he might talk to you,” Hermione said hopefully, “nothing I’m doing is working.”

“I promise that I’ll try,” Daphne said honestly, “but I might not get any further than you did.”

Hermione nodded, well trying is better than nothing, “Thanks Daphne.”

“Yeah, don’t sweat it Granger,” Daphne said as she reached for the handle to the broom cupboard. She turned to Hermione and said, “If anyone sees us coming out of here and it gets in the rumour mill, I’ll kill you.”

“Thanks for the warning,” Hermione joked, and they slipped out of the cupboard and went their separate ways down the corridor.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“You’ll never believe the rumours I’ve been hearing about you this morning Hermione!”

Hermione’s ears hurt from the shrill voice of Mandy Brocklehurst, a Ravenclaw in her year and unfortunately in her Arithmancy class. It was a double period between break and lunch on Friday, and as most students were going home for Christmas break after the final class of the day Professor Vector was being very lax on the teaching in this class.

She turned from where she was revising at her table to look at the girl, she had never really been friends with Mandy. She was very intelligent, but she loved to gossip and whisper behind people’s backs, Hermione was fairly certain she must have been a hat stall between Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Mandy’s hair was as big as her personality, she had a mane of curly, luscious blonde hair and pale green eyes, and for a Ravenclaw she was quite outspoken, and loud, and as popular with the boys as she was with the teachers. Naturally, Hermione didn’t like her much, which she would freely admit was partly down to jealousy. Mandy’s hair was just as big as Hermione’s had once been, but because it was curly and blonde instead of bushy and brown she didn’t get teased for it.

“What rumours are those Mandy?” Hermione asked in what she hoped was a neutral tone of voice.

“Well,” Mandy said with a grin as she sat down on the edge of Hermione’s desk, “Padma told me this morning that her sister Parvati told her yesterday that she saw you coming out of a broom cupboard with Daphne Greengrass.”

Hermione didn’t know what she had been expecting, but it wasn’t that. She had been leaning on her desk, and in her surprise her elbow slipped and she caught herself just before hitting her head off of the desk, “What?” she spluttered.

Thankfully Daphne wasn’t in Arithmancy, but as the rest of the class gathered around to see what the fuss was about Hermione’s cheeks flushed bright pink. No, Daphne doesn’t take this class but Draco bloody Malfoy does and I am praying he hasn’t heard what Mandy just said.

“Parvati’s a gossip, but she doesn’t lie, Hermione,” Mandy said matter of factly as Padma looked guilty a few tables away.

“So is it true, Hermione?” Megan Jones asked, her blonde head popping up from one side of Mandy.

I can’t lie, because Parvati isn’t a liar, but I can’t tell them the truth either because Draco is here and if he knows we’re friends he’ll get suspicious, I mean why else would Daphne and I be friends. Shit, thank Merlin Arithmancy is only a small class with 13 of us in it. If this had come out in one of the big classes like Charms…At least there’s the fact he knows we met because Harry took her to Slughorn’s party, and Draco took me…

These thoughts ran through Hermione’s head at high speed, and with her cheeks on fire she said, “Yes, it’s true and it’s none of your business Mandy.”

Lisa Turpin, also a Ravenclaw and the best friend of Lilly, jumped into the conversation, “Ooh it really is the good girls that go the baddest when they go off the rails, huh?”

Hermione could feel the heat burning in her cheeks as the responses she could give ran through her head, we were just talking. In a broom cupboard? Draco would be instantly suspicious. And since when did he appear in her thoughts as Draco and not Malfoy? Ugh! What other reason could she have had for being in a broom cupboard with Daphne? None!

So, her response was to scoff and say, “I’m hardly a good girl Lisa. Didn’t you see the newspapers at the end of last year?”

It came out cockier than she meant it, but Lisa just grinned and pushed her mid-length wavy brown hair away from her tanned face, “Well it looks like running off to battle with Harry Potter has changed you, Hermione Granger.”

Mandy laughed, and it sounded slightly nasty, “Come on Lisa, she’s still the bookworm we’ve always known.”

“How many bookworms do you know who mysteriously emerge from broom cupboards with the self-nicknamed Ice Queen of Hogwarts?” A new voice asked, and Hermione who was now 100% sure Draco was listening to this conversation just wanted to melt into the ground. As she looked up to figure out who this new voice belonged to she caught sight of Lilly smirking into her textbook at the front of the class and made a mental note to throttle her later for her lack of moral support.

The new voice belonged to Sophie Roper, a fair skinned Slytherin with light brown hair and bright blue eyes that were currently sparkling mischievously as she looked at Hermione.

“How’d you do it Granger?” Yet another amused voice asked, and this one belonged to Tracey Davis, another Slytherin with tanned skin, and dark hair who was currently smirking at Hermione.

This crowd around Hermione’s desk was getting out of control, and she was now feeling uncomfortable as she said, “We’re friends, okay? What’s the big deal?”

“And how exactly does the Gryffindor Princess become friends with the Slytherin Ice Queen, Granger?”

Hermione’s voice stuck in her throat at that cool, drawl. There was no mistaking whose voice it was, and Hermione could tell that Draco, despite her excuses was now suspicious.

“They sit together in Ancient Runes,” Sophie said in amusement.

“And then there’s the Hufflepuff parties,” Lisa said as she pushed herself up to sit on the other side of Hermione’s desk, “the golden girl hasn’t been so golden this year.”

Hermione rolled her eyes, “So you think I don’t know how to have fun just because I’m a bookworm?”

“I don’t know, Susan Bones said you were fun,” Tracey teased, “but after your apparent tryst with Daphne, she might have meant that differently than I thought.”

Draco smirked, and Sophie noticed, “What are you smirking for Draco?” She asked.

“Nothing,” Draco said coolly as he leant against the wall next to Hermione’s desk, “I just think you are all forgetting something.”

Mandy frowned, “Like what?” she asked.

Hermione smiled a little, she knew where Draco was going with this, “Who I went to Slughorn’s Christmas party with,” she said, “I would have thought it would be common knowledge now, what with Ron’s screaming match in the middle of the Great Hall on Monday.”

“So it’s true then,” Sophie said in amusement, “you two really did go to the party together.”

Mandy’s jaw dropped, “Lavender told Parvati that, and then she told Padma who told me but I thought it was rubbish because Lavender makes stuff up. You aren’t seriously telling me it’s true!”

“It’s true,” Draco said simply, “and Greengrass went with Potter so whatever you are insinuating about Granger, it isn’t true.”

“Daphne went with Harry freaking Potter and she didn’t tell me!” Tracey exclaimed, “Merlin I am going to kill her.”

She’s going to kill me first if this rumour goes any further. 

Hermione glanced at Draco as Mandy, Lisa, Sophie and Tracey turned to gossiping about Daphne and Harry. She smiled at him and mouthed ‘Thank you’ and she was sure she got a tiny smile in return before he slipped silently away to his own desk.

“So, Granger.”

Hermione resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she was once more the topic of conversation for the four gossipers she shared this class with.

“How far did things go at the party exactly?” Sophie asked eagerly.

“Not far,” Hermione said simply, “because I’m still a bookworm, remember?”

“But a fun Hufflepuff party-going bookworm,” Lisa said, and Mandy rolled her eyes, for whatever reason she didn’t seem to like Hermione.

“So he was a gentleman then?” Tracey asked.

Hermione just nodded.

“Well let me give you fair warning,” Tracey said as she lowered her voice, “he wasn’t when he dated Daphne last year. He cheated on her, after like a year together, he’d been seeing someone else for like 6 months of it.”

“He’s still Draco Malfoy, and I’m still best friends with Harry Potter,” Hermione pointed out, “so thanks for the warning but it’s not going to go anywhere.”

“Probably best,” Sophie said with a firm nod.

Lisa nodded too, “He’s not worth the heartbreak, and you got hot over the summer Hermione. You could have any guy you want in our year!”

Hermione blushed furiously at those words, and Mandy laughed quite viciously, “See, told you she’s still the same bookworm.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When Arithmancy finished Hermione left quickly and accidentally on-purpose took the same secret passageway to the first floor as Draco.

“Go away Granger.”

“I just wanted to say thanks for what you did in Arithmancy,” Hermione said as she followed him down the narrow staircase from the 7th floor.

“Well you didn’t need to,” Draco said coolly, “I was just reasserting my image, remember?”

“Yeah well you helped me anyway by doing it,” Hermione said honestly, “Daphne would kill me if I got that rumour started.”

Draco stopped abruptly then and Hermione walked right into the back of him, she bounced off and nearly fell back but Draco grabbed her arm with Seekers reflexes and steadied her. When she looked up at him he was glaring at her, “Why were you in a broom closet with Daphne anyway?”

“Why do you care?” Hermione asked, “Is this because you used to date her? I mean Tracey said that you did, back there in Arithmancy.”

Something flashed in Draco’s eyes and Hermione didn’t quite know what it was. Draco ignored her question and said, “You didn’t answer my question.”

“And you didn’t answer mine,” Hermione said stubbornly.

Draco rolled his eyes, ‘Look Granger, I’m not stupid. You were either snogging her or plotting against me. I’m not sure which I prefer.”

Hermione snorted, “Plotting against you? How paranoid are you Malfoy? What on earth could I be plotting to do to you with Daphne Greengrass?”

Relief flooded Draco’s face, and while on a roll and at the risk of getting murdered by Daphne she said, “So you can rest easy, it was the former.”

His eyes snapped up and he caught her gaze. He held it for a moment and said, “You really are going off of the rails because of this whole Weasley-Brown thing, aren’t you?”

“My grades aren’t falling,” Hermione said matter of factly, “and I’m revising just as much as I always have. I’m firmly on the rails, thank you very much.”

Draco looked down to hide the smile on his face as he shook his head at her in exasperation, “Bloody hell Granger, I don’t know what to make of you sometimes.”

Hermione smirked and said, “Well Malfoy, someone who reads as much as you ought to know that you should never judge a book by its cover.”

Draco looked up and said, “Apparently so.”

“So, are we done here? Back to hating each other and avoiding each other for the entire Christmas break, yeah?” Hermione asked sarcastically as she slipped past him and began to walk down the stairs.

He followed her, “You’re staying at Hogwarts for Christmas break?”

“Yes,” Hermione replied, “Harry and I were supposed to be going to the Weasley’s but that’s hardly going to happen since Ron decided to take Lavender home with him.”

Draco was silent for a moment, “I’m staying too,” he said simply.

Hermione didn’t want to push, she tried really hard not to, but she couldn’t not ask. She stopped, and he walked into her, cursing under his breath, “Dammit Granger.”

Hermione turned around and said with a raised eyebrow, “You did the same to me,” she pointed out, “and why aren’t you going home. You have a family to go back to.”

“I have a Mother,” Draco pointed out, “my Father is in Azkaban thanks to you and your friends little show at the end of last year.”

Hermione felt guilty as she turned and kept walking down the stairs, but she knew that she shouldn’t. Draco Malfoy was an arse, but his Father was a murderer, he deserved to be in Azkaban.

“Anyway, why are you staying? You have parents,” Draco said from behind her, and Hermione couldn’t help but wonder why he was making small talk if he didn’t like her.

“I do, but they always go skiing in the Alps at Christmas, and I’m fed up of it,” Hermione said honestly, “I thought I’d do something different this year.”

Draco didn’t say anything after that, and Hermione knew that they were nearing the first floor where the passage came out. She wanted to ask him if they could be friends again, he seemed to be in a good mood today but he could also change so quickly.

“So,” Hermione said, and she could almost feel Draco roll his eyes behind her.

“No, Granger. This doesn’t mean we’re friends,” Draco said as they reached the end of the passage and he slipped by her gracefully in the tight space. He grabbed the tapestry to exit through it and then turned to look at her with the hint of a smile, “It just means I think you’re good company.”

Before Hermione had a chance to think up a response he was gone, and she was left standing in the passage in bemusement, and with the distinct impression that Draco Malfoy did like her. And you like him, how else can you explain the butterflies? The feeling you get when you make him smile, how much you love sparring with him and winding him up. No, this is a job, liking him isn’t an option. Hermione sighed, and felt like hitting her head off the wall as she exited the tapestry and made her way to the great hall for lunch.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Hey Mione, how was Arithmancy?” Harry asked overly happily as he slipped in next to her at the Gryffindor table.

Hermione glared at him, “What do you know?”

“Am I that transparent?” Harry asked in disbelief.

“To me, yes,” Hermione replied simply.

“Damn,” Harry said with a shake of his head, “I had a free period, so I was Marauders map watching, just to keep an eye on You-Know-Who.”

“If you insist on calling him that it’s going to get very confusing,” Hermione said with a slight smile.

Harry chuckled and said, “Yeah well you know who I mean, and I just happened to notice that you and him were-”

“Talking in a secret passage, that is all,” Hermione said before Harry could finish, “because this is a job, right?”

“Right,” Harry said with a nod, “so you didn’t…” he trailed off.

Hermione rolled her eyes, “We were just talking about how we were both staying for Christmas,” she said honestly, leaving out other parts of the conversation she and Draco had had.

“So how was Arithmancy?” Harry asked conversationally as he grabbed himself some food.

“It was an interrogation,” Hermione said, briefly glaring down the table at Lavender, “but I’m assuming you already know that too. Give me the note.”

“Seriously?” Harry asked in disbelief, “How did you even know that?” he said as he handed her a piece of parchment.

“A.) You’re far too happy and upbeat. B.) I saw it clenched in your hand and C.) You were very obviously digging for information,” Hermione said in amusement as she unfolded the parchment, “You’re going to have to brush up on that if you want to become an Auror.”

“I’m focusing on surviving the war first,” Harry muttered.

“When did you see Daphne anyway?” Hermione asked.

“We both had last period off,” Harry said, “so we were talking in the library.”

“Talking?” Hermione asked in amusement, “or snogging?”

Harry smiled a little wickedly, “No, we were just talking. Just like you and Malfoy, if you want me to believe you when you say it then believe me when I do.”

Hermione chuckled, “Fair enough, I believe you.”

“What’s the note say anyway?” Harry asked eagerly, “I only know she was pissed off because you pulled her into a broom closet and now everyone thinks you two were snogging or something,” he sniggered.

“It just says, I told you I’ll kill you Granger,” Hermione said as she stuffed it in her bag and glanced to the Slytherin table across the hall where Daphne was glaring at her from, “I’m fairly sure it’s an empty threat.”

“Safe bet,” Harry said in amusement.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

On Friday after dinner most students left for Christmas break and as a result the Gryffindor common room was practically empty that night. Hermione and Harry were the only Gryffindors in their year who were staying, and apart from that there was one 7th year, two 3rd years and a 5th year.

“I’m bored,” Harry complained.

“You have three essays to do,” Hermione said with a slight smile, “I’m sure one of them will keep you occupied.”

“It’s Friday night, and it’s nearly 10,” Harry whined, “can we please go?”

“You can go,” Hermione laughed, “I’m not stopping you.”

“I know, but I’m not leaving you here on your own to study on a Friday night,” Harry said with a sly smile, “it’s just a party, come on. You’ve already done one essay out of three and you still have two weeks.”

Hermione rolled her eyes, “Why do you want to go so badly anyway? Because Daphne will be there?”

“Why don’t you want to go? Because Malfoy won’t be?” Harry combatted.

Hermione glared at him, “I don’t like him, Harry. I’ve told you a hundred times, this is all just an act.”

“Then it’s a bloody convincing one, come on Mione. You went to the last one and had fun,” Harry said as he got up, “me and you under the invisibility cloak like old times, it’ll be fun!”

Hermione smiled at his enthusiasm and caved, “Fine,” she said, “Go get the cloak and map.”

Harry grinned and kissed her on the cheek before bounding up to the empty boys dorm to grab the cloak and map. When he emerged seconds later and flung the cloak over them he looked positively delighted, and Hermione couldn’t help but chuckle.

“You’ve changed this year Harry,” Hermione said thoughtfully as he opened up the map and checked the path ahead to the Hufflepuff common room.

“So have you,” Harry said, “you got the cloak?”

“Got it,” Hermione said after checking that their feet weren’t showing. They were silent as they left the common room and only talked again when they were on the grand staircase. 

“Are you really okay, Harry?” Hermione asked in a whisper, “or is this whole new you thing because of Sirius?”

Harry was silent for a moment, but then he said, “It is because of Sirius, but not necessarily in a bad way. He lived his life to the full when he was at Hogwarts, so when he died he’d really lived, and I want to make sure that I do the same. I don’t want to look back at my school days and only remember Voldemort, I want to remember the fun things too, like parties.”

Hermione smiled a little sadly, “Well that’s fair enough. But Sirius didn’t live life to the full, he never got married or had children. That’s important too.”

“I know Hermione,” Harry said, transferring the map into one hand and grabbing her hand with his free one, he turned to look at her on the landing leading onto the 5th floor and said, “And if I survive the war I’ll do it all, I promise.”

Hermione smiled weakly, “You’ll survive the war,” she said.

“Yeah,” Harry said with a fake positive smile. That was the problem with their friendship, they were too close to be able to hide things from each other. This fake positivity was just that, fake, because they knew one was only doing it to try and cheer up the other and not because they actually believed what they were saying was true.

“I’m the same Harry,” Hermione said after what felt like a long time, but in reality it had only been the distance from the 5th floor to the 3rd floor, “I want to have fun while we’re at Hogwarts. I don’t want my time here to be all about grades, and studying, and Voldemort or evil schemes.”

“Well, we’re having fun and solving an evil scheme right now,” Harry whispered with a real smile at her.

Hermione chuckled at that, it was true. It was like she had said to Lilly, this evil scheme had led to her befriending people she wouldn’t normally befriend so in that sense some good had come out of it.

“Can you do that masking spell again?” Harry whispered, “Mrs Norris is up ahead.”

Hermione nodded and did the spell, and they slipped past Mrs Norris easily. After that they had a clear run to the Hufflepuff common room and when they crawled into the entrance they could hear the party going on inside. A wizarding radio was blaring out popular music, but a great thing about the Hufflepuff common room was that since Hufflepuffs were so trustworthy it was sound-proofed. Therefore the party could get as loud as possible and nobody would be able to come in and put an end to it, like McGonagall often did to the Gryffindor parties.

Harry crawled out first and helped Hermione out. She was glad when she saw that everyone else was just wearing jeans like her, she would have felt ridiculous if everyone had been dressed up. Susan had invited them to this party earlier today, and she had said it was a party for everyone in their year who was staying for Christmas break. She also said she had invited Draco but found it highly unlikely he would come since his three ex-girlfriends would be there.

Hermione did a quick scan of the room as Susan walked over to her, she recognised everyone in the room, but Draco was not one of them.

“Hey, you guys came!” Susan said happily.

“We don’t miss parties when we actually get invited,” Harry said in amusement, “plus Gryffindor had to be represented, right?”

“Totally,” Susan laughed, “Daphne’s over there if you’re looking for her,” she added when she saw Harry’s eyes darting around the room.

Harry grinned when he saw her, “Perfect, see you later Mione.”

“So you convince me to come to a party and then just ditch me?” Hermione teased.

Harry shot her an amused grin and said, “You’re in safe hands.”

Susan was still laughing as she turned back to Hermione, “Why didn’t you want to come?” she asked as she grabbed her a bottle of butterbeer.

“Oh I don’t know, I just had a lot on my mind,” Hermione said honestly, “I wasn’t really in a party mood.”

“Does a certain Draco Malfoy have anything to do with that?” Lilly asked with a raised eyebrow as she approached them, “I saw you two after Arithmancy.”

“What happened after Arithmancy?” Daphne asked, popping up out of nowhere behind Lilly.

“Uh, stuff, why aren’t you with Harry?” Hermione asked the blonde with a frown.

“Because I’m fed up of him following me around like a lovesick puppy. I got him talking Quidditch strategy with Boot,” Daphne said, gesturing to the other side of the room where Harry and Terry Boot were talking animatedly.

Susan shook her head in amusement and turned back to Hermione, “So what happened after Arithmancy?”

“What happened in Arithmancy is a better story,” Lilly teased.

“Yeah thanks for just sitting by and sniggering when I needed your help,” Hermione said with a slight smile.

“Sorry,” Lilly said sheepishly, “Draco already knew you were friends with Daphne, I didn’t want to come in and make it look even more suspicious.”

“Are either of you two going to enlighten us into whatever the hell you are talking about?” Susan asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh,” Lilly said with a grin, “Mandy, Lisa, Sophie and Tracey were interrogating Hermione about her reasoning for being in a broom cupboard with our Daphne here. She couldn’t say the real reason, which was talking about Draco, because Draco was right there so they thought it was for a different reason.”

“I did gather that someone saw us,” Daphne said irritably, “I was getting asked about it in the study hall. I did warn you when you pulled me into that broom cupboard.”

“I thought it was urgent, how was I supposed to know you weren’t going home for Christmas?” Hermione asked with a roll of her eyes.

“Look, Draco straightened the situation out, so don’t get your knickers in a twist over it,” Lilly said as she looked between them.

“What do you mean Draco sorted it out?” Daphne frowned.

“He came over and started talking about how he went to the party with me, and you went with Harry, so whatever they were insinuating was rubbish,” Hermione informed the blonde, “so hopefully that put the rumours to rest.”

“It better have, or I really will kill you,” Daphne said pointedly.

“Go have another drink Daphne,” Susan said in amusement, “it might calm you down a little.”

Daphne glared at the redhead, but the two of them walked over to the stash of butterbeer anyway, leaving just Lilly and Hermione.

“Hey Lilly, I wanted to tell you something,” Hermione said, “after you left the library the other night, Malfoy came in and we ended up talking and I mentioned you and said we were friends and I knew you two had dated. I hope you don’t mind.”

Lilly shrugged, “What did he have to say about me?”

Hermione frowned, “That he really liked you, and he was sick of doing what his parents wanted him to do which was why he didn’t care that you were a Muggle-born.”

Lilly smiled, “Well that’s nice, even if he did turn out to be an arse.”

“Yeah, but that’s what I don’t get. Earlier when he thought Daphne and I had been doing…whatever, in a broom cupboard he got jealous,” Hermione said, “so he obviously really cared about Daphne too.”

“The only person who knows what he was thinking is him,” Lilly said with a sigh, “all I know is he started dating Daphne the summer before 5th year started, and then he started dating Susan the Christmas of 5th year, and me at the end of 5th year. We all found out at the start of 6th year, at one of these parties and broke things off. I don’t know why he did it, or how he kept it a secret for that long but he did. He might seem like this sweet, kind guy but that’s not who he is Hermione so don’t let yourself fall for it like we all did.”

Hermione’s frown deepened, “But how did you three not meet until 6th year?”

“These parties are kind of a new thing,” Susan said as she and Daphne returned from the alcohol table, “we only really started throwing inter-house ones in 6th year. Before that we only saw each other in the passing, or in class or the library.”

“So why did you start the inter-house ones in 6th year?” Hermione asked curiously.

“Oh, it was Susan’s idea. She got us all together, and said it would be fun,” Lilly said.

“And what gave you the idea, Susan?” Hermione asked as thoughts whirred through her head at high speed as they often did.

“Draco suggested it, actually,” Susan admitted.

Hermione’s brain was in over-drive now, “Well don’t you find that a bit odd? That a guy who was dating three girls from different houses encouraged one of his girlfriends to throw an inter-house party?”

“I think it’s very suspicious,” Harry said as he appeared next to Hermione and made the others jump, “you looked like you were having a serious talk, and I wanted to be in on it,” he explained sheepishly.

Daphne shook her head angrily, “That bastard wanted us to find out. He orchestrated it so we did!”

“He didn’t even have the balls to break up with us himself,” Susan fumed.

“No, I don’t think that’s it,” Hermione said thoughtfully.

“Hermione, you have that glazed over look in your eyes you get when you’re having an epiphany,” Harry said, waving his hand in front of her face.

She slapped it away irritably and said, “Susan, your Aunt was still alive when Draco started dating you and she was the Head of the DMLE.”

“So?” Susan asked with a frown.

“And Daphne, your Father is head of Greengrass Shipping Enterprises, and he was the last Party Leader of the Neutrals, yes?” Hermione asked.

Daphne nodded, following Hermione’s line of thought, “Yeah…”

“Look, I know where you’re going with this, but I’m a Muggle-born,” Lilly said, “How do you fit me into some blackmail, or spy scheme he was orchestrating?”

Hermione’s nose crinkled as she concentrated, “You I can’t work out Lilly,” she eventually admitted.

“I can,” Harry said, and all eyes turned to him, “It’s simple isn’t it? Susan and Daphne were part of some plan, probably of his Fathers design to get information or worm his family into the life of another family. But Lilly was just the one he chose himself, his escape from that world. She has no connections to the wizarding world politically, and no connections to his family.”

“Please tell me you’re not trying to say that Draco Malfoy is actually a good person,” Daphne said irritably, “because I can’t handle that on a Friday night.”

“I don’t know about good, but certainly not a complete arse,” Hermione said, “I mean if I’m right then he didn’t want to betray you all, but he clearly felt he had to.”

“Your theory is just that though Hermione, you’ve no proof,” Susan pointed out.

“Well think about it, did he ever ask weird questions about your Aunt, or your Father? Did you ever leave him unattended in your homes where he could get access to their studies?” Hermione asked.

Susan and Daphne shared a glance, and then Harry said, “So that’s a yes then.”

“Shut up Potter,” Daphne remarked, “what information do you think he got from my Father?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if it was his notes from the Wizengamot,” Hermione said, “Lucius Malfoy did manage to worm his way in quite nicely last year before his arrest.”

“And what about my Aunt? She died resisting Death Eaters, if they got information from her indirectly because of my shit taste in guys I’ll never be able to forgive myself,” Susan said darkly.

“I doubt he managed to get anything of significance,” Hermione said gently, “I mean your Aunt would have kept that in a separate locked room, right?”

“All she kept in the study was her diary of appointments,” Susan said.

“Well then I’m sure he didn’t find anything,” Harry said, “and look at the way he is this year. His heart can’t really have been in the job, he wouldn’t have taken any really important information to his Father, even if he had found it.”

“I just wish we could confront him about it,” Lilly said, “and I feel awful for being the only one he wasn’t trying to steal from.”

“Don’t, he still lied to you,” Daphne said, “and mark my words. Once this is all over, and we’ve saved his worthless arse we’ll be killing him.”

“Slight contradiction of terms there,” Harry pointed out, to which Daphne glared at him and remarked, “Fuck off Potter,” once more.

“Look, as shit a revelation as this is, it’s Friday night,” Susan said, “and I think it’s maybe a good idea to break out the heavier stuff. I sneaked a bottle of firewhiskey past Filch, I was saving it for Christmas but this calls for a drink.”

Harry smirked, “Now that sounds like a good idea.”

“Since when do you drink anything stronger than butterbeer?” Hermione asked in disbelief.

“Since Sirius died, and I found a bottle of firewhiskey in the kitchens,” Harry said matter of factly. 

Hermione gave him a concerned look.

“Don’t look at me like that, I drank one glass Hermione,” Harry said calmly.

Susan then reappeared with plastic cups and firewhiskey which she poured out. When she handed Hermione a cup Harry mirrored her earlier words, “Since when you drink anything stronger than butterbeer?”

“Unlike you, I have friends in the Muggle world,” Hermione said in amusement, “and I may have gone to a house party the summer before 6th year. And by the way, vodka and tequila are much stronger than firewhiskey.”

“Not this stuff,” Susan said in amusement, “it’s from our distillery in the Highlands. I’m limiting you all to one glass, this stuff is bloody expensive.”

Daphne laughed and said, “This is my Fathers favourite, do you remember when we stole some from his locked cabinet, Suse?”

“How can I forget?” Susan laughed and raised her plastic cup, “But let’s toast to this, to Draco Malfoy being a dickhead and screwing us all over, but not really having his heart in it.”

The others chuckled and hit the cups together before drinking the firewhiskey. It was strong, and it burned when it hit the back of the throat. Susan, Daphne and even Hermione managed the first sip easily, but Harry choked and spluttered a little which made Hermione snigger as she tapped him on the back and Susan and Daphne laughed loudly.

Their laughter was interrupted by a low, cool drawl, “Why are you all toasting to me being a ‘dickhead’ in your very eloquent words, Bones?”

TBC :)


	6. Dirty Little Secrets

Their laughter was interrupted by a low, cool drawl, “Why are you all toasting to me being a ‘dickhead’ in your very eloquent words, Bones?”

They all froze, they knew that voice. How could they not? But none of them had expected him to come. They went unnoticed by the rest of the party as they turned to see Draco, standing behind them in his plain, black Hogwarts robes.

“Because we know you screwed us over and used us,” Daphne said hotly, “we found out at the start of 6th year, but you know that don’t you? Because you orchestrated it so we would find out.”

“Of course I did, it’s taken you this long to work that out?” Draco drawled, “Why else would I convince Bones to throw an inter-house party?”

“So what was it then? Your Daddy’s scheme was over so you ditched us?” Susan asked, “We worked it out Malfoy. You were using me to get information from my Aunt, and you were using Daphne to get information from her Father about the Wizengamot.”

Draco rolled his eyes, “If you really insist on having this conversation now, then we had better move it somewhere else. I’m hardly going to tell you the truth with this many people around.”

“Fine,” Susan said, “I’m the only Hufflepuff girl staying, so we’ll move this to my dorm.”

“And that won’t start any rumours,” Daphne muttered under her breath.

“Would you shut up about the bloody rumour mill?” Hermione asked irritably as they slipped into the passage to the girl’s dorms and followed Susan into the 6th year one. Once they had all emerged all eyes were on Draco.

“Get talking then,” Susan said harshly.

“Jeez Bones, I’d forgotten how demanding you were,” Draco remarked with a smirk.

Susan just glared at him, so Draco sighed and said, “My Father asked me to do some intelligence for him, and I really did think it was just for his benefit and not for…his. My Father said he wanted to get back in with the Ministry, he said he knew something bad was coming and he wanted to be prepared for it. Obviously that didn’t happen-”

“Oh shut up Malfoy,” Hermione said irritably, “you had a dig at me for it earlier too, and you made me feel guilty. But nobody should feel guilty apart from your Father. He deserves to be in Azkaban, he has murdered and tortured people.”

“I know my Fathers crimes, Granger,” Draco spat, “and I know fine well what he can do. How do you think I was punished as a child?”

That felt like a smack in the face to Hermione, and it made her shut her mouth and keep it shut.

Draco turned his glare away from her and continued, “So I dated Daphne first like my Father asked, and then I actually began to develop feelings for her and I was going to keep it going even after I took the information from her Father’s office.”

“And then he asked you to do the same to Susan,” Harry realised.

Draco nodded, “But I had feelings for you Daphne, so I didn’t break up with you which I know was the wrong thing to do in hindsight. So I started seeing Susan, and then I began to have feelings for her and I didn’t know what to do so I ended up telling lies to you both and keeping secrets from you both. And just when I thought I could get out of it, my Father would ask for more information.”

“Then what about me?” Lilly asked quietly.

Draco had forgotten that she was there until he looked at her, she seemed uneasy as she stared at him, “What was I, Draco?”

“You were the only real thing in my life,” Draco said honestly, “and I’m sorry that I lied to you. but when my Father found out about you being a Muggle-born he threatened you and I would never put you in danger Lilly, so I decided to let you all find out about what I had done so that you would all be safe.”

There was a silence that filled the room for what felt like forever.

“So you were protecting us, in your own twisted way,” Daphne said, drinking deeply from her plastic cup of whiskey.

Draco nodded, and then he turned to Hermione, “And the same goes for you Granger. You keep asking why I won’t be friends with you and this is why. People I’m friends with get hurt, especially Muggle-borns.”

“Fucking hell, you sound like Harry,” Hermione fumed, “do you know he doesn’t make friends, and he doesn’t have relationships because Voldemort kills everyone he loves? No, why would you know that when you’ve never made an effort to know him, just like you’ve never made an effort to know me. People get hurt Malfoy, and people get killed. You’ve got to let them make that decision for themselves, you can’t just push people out and say it’s for protection.”

“I’m not one of your projects Granger,” Draco hissed, “you can’t just come in and fix me and save the day.”

“Are you always this self-centred?” Hermione practically shouted, “Did you maybe think it wasn’t about you? That maybe it was about me wanting to be friends with you, not fix you? I don’t think there’s anything broken anyway.”

“I find that hard to believe, Granger,” Draco spat, “I’m not stupid, the fact you are here and friends with these three tells me everything I need to know! You only asked me to Slughorn’s party in the hope I would date you, and then you were going to embarrass me or try to break my heart. Whatever it is they told you to do as their revenge scheme. You can’t judge me for what I did when what you are doing right now is using me!”

“Yeah, I am sorry that it did start like that,” Hermione said, “but honestly I’ve caught glimpses of somebody that I could actually like if you stop being an arse for long enough for that guy to come through!”

“Why would I trust anything you say? You filthy little Mudblood,” Draco spat.

Hermione hid the tears that bubbled up then, and said, “You can’t just resort to calling me a Mudblood when you lose an argument Draco!”

She saw something flash in his eyes at the use of his first name, but it had passed before she could interpret it, “Look, I really don’t give a shit about any of this,” Draco said angrily, “I have more important things to worry about than the feelings of Hermione Granger! And I’m sorry I hurt everyone’s feelings, but I didn’t have a choice in the matter because in case you didn’t notice people don’t turn out in the best state when they disobey my Father and the fact I’m his son wouldn’t make a damn bit of difference! So hate me all you want, all of you. I really couldn’t care less!”

Before anyone could think of a response, angry or otherwise. Draco, who now seemed fuming, crawled into the passageway and they all stood frozen for a moment.

“I’m going to go talk to him,” Lilly said quickly, and she crawled into the passage after him.

“She’s the only one he ever cared about anyway,” Daphne said bitterly as she sat down on the edge of one of the beds, “never mind us, the two girls he’s known his whole life. The one he has to go and fall in love with is a dirty little Muggle-born.”

“Shut the fuck up Daphne,” Harry said angrily, his arm protectively going around Hermione.

“Oh just go screw her if you like her that much,” Daphne said in exasperation.

“Why don’t you go fuck yourself since that’s the only person you seem to care about,” Harry bit back.

“Oh shut up both of you!” Hermione said angrily, “go make out or something, you’ll feel better!”

Daphne scoffed as if the idea was repulsive, and Hermione who literally could not give a shit about anything anymore flopped down next to Susan on her four-poster.

“Talk about sexual tension,” Susan muttered as Harry and Daphne commenced what seemed to be a glaring battle.

Hermione groaned in annoyance, “I know.”

“Mind you, there was quite a lot of that with you and Draco just now too,” Susan said with a small smile at Hermione.

Hermione sighed, “I was never very good at distancing myself from my feelings.”

“I noticed, from like day one,” Susan said in amusement, “but I didn’t say anything. It was so nice to see you having fun for once.”

“Yeah, that lasted long,” Hermione said with a shake of her head, “I have a new plan anyway. It’s about getting Lilly to gain his trust since he’s bloody in love with her anyway.”

“You sound jealous,” Susan said knowingly.

“Of course she’s jealous,” Harry said, “it’s obvious she likes him. The only other person she screams at is Ron and she had a crush on him for years.”

“Fuck off Harry,” Hermione said half-heartedly.

Harry smiled and said, “He’s more complex than Ron, you’d have had it easier with him.”

“Yeah but I have always preferred blondes to redheads…” Hermione said casually.

“Well you were in a broom cupboard with Daphne,” Harry joked.

“Fuck off Scarhead.”

“Onto Scarhead now, wow she must be pissed off,” Harry muttered in amusement, he was just trying to lighten the mood.

Susan snorted, “Are you even trying to deny it anymore?”

“What’s the point?” Hermione asked, “Everybody seems to bloody know it.”

“And you’re tipsy, did you down that whole firewhiskey?” Daphne asked in disbelief.

Hermione looked at her empty cup, ‘Oh, I must have done.”

“So where do we go from here?” Daphne asked as she also dropped down onto Susan’s bed.

“I don’t know,” Susan said, “I mean at least he knows we know each other now. But he’s certainly not going to trust Hermione now he knows she used him.”

“Draco Malfoy is an arse, and he hates me. The world is back to normal,” Hermione sighed.

“No it’s not, because you don’t hate him,” Harry pointed out, “but you did kind of screw up the plan.”

Hermione rolled her eyes, “Shut up Harry. You sound like Sirius, I get that you’re seizing the day before you die and all but you’ve still got to be yourself.”

“What do you mean before he dies?” Daphne asked with a frown.

“Well he thinks he’s going to get killed by Voldemort soon,” Hermione said with a roll of her eyes, “so he’s all carpe diem.”

“Merlin Hermione you are tipsy,” Harry said, “and for your information I’m 90% sure I’m gonna die, so yes I would like to enjoy the time I have left on this planet.”

“You’re gonna die a virgin, Potter,” Daphne teased, “I mean you only dated Cho Chang and you were like what 14?”

Harry rolled his eyes, “I’m Harry Potter, I’m famous. I won’t die a virgin, besides-”

“Shut up,” Hermione said, moving quickly and putting her hand over his mouth, “I’m serious, shut the hell up.”

Harry nodded, and Hermione removed her hand, “You’re not Sirius, he was my Godfather.”

Hermione rolled her eyes, and Susan said, “What was that about?”

“Hermione once said that-”

“Harry!” Hermione shrieked, but this time he grabbed her hands before she had a chance to cover his mouth.

“She said if we were getting near the end and I still thought I was going to die she’d sleep with me so I didn’t have to die a virgin,” Harry said matter of factly.

“Harry, you complete arse!” Hermione said, hitting him in embarrassment as he let go of her hands.

Susan laughed loudly and said, “Wow, that’s true friendship.”

Hermione was mortified, and Daphne was chuckling slightly at the look on Hermione’s face as much as anything else.

“But anyway,” Harry said, “I may or may not be slightly tipsy too.”

“We’d noticed,” Hermione said with a glare in his direction, “anyway, I’m not sure how well this will go but I managed to sneak something into Hogwarts at the start of this year too.”

The others watched on in amusement as she pulled her wand out, and said, “Accio tequila!”

Harry snorted in amusement, and Daphne burst out laughing, “Fuck Granger, that’s going to come flying through the corridors. What if it hits Filch on the head in the entrance hall?”

Susan was sent off in a fit of the giggles then, and Harry couldn’t help but laugh too at the image of a bottle of tequila flying through the schools corridors and smashing Filch on the head.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Draco!”

“Go away, Granger.”

“Wow, you must like her,” Lilly said when she finally cornered Draco as he was about to enter a passageway from the upper dungeons into the lower ones. 

He spun around and looked at her guiltily, “Sorry, Lilly. I thought you were-”

“Hermione, yeah I guessed,” Lilly said, grabbing his arm, and pulling him into the nearest room, “we need to talk.”

“If you’re going to tell me how shit a person I am-”

“I’m not,” Lilly said, and it was only then that Draco actually looked at the room they were in.

It was upside down, they were standing on the ceiling, and above them was the floor.

“What the hell?” Draco remarked.

“It’s called the Vestibule of Mischief, it used to be a duelling room but it soaked up so much magic it became sentient,” Lilly said offhandedly, “but that’s not the point. What’s going on Draco?”

“Nothing is going on,” Draco said shortly, “apart from that people are pissing me off.”

Lilly sighed, “Look, I’ll be honest I’m angry that you didn’t tell me the truth. But I am relieved I wasn’t a victim of being spied on, like the other two. I’m angrier at what you did to them, but I get that it wasn’t your fault. I don’t know what your Father is like, but I know what it’s like to be afraid to do or say something because you’re scared of your parents.”

“I know,” Draco said gently, “I really am sorry that I lied to you Lilly.”

Lilly nodded, “I know, and I’m grateful that you apologised, and that I finally understand why it all happened the way that it did.”

“So is this what you wanted to talk to me about?” Draco asked, feeling far calmer now.

“No,” Lilly admitted, “I need to know something. I need to know whether you and I…did it happen because you had feelings for me or because I was an escape for you? From your world?”

The sheepish look on Draco’s face pretty much answered the question for Lilly before he opened his mouth, but she decided to hear him out anyway, “I did like you, but you were also so removed from it all. When I was with you I never had to think about it, and I felt like myself again.”

“So that’s all? You liked me, but you liked the idea of me more?” Lilly asked coolly and calmly.

Draco opened his mouth to lie, and then shut it and nodded, “I suppose so.”

“So any Muggle-born would have done, apart from Hermione who you seem to hate for no apparent reason-”

“Look, you have got to drop this Granger thing,” Draco said irritably, “I don’t hate her, far from it. I think under any other circumstances we’d be good friends. But I know things that I’m not supposed to know, and I’m distancing myself from her for her own good.”

“What things do you know and how do you know them?” Lilly asked suspiciously.

“You know I can’t tell you that Lilly,” Draco said darkly, “all I can say is that Harry Potter is at the top of the hit-list for You-Know-Who and there are two others just as high. Two who he wants to kill personally.”

“Hermione and Ron,” Lilly said, it was obvious.

Draco gave a miniscule nod, and Lilly asked, “Then how is you distancing yourself from her going to make a difference if he wants her dead anyway?”

“Because if I’m involved with her in any way, he’ll kill her sooner and the longer I can stop him killing her the better chance she has of survival,” Draco said, “just trust me on this one.”

“I do trust you Draco,” Lilly said honestly, “despite everything you did, I do. But I’m just starting to wonder if you only dated me because I reminded you of Hermione. Because I was the closest thing to her that you could have.”

“Lilly-”

“Don’t lie or try and make me feel any better,” Lilly said sharply, “just tell me whether it’s true or not because we both know that I am an intelligent person. You don’t personally insult any other Muggle-born the way you do to her, so there has to be a reason why she gets that special shitty treatment from you. So answer me right now Draco, did you date me because I reminded you of Hermione but I was attainable when she wasn’t, yes or no?”

Draco looked at her long and hard, and a cold silence filled the empty peculiar room. When Draco eventually spoke his voice echoed, “Yes,” he said quietly, his voice rough and thick with emotion.

Lilly nodded, and swallowed the lump that rose in her throat, “Okay,” she said as she cleared it, “then at least I know where we stand.”

“Lilly-” Draco began as she walked towards the door.

“Save it,” Lilly said as she grabbed the handle and turned it, “I’m sick of lies and empty words, Draco. So from now on, you can speak to me as often as you want, but only if you’re being genuine. I’ll see you around.”

She left before Draco could stop her, and he didn’t really want to anyway. Lilly had been lovely, and sweet, but she had reminded Draco of Hermione and that had been the main reason he had dated her. It would also have been the reason why the relationship would have ended because she wasn’t Hermione. She was far calmer and more level headed than Hermione, and he needed the arguments, he needed the sparring, and the fighting and the drama. Without it life would be boring, without Hermione Granger, his life would be boring. He looked forward to their battles of wits, and he actually missed the bloody girl during the summer holidays. It was ridiculous, and he hated it but he couldn’t turn it off, he had tried so many times and all that seemed to do was make the feeling stronger.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Oh Lilly you’re back just in time to hear our new plan!”

Lilly frowned as she emerged into the Hufflepuff girls’ dorm where Susan, Hermione and Daphne were all lying on Susan’s bed, and Harry watched in amusement from Hannah’s vacant one.

“Since when do we have a new plan?” Lilly asked, sitting down heavily next to Harry.

“Since Draco clearly has feelings for you. Since you are the one who was just snogging him out there. So you are now going to be the one to gain his trust,” Daphne said matter of factly.

Lilly snorted, “Snogging him? Where are you getting your intel?”

“Harry’s fancy map thing,” Susan said, pointing to the Marauders map in Harry’s hands, “you two were stationary in the Vestibule of Mischief for ages.”

“We were talking, not snogging,” Lilly said irritably, “and considering what he just told me, I’m definitely not the one who should be trying to gain his trust.”

“You sound upset,” Susan said with a frown.

“And you all sound drunk, what are we drinking?” Lilly asked, a slither of amusement making its way into her voice.

“Tequila,” Hermione said matter of factly.

“Well pass it here, I need a drink,” Lilly said as she held out her hand and took the bottle from Hermione’s out-stretched arm.

“Wow, right from the bottle,” Harry said as Lilly took a swig then handed it back, “Bloody hell that’s strong.”

“It’s from Hermione’s stash,” Daphne sniggered.

“It’s supposed to be for special occasions,” Hermione said, “but I think Draco Malfoy being a dick who hates all of us is cause for tequila.”

Lilly snorted and said, “Well he doesn’t hate all of us, that much is for sure.”

“Okay, what did you just find out?” Daphne asked with a raised eyebrow, “we know he told you something, so spit it out.”

“I happened to have noticed that I’m quite similar to Hermione, I didn’t know it until we became friends but I’d say we’re pretty similar,” Lilly said, and Hermione nodded.

“Uh huh, we are,” Hermione frowned, “but I don’t quite follow.”

“That is because you are drunk,” Lilly said, taking the bottle of tequila out of her hands again, “so I asked Draco if he dated me because he actually liked me or to escape his world. And I’ll give him credit for this, he was honest and said it was mostly to escape his world.”

“What does this have to do with you being similar to Hermione?” Susan asked impatiently.

“I’m getting to that part,” Lilly said, “I then asked him if he had only dated me because I was similar to Hermione, but he couldn’t have Hermione.”

“And?” Daphne asked with a raised eyebrow, “What did he say?”

Hermione’s interest was now piqued, “Yeah, what did he say?”

“He said yes,” Lilly said simply.

Susan’s jaw dropped, and Daphne snorted.

“What a bastard!” Hermione exclaimed loudly.

“Hermione, you just found out the guy likes you, and considering the fact we established you like him, isn’t that a good thing?” Susan asked in amusement.

“No,” Hermione said, standing up a little shakily, “because he can’t just go date someone because they remind him of me and then break their heart! I mean that is such a shit thing to do, and now I feel like it’s my fault for poor Lilly-”

Lilly raised an eyebrow at Hermione as she flopped down next to her and hugged her, “How much of that bottle did she drink?” she asked in an undertone to Harry and Daphne.

“Too much,” Harry whispered.

Lilly shook her head in amusement and patted Hermione on the head, “Don’t be sorry Hermione, Draco was the arse who did it. You didn’t know, you thought he hated you remember?”

Hermione nodded, “It still really sucks though Lilly.”

“Yeah, I know,” Lilly said, “but you’ll probably feel better about it in the morning Hermione.”

“She’ll feel sick in the morning,” Daphne pointed out.

“These Gryffindors just can’t hold their liquor,” Susan teased as Hermione promptly fell asleep.

“I would like to point out that I am fairly sober, actually,” Harry said unconvincingly.

Lilly snorted, and shared an amused glance with Daphne, “Go to bed Potter,” she said.

As it turned out they were all exhausted, so they ended up crashing in the girls’ dorm, with Harry on his own, Susan with Hermione, and Daphne and Lilly sharing beds. Daphne and Lilly were the last two awake, so they were talking in hushed voices.

“Are you okay?” Daphne asked.

“Oh, I’m fine, I dated him for the least time,” Lilly said, “I’m still a little hurt that he lied to me. And I’m angry he screwed all three of us over, whatever his reasons. But it must be harder for you, you were with him for a year.”

“Yeah but we were 15 and 16,” Daphne said, “I don’t know how serious any relationship can be then, or even now. That’s why as much as Potter follows me around it won’t go anywhere. Potter and I are 16, we’re still so young.”

“But we don’t know how many years we have left,” Lilly pointed out, “I’m 16 too, but if this is true about a war, then how do we know we’ll survive it and live a long life?”

“I get why Potter doesn’t think he’ll survive, but you can runaway back to the Muggle world, you’ll be safe,” Daphne said.

“But I wouldn’t do that,” Lilly said, “I’d never leave Hogwarts in danger when I could fight. I didn’t join the whole Dumbledore’s Army thing Harry ran last year because I was too afraid and I’ve regretted it ever since. I couldn’t live with myself if I ran away and my friends died because I wasn’t there to help fight.”

Daphne sighed and said, “It’s going to be a bloody conclusion, that much I do know.”

“And that’s why you won’t let yourself get attached to Harry, isn’t it?” Lilly asked.

Daphne nodded, “He’s right, he’s probably going to die. Maybe that war will come tomorrow or in 5 years but eventually he’s going to die in it.”

“You’re a very selfish person, Daphne,” Lilly said matter of factly.

“Of course I am, I’m a Slytherin,” Daphne said coolly, “in time you will realise that we are all selfish. Even Draco, despite the way he seemed to you.”

“Draco practically confirmed to me he was a Death Eater,” Lilly told the blonde, “he said he had information and I wasn’t allowed to know how he had it.”

“Did he tell you what information?” Daphne asked.

Lilly nodded and turned her head to the side to look at Daphne, £He said Voldemort has Harry at the top of his hit-list but there are two other people up there who he personally wants to kill.”

“Dumbledore can’t be one of them since it’s clearly Draco’s job to kill him,” Daphne said, “so that leaves Hermione, and Weasley?”

Lilly nodded, “I guessed, and he confirmed it. That’s why he’s trying to keep Hermione away from him, he said if Voldemort knew they had anything to do with each other he’d kill her sooner and the longer she could stay alive the better chance of survival she had in the long-run.”

“Did you believe that?” Daphne asked.

“No,” Lilly said honestly, “I didn’t think it made sense. I think he’s staying away from Hermione because if he gets involved with her he’ll be added to Voldemort’s personal hit list. I think he’s saving his own skin.”

“He really is a piece of shit, isn’t he?” Daphne sighed.

“Yeah, but unfortunately Hermione likes him,” Lilly said quietly, “and nobody deserves to die, regardless of what they’ve done.”

On two separate beds, with their eyes shut, and unbeknownst to Lilly and Daphne, Harry and Hermione had heard every single word of their conversation. Hermione was now plagued with the idea that Draco really did only care about himself, and Harry who thought he actually had a chance with Daphne had now seen her true colours very vividly.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When Harry woke up the next morning he was spooning someone, and his head hurt. He groaned and opened his eyes, apart from a very bad headache he felt okay. The person he was spooning was Hermione, and he woke her up with a knee to the back.

She grumbled and opened her eyes, “What was that for?”

“How’d you get here?”

You were having a nightmare again,” Hermione yawned, “I came over to get you to stop writhing about and you grabbed me and wouldn’t bloody let me go.”

“Right,” Harry said awkwardly, “sorry, about that, and this,” he moved away.

Hermione sniggered and said, “I didn’t know you were a spooner.”

He shot her a glare, “How come you’re so fine this morning?”

Hermione shrugged, “I’ve got a headache, but I’m okay. Clearly I can hold my liquor better than you.”

“You were worse than me last night,” Harry said in amusement.

“I don’t want to make a habit of this,” Hermione yawned, “we’re only in 6th year.”

“Technically you’re legally old enough to drink in the wizarding world,” Harry pointed out, “you’re 17.”

“Who cares about technicalities?” Susan’s voice asked from the bed next to them. When they looked over she was smirking and holding a wizarding camera in her hands.

“Please tell me you didn’t take a picture of that,” Harry said.

“Can’t do that I’m afraid,” Susan said happily, “good morning campers. How did we sleep last night?” she asked as she shook Daphne and Lilly awake.

“I’d still like to sleep thank you very much,” Lilly grumbled.

“Well you can’t. If we don’t show up for breakfast and our head of houses find out what we were doing last night we are dead, so move your arses,” Susan said, she was far too happy for a Saturday morning.

Daphne groaned, “Ugh, fuck off Bones. You have a point, but its Saturday morning.”

“Well I for one will not be getting put in detention,” Susan said as she quickly changed clothes, much to Harry’s bemusement.

“Me either,” Hermione said as she got up and transfigured her clothes.

“Why not? You had such great bonding time with Malfoy at the last one,” Harry joked as he too got up.

“Hilarious,” Hermione remarked, “want me to transfigure your clothes or not?”

“Right, sorry,” Harry said sheepishly as Hermione transfigured his clothes for him.

“Were you two sleeping together?” Daphne asked as she reluctantly sat up in bed.

“No, Harry was just spooning her,” Susan yawned.

“He had a nightmare, and if you don’t give him a kick he starts shouting and wakes everyone up,” Hermione said simply, “so I went over to shake him out of it and he grabbed me and wouldn’t let go of me.”

Lilly snorted and said, “A likely excuse.”

“Ah, no,” Harry said with a frown, “Despite the whole not wanting to die a virgin thing, Hermione is like my sister.”

“Even if you were spooning her,” Susan sniggered, “Come on Lill, get up.”

Lilly rolled her eyes as she did as the others had done and transfigured her clothes into clean robes. They all left the passageway, and went through the empty common room. They were silent on the walk to the great hall, and when they walked in they found that the house tables had been replaced with four circular tables, and a fifth for the staff.

“I am so tired,” Lilly said as she sat down at one of them, “and starving.”

“Yeah well alcohol does that to you,” Hermione said in amusement as Lilly piled her plate high with food.

Harry sniggered, “Anyway, onto the point. We’re having our first meeting tonight at 7pm.”

“Are we?” Hermione asked with a frown.

“We are now,” Harry said in amusement, “You know how to get into the room, and we need to get down to business after last night.”

Daphne yawned and poured herself a cup of coffee, “Sure thing Potter.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Harry and Hermione weren’t alone again until mid-morning when they found themselves in the empty Gryffindor common room, and as soon as they were Hermione brought something up she had been waiting a few hours to mention.

“I heard Lilly and Daphne talking about Malfoy last night when they thought I was asleep.”

Harry’s head snapped up from his Charms essay, “So did I,” he said.

“You were awake too?” Hermione asked in surprise.

Harry nodded, “I heard it all, including Daphne’s remark about not wanting to start anything with me because I’ll just die.”

Hermione sighed, “You can do better than her anyway Harry. She’s got too much emotional baggage, two people with that much combined emotional baggage will never work.”

“As mean as that sounded, you’re right,” Harry said, “but she’s fun and laid back. That’s what I want so badly right now.”

“Ginny fits that category,” Hermione pointed out.

“Yeah, but she’s Ron’s little sister, and regardless of whats going on with us I can’t see past that,” Harry said with a wave of his hand, “but that’s not the important part anyway. You heard what they said about Malfoy being selfish, do you think it’s true?”

“Do I think he’s saving his own skin by avoiding me?” Hermione asked, “I don’t know.”

“It does sound like the kind of thing he would do,” Harry said, “he’s only ever seemed to care about himself. Then again that does seem to be a Slytherin trait.”

Hermione ignored the slight jibe at Daphne and said, “I don’t want to believe that it’s true. What he told Lilly could be close to the truth. If Voldemort caught me and he knew that Draco and I were friends then he would probably make my death long and torturous rather than a quick affair.”

“I guess that does make sense,” Harry admitted.

Hermione shrugged, “I don’t know, all I know is if that is how he feels then getting him to trust me will be harder than I thought.”

“For now we focus on tailing him, and finding out what he’s doing then,” Harry said simply, “it might give him time to cool down a little. You two did tear each other up pretty bad last night.”

“It’s what we always do,” Hermione remarked, “insult each other.” 

“And generate sexual tension according to Lilly,” Harry laughed.

Hermione rolled her eyes, “He just makes me so mad!”

“You seem to like that though Hermione,” Harry pointed out, “first Ron, and now Malfoy. I think you like the whole love/hate thing.”

Hermione laughed weakly, “Yeah, maybe I do.”

Harry smiled, “This will all work out alright in the end. Trust me.”

“I do, Harry.”

TBC :)


	7. Christmas is All Around

When Hermione followed Harry into the Room of Requirement at 7pm on Saturday evening she expected it to look like the DA room had the year before. But it had changed rather a lot. It was smaller, with a large round wooden table at its centre and a blackboard on one wall. The walls were wooden panelled, and there was a glass chandelier above the table.

Hermione must have been frowning, because Harry asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. It’s just…this is sort of how I imagined the Titanic would look,” Hermione said offhandedly.

“I was just thinking of a nice comfortable meeting room,” Harry said casually as he sat down in one of the comfortable leather chairs around the table. Hermione sat down next to him, and they waited for the others to arrive.

They all came in together, and Susan smirked when she saw the room, “Nice taste Hermione.”

Hermione laughed, “Thanks, but it wasn’t me. It was Harry.”

“I never knew your taste was this good Potter,” Daphne remarked as she slid into one of the seats.

Lilly laughed as she sat down next to Harry, “Of course his taste is good. His first girlfriend was a Ravenclaw.”

Harry smiled slightly, “Right then. Down to business.”

“You don’t hang around, do you?” Daphne asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Ah he was like that in the DA too,” Susan said, “he likes to get straight to work.”

“That is what we’re here for,” Hermione said as she stood up, and grabbed a bit of chalk, “so here is what we know. Dumbledore is the target, and Draco Malfoy is the assassin.”

She transferred this information onto the board, “Now we need to work out the plan, and the murder weapon.”

Lilly laughed, “Just like Cluedo.”

“Exactly,” Hermione said eagerly, “if we can find out what the murder weapon will be, and where the murder is supposed to happen we can prevent it.”

“What on earth is Cluedo?” Susan asked, she was a half-blood but had been raised by her pure-blood Aunt.

“I second that,” Daphne said, because of course she was a pure-blood.

“It’s a muggle game,” Harry said, “and I think the aim of the game is to be the first person to solve a murder.”

“Yep,” Lilly said, “in this case we know its Draco Malfoy, but we don’t know with what or where.”

“You do realise this is making no sense to us, right?” Daphne asked with a raised eyebrow.

“We need to figure out what Draco is trying to kill Dumbledore with, and where he plans to do it,” Hermione repeated, “so I think Katie Bell has a lot to do with that.”

She jotted on the board, “Katie Bell - accidental victim - necklace.”

“That necklace was cursed,” Harry said, “and when Katie touched it she was meant to die, but she was wearing gloves and she let go of it fast enough that she was spared death.”

“So the necklace was meant for Dumbledore, that makes sense,” Lilly said, “but why did Katie have it in the first place?”

“She was taking it to Dumbledore, obviously,” Daphne said.

“Doesn’t that mean she’s working with Draco?” Susan asked.

“No. It means Draco has learned a new trick; the Imperius Curse,” Daphne said darkly.

“Of course he knows it,” Hermione said irritably, “his Father probably taught him it.”

“But if Katie was imperius-ed to take the necklace to Dumbledore why would she touch it? The fact she did screwed up Draco’s plan to curse Dumbledore,” Lilly pointed out.

“Well, I never said he was any good at using the Imperius Curse,” Daphne said with a shrug.

“No, Lilly’s right. It doesn’t add up,” Hermione said thoughtfully.

“Well we can hardly just wander up to Malfoy and ask him what his Imperius cursing skills are like,” Harry said sarcastically, “so we’re going to have to work it out for ourselves. We were there Hermione, so let’s think about it. Where was Katie before she got cursed?”

“Hogsmeade,” Hermione replied, “she was in the Three Broomsticks right before walking up to the school.”

“And she accidentally touched the necklace when she was arguing with Leanne,” Harry said, “but she was wearing gloves, and that’s why she didn’t die. Right?”

Hermione nodded, “I know where you are going with this. You don’t think she knew what was in that package which means she was probably imperiused.”

“So Malfoy had to put her under the Imperius curse in the Three Broomsticks,” Harry said with a nod, “and told her to deliver the necklace to Dumbledore.”

“So Draco didn’t want her to get hurt. It just didn’t go to plan,” Susan chipped in.

“That explains why he was so funny after it,” Daphne said, “he must have felt guilty.”

“And he’s probably grateful that she’s in St. Mungo’s, because when she gets back if she remembers she’ll tell someone that it was Draco who cursed her,” Lilly said.

Hermione sighed, “Then that means we really are working to a time limit,” she said as wrote on the board after Katie’s name “deliverer of cursed necklace to Dumbledore - attempt failed.”

“Okay, so if his attempt with the necklace failed that means he’s planning something else doesn’t it?” Susan asked.

“I’d assume so,” Hermione said, “and I’d also assume it’s something sneaky that won’t directly involve him.”

“Poison?” Daphne suggested.

“Or worse,” Harry said with a frown.

“What do you mean, or worse?” Lilly asked anxiously.

“Some days I’ve been looking for him on my map and he’s not there,” Harry said.

“He can’t just disappear off of the map Harry,” Hermione said, “unless he’s leaving the school.”

“But he can’t leave the school when we aren’t on Hogsmeade days, can he?” Susan asked.

“Not unless he knows about the secret passages,” Harry said, “there are 7 that lead out of the school. One is underneath the Whomping Willow so even if he does know it’s there which I doubt, he’ll have no idea how to get into it.”

“But you do?” Lilly asked in amusement.

Harry smiled and said, “Possibly. There’s one behind a mirror on the fourth floor, but it’s caved in. There’s one underneath the statue of Gregory the Smarmy and three others. I’m pretty sure Filch knows about al four so I doubt Malfoy would be able to use them to disappear as often as he does.”

“What about the one eyed witch?” Hermione asked, “Filch doesn’t know about that.”

“Yes, but without the map I would never have guessed the password. There is no way Malfoy could guess it,” Harry pointed out.

“Well if he’s not leaving the school where is he disappearing to?” Susan asked.

“Maybe he’s going somewhere that the people who made your map didn’t know about,” Daphne suggested.

“Every location in this school is on the map,” Harry said.

“Apart from the Chamber of Secrets, and all of the underground chambers beneath the school,” Hermione pointed out.

“That’s really a place?” Susan asked in disbelief.

“Oh shit, you weren’t supposed to know about that,” Harry said sheepishly.

“I knew anyway, it’s a well-kept secret in Slytherin that we know it exists,” Daphne said, “but you don’t actually know where it is, do you?”

“I do, but I can’t tell you,” Harry said, “and yes Hermione it’s not on the map, but there’s no way Malfoy can know where it is and even if he does he can’t get in, you know that.”

“Why can’t he get in?” Susan asked.

“Can’t tell you that either,” Harry replied sheepishly.

“It’s top secret,” Hermione joked, and only Lilly got the reference to James Bond and laughed.

“Hang on a minute,” Lilly said, “top secret….Harry get your map out!”

“Why?” Harry asked suspiciously.

“Just trust me,” Lilly said.

Feeling rather confused Harry got his map out and opened it up after saying the password. Lilly leant across him and laid it out on the table.

“We aren’t on the map right now,” Lilly said after a brief examination.

“Of course!” Hermione exclaimed, hitting herself in the head, “how could I be so stupid? The Room of Requirement is unplottable! It won’t show up on the map!”

“Does she always do that when she fails to figure something?” Daphne asked, cocking her head at Hermione who had hit herself pretty hard.

“Uh yeah. But how can he know about the Room of Requirement-”Harry began to say, but then it hit him, “Dammit! He was on the Inquisitorial Squad last year. He was here when Cho gave us up.”

“And that’s why you should never trust a Ravenclaw,” Susan joked with a glance at Lilly.

“Come on, who can lie under Veritaserum?” Lilly said.

“Hey, don’t fight,” Harry said shortly, “if Malfoy is coming to the Room of Requirement we need to find out why.”

“And how do we do that? We can follow him here but we can’t follow him in,” Hermione pointed out.

“Unless he invites one of us in,” Lilly said.

“So we’re back to square one,” Hermione sighed, “gaining his trust.”

“Well, there is another option,” Harry said, “but I doubt any of us are at all skilled in the art of Legilimency.”

Daphne smirked, “Well, it’s funny you should say that.”

Hermione raised an eyebrow at her, “You can do it?”

“I can, but not that well,” Daphne admitted, “and anyway, there’s no way it will work. You said Snape couldn’t even get past him which means he obviously knows Occlumency and I’m not good enough to get past his defence if Snape can’t.”

“So we are back to square one then,” Lilly said, with a pointed look at Hermione.

“Great,” Hermione sighed.

“Look for now you focus on getting back in his good books Hermione, and I’ll follow him to here under the cloak, I might get a glimpse of what the room looks like if I’m quick,” Harry said.

“What do you want us to do?” Susan asked.

“Just keep your eyes and ears open for anything out of the ordinary,” Harry said, “especially you Daphne since you share a common room with him.”

“Alright,” Daphne said, “is that the meeting adjourned then?”

“Yeah, I think so,” Harry said, “we’ll meet every week unless you need to call an emergency meeting. Hermione will show you how to do it with your coins, I’ll see you all later.”

He got up and left, and Daphne frowned, “What’s up with him today?”

“I think he’s just touchy because with all of this he’s feeling like the war is getting closer,” Hermione said as she got to her feet, “he’s feeling closer to his inevitable demise.” 

“Is he ever just happy?” Daphne asked.

“Not really,” Hermione answered honestly, “he pretends he is sometimes, but he had a really bad childhood. And then he discovered this world only to be hunted ever since by Voldemort. I don’t think he ever feels like he can escape that.”

“That’s a horrible way to live,” Lilly sighed.

“It’s just depressing,” Daphne drawled.

“Yes well you would think that,” Hermione said as she grabbed the door handle, “because you only care about yourself so I can see why you find it hard to have sympathy for anyone else. I’ll see you next week, heat your coins up in the fire to call us to an emergency meeting.”

Before she could get a response from Daphne, Hermione left and jogged to catch up with Harry on his way to Gryffindor tower.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“You really can do better than her you know.”

“What?”

“Daphne,” Hermione said as she looked up at Harry. They were working comfortably together in the Gryffindor common room. It was Monday, and the following day was Christmas Eve so Hermione had agreed to Harry’s plans to do no work over the next few days. That did mean that today Hermione was giving him a push to do some of his homework.

“Hermione-”

“No, Harry. She’s a really selfish person,” Hermione said honestly, “and you are the most selfless person I know. You can do better.”

“Hermione, you’re never this pushy about my relationships,” Harry said in exasperation.

“I just think there are people out there who are better for you,” Hermione said calmly.

“Like who, Hermione?” Harry asked, looking up at her in amusement.

Hermione leant forward, “Well, Lilly for a start-”

“She has the same name as my Mother,” Harry said in a slightly horrified tone of voice.

“Technically her name is Lillian, and your Mother was just Lily-”

“It’s still the same name!”

Hermione rolled her eyes, “You can’t let a little thing like a name get in the way of a possible-”

“A little thing like the fact she has the same name as my Mother?” Harry asked in disbelief, “that’s like me going out with Ginny who’s almost a carbon copy of my Mother!”

Hermione’s face fell, and Harry shook his head at her, “So she’s another of the ones you think are better for me then?”

“Well she is funny, and laidback and-”

“Ron’s little sister who reminds me of my Mother,” Harry finished, “and are you actually getting upset about the fact that I’m not liking your choices of girl for me?”

“They’re good choices!” Hermione exclaimed, “what about Susan? And don’t say she looks like your Mother! You can’t just never date redheads because your Mother was a redhead!”

“Well she has…assets-” Harry began.

“Yeah, I bet I know what advantages you’re talking about,” Hermione said with a disapproving look at her best friend.

“You can’t get pissed off at me for not liking two of your choices and then liking another one for the wrong reasons,” Harry teased.

“I can,” Hermione challenged, “and if you’re so picky, then I’ll just set you up with a guy instead. I hear Theodore Nott swings-”

“I don’t want to hear anymore of that, thank you!” Harry exclaimed, “Just because you got caught coming out of a broom cupboard with Daphne doesn’t mean I have to with Theodore Nott.”

Hermione shot him a glare, “We were talking.”

“Yeah, whatever you say,” Harry said in amusement, “and you are distracting me from my essay by the way.”

“Oh shut up,” Hermione said irritably, “what’s your type anyway?”

“I don’t have a type-”

“Everyone has a type. Do you find me attractive?”

“I think of you like a sister!” Harry exclaimed.

“Yes, but if push came to shove and you were going to die a virgin you would sleep with me right?” Hermione asked bluntly.

“What has gotten into you since you became friends with those girls?” Harry asked, partly stunned and partly amazed.

“Stop avoiding the question,” Hermione said shortly.

“I suppose so,” Harry said awkwardly.

“Right, and Lilly? If she didn’t have the same name as your Mother,” Hermione added.

“Attractive…I like her eyes, ” Harry said simply.

“Susan?”

Harry raised an eyebrow, and Hermione glared at him, “and don’t mention her assets!”

“In all seriousness she’s a pretty girl,” Harry said honestly.

“And Daphne?”

Harry rolled his eyes, “She’s gorgeous isn’t she?”

“So you like blondes then,” Hermione snorted.

Harry didn’t deny it, and Hermione just laughed as she grabbed her books and said, “Well I’m going to the library. Do you need me to get you anything?”

“How about a book on how to get your irritating female best friend to stop trying to set you up?” Harry joked.

“I’ll see what I can do,” Hermione said in amusement as she left the common room.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Hermione couldn’t help but snigger at the conversation she had just had with Harry as she walked down the grand staircase, and somewhere between the 6th and 5th floor Draco Malfoy’s voice asked, “What are you laughing at, Granger?”

Hermione rolled her eyes as he fell into step with her, “None of your business, Malfoy. Are you following me now?”

“No, I have better things to do with my time,” Draco drawled.

“So Lilly said,” Hermione said matter of factly.

“She told you about our conversation?” Draco asked in surprise.

“Yes, we are friends,” Hermione said.

“Did she tell you about all of it?” Draco asked, his face paling slightly.

“No, why?” Hermione lied, she knew of course he was worried that Lilly had told her that Draco had said he only dated Lilly because she reminded him of her.

“No reason,” Draco said with a shake of his head, “anyway, in case you didn’t know you’ve pissed Daphne Greengrass off.”

“Oh, I’m well aware of that,” Hermione said calmly, “but how do you know that?”

“I had to listen to her rant to anyone in the Slytherin common room who would listen that you were a bitch,” Draco said with a smirk.

“I thought you two were the only Slytherins staying.”

“Exactly.”

“Hmm, well the feeling is mutual I can assure you that,” Hermione said coolly.

Draco raised an eyebrow at her, “From broom cupboards to hating each other?”

“Sounds similar to your relationship with Harry,” Hermione retorted.

“Amusing, but inaccurate,” Draco said matter of factly, “I wouldn’t touch Potter with a ten foot pole.”

“Your ex-girlfriend would.”

“Which one?” Draco asked.

Hermione glared at him, “Daphne definitely, and possibly Lilly. But anyway, I thought you weren’t talking to me anymore Malfoy. Something about me getting killed if you did?”

“It’s Christmas,” Draco said with a wave of his hand, “I need to extend the hand of friendship, even to muggle-borns.”

Hermione stopped, and Draco frowned as he stopped too, “What?” he asked.

“Did you just call me a respectable name instead of a Mudblood?” Hermione asked in disbelief.

Draco paused and thought about this for a moment, “I think I might have done. But then again, it is Christmas.”

“I wish it could be Christmas every day.”

“Well as honoured as I am that you like me that much Granger-”

“It’s a Muggle Christmas song, Malfoy. Don’t let your head get too inflated,” Hermione said as they turned the corner onto the corridor where the library was, “by the way, are you actually going to the library or are you just stalking me?”

“I have better things to do than stalk you Granger, but that is coincidentally why I want to talk to you,” Draco said, stopping when they reached the doors to the library.

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him, “What do you want?”

“I would very much appreciate it if you could ask Potter to stop following me around everywhere I go. He clearly hasn’t mastered the art of masking charms, and he has this distinctive smell of broom polish and owl shit about him, so I know it’s him,” Draco said matter of factly, “it’s incredibly irritating and I’m certain he watched me piss yesterday.”

“You are vulgar and disgusting,” Hermione said.

“And your best friend who hangs around invisible in bathrooms and watches guys piss isn’t?”

Hermione rolled her eyes, “I’ll pass your message on Malfoy.”

“Thank you Granger,” Draco said as he turned to leave.

“Just to clarify then, you’re not talking to me unless you want something?” Hermione asked in amusement.

“Pretty much,” Draco said, “see you around, Granger.”

Hermione watched him leave with a shake of her head, and then looked into a spot which seemed to contain nothing but air, “Harry. Have you been following me from the Gryffindor common room?”

“No…” Harry’s disembodied voice said.

“That is an invasion of bloody privacy! And were you really watching Malfoy in the bathroom?” Hermione asked in disbelief.

“There might have been a secret passage in there!” Harry said.

“Really Harry? Is that the best you can come up with?” Hermione asked in amusement.

“No really, I realised halfway through how weird it was and I left,” Harry said.

Hermione snorted in amusement, and said, “I’m going to the library. See you later, why don’t you go and see if Malfoy’s in a bathroom anywhere?”

“Fuck off Hermione.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

On Christmas day Harry was woken up by a hyper-active Hermione jumping on his bed.

“Hermione!” Harry exclaimed as he pulled his covers up around himself, “you can’t just come barging into my bedroom anymore!”

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him, “Why not?”

“Because!” Harry spluttered with a red face.

“Because what?” Hermione asked cluelessly.

Harry glared at her, “Jesus Christ, because of puberty!”

Hermione frowned, and then jumped off his bed in horror, “Harry!”

“You asked!” Harry muttered.

“Merry Christmas to you too,” Hermione said with a shake of her head, “there are spells to fix that little problems of yours by the way, I’ll teach you.”

“How do you know that?” Harry asked in a mixture of disbelief and embarrassment.

“I read a lot,” Hermione said in amusement, “there are presents in the common room, I’ll wait downstairs for your dilemma to sort it itself out.”

“Just get out and quit winding me up,” Harry said in exasperation.

Hermione got up and left, sniggering as she did so. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A little while and lots of presents later, Harry and Hermione were on their way to the great hall. They had both been sent a Weasley jumper, and some cakes from Mrs Weasley and had even got small presents from Ron which they hoped were peace offerings as they were both missing the redhead during the festive season.

They were arguing, well bickering, as they approached the hall.

“I didn’t invade your privacy, I always come into your dorm-”

“Yeah exactly, you should never come into my dorm. I can’t come into your dorm so it’s hardly fair you get to come into mine!”

“You could come into mine. You just have to fly up the stairs instead of walk on them, it’s a pressure thing-”

“It’s Christmas Hermione, I don’t want a fight or a lect-ARGH!”

“Harry are you okay!” Hermione exclaimed, he had just walked headfirst into thin air and bounced back as if he had hit a barrier. They were in the doorway of the Great Hall, and as Hermione glanced around she noticed there was a shimmering barrier all around them.

“I’m fine,” Harry said, rubbing his nose as he got up and looked at the barrier, “what the hell is that?”

“It’s a magical barrier,” Susan’s chirpy voice said, “look up.”

They did, and above them was mistletoe. Harry frowned in confusion, and Hermione groaned, “Susan!”

“It’s Christmas, be festive and have a little kiss!”

“I’m not kissing Hermione!”

“Am I really that bad?” Hermione asked in disbelief.

“No, I just mean because you’re like my sister,” Harry said quickly.

“Well that barrier won’t disappear until you kiss, so get on with it,” Susan said with a wicked laugh.

Hermione rolled her eyes and gave Harry a peck on the cheek, and with a soft whoosh the barrier disappeared, “See that wasn’t so bad was it?” she said to him as she stalked ahead to the large circular table in the centre of the great hall.

“What’s up with you two?” Susan asked in amusement, it was late morning so they were having their Christmas lunch as they often did at Hogwarts.

“She invaded my privacy and came into my dorm this morning,” Harry grumbled.

“What were you doing that made you so grumpy about it?” Susan asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Nothing!” Harry said, horrified at the thought of Hermione walking in on him doing something other than awaking from a dream.

Susan sniggered, “Merlin Potter, you’re so innocent,” she teased as they sat down at the circular table. Daphne was glaring daggers at both Harry and Hermione, neither of them had talked to her since the meeting a few days ago. Draco was sitting next to her, and he looked positively miserable. Hermione caught his eye, and he looked away instantly. She sighed and muttered to Harry, “Merry bloody Christmas.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

After Christmas lunch it began to snow, the ground was already covered in snow from the previous days blizzards, but it was quite calm and pleasant now so as everyone got up to leave the great hall Harry said, “Whose up for a snowball fight then?”

Susan grinned, “I’m up for it!”

Lilly smiled and said, “Yeah, I’ll come along too.”

Hermione chuckled, “If it keeps you amused,” she said, turning around to where Draco was walking a little way behind them. She paused for a moment.

“Go ask him if he wants to join us,” Daphne said, reading Hermione easily.

“So you’re coming then?” Harry asked.

“If you’ll stop ignoring me, sure,” Daphne said a little irritably.

“Look, it’s Christmas. Let’s put any past arguments behind us for today and have fun,” Hermione suggested as she glanced at Daphne, “I’m sorry for what I said the other day.”

“Forgiven, you were right. I am a selfish bitch,” Daphne shrugged, “but if you want to be my friend you just have to accept that. Now, go and talk to Draco, I can tell you want to.”

Hermione rolled her eyes at the blonde, but turned around and walked towards Draco anyway, “Merry Christmas,” she said brightly as she fell into step with him.

He raised an eyebrow at her, “Do I look merry to you?”

“Merlin, you’re turning into Snape,” Hermione said under her breath, “why so miserable all of the time Malfoy? Come on, we’re having a snowball fight. It will be fun.”

“Anything that was Potters idea is not my idea of fun,” Draco said dryly.

“Oh come on,” Hermione said with a grin, “I’ll stop bugging you all of the time if you come.”

Draco scoffed, “I don’t believe that for a second. It’s in your nature to bug people, Granger.”

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him, “I’m starting to think you’re scared of something. Like snow, or Harry.”

“Scared of Potter?” Draco asked in disbelief, “He wishes. I just have more important things to do than throw frozen water around.”

“What are these more important things, Malfoy? You mention them every single time we talk,” Hermione said matter of factly.

“Well, since my Father is in prison somebody has to run the Malfoy estate,” Draco said with a glare in Hermione’s direction, “then again you would know all about that since it’s your fault he’s in prison in the first place.”

“Yes, I know. I’m such a shit person for getting your Father arrested for torturing people, and killing Muggles and trying to kill a group of kids the same age as his son,” Hermione said sarcastically, “you’re right, I should have just let him get away with it.”

“You think you’re so witty don’t you Granger?” Draco asked irritably.

“Well yes, as a matter of fact I do,” Hermione retorted, “now, are you going to join our snowball fight or what?”

“All right I’ll join in with your bloody snowball fight if you just piss off and leave me al-”

“Malfoy, watch!”

But, it was too late. Draco walked into the invisible barrier before he had a chance to heed Hermione’s words. She had seen the soft shimmering light of the barrier and stopped before she hit it.

As Draco rubbed his face irritably he glared at her, “Seriously?”

“What? I didn’t do it!” Hermione exclaimed.

“Nope, it was me this time,” Daphne smirked from the entrance hall, “and I modified Susan’s barrier. A kiss on the cheek won’t do it for this one to drop, it’s got to be on the lips.”

“I’m going to kill you Daphne,” Hermione muttered as she glared at the blonde.

“Get in line,” Draco said with a deathly glare at Daphne.

“You’ll have to kiss first to get out of there, and by then I’ll be long gone,” Daphne grinned, “asta la vista mother-”

“MISS GREENGRASS, LANGUAGE!” McGonagall barked from within the hall.

“Sorry Professor McGonagall,” Daphne said sheepishly as she darted out of the entrance hall into the white grounds.

“I actually have to touch you, Granger,” Draco said distastefully.

“Well I’m not exactly thrilled about kissing a ferret, I’m not into bestiality,” Hermione retorted.

Draco glared at her, “Then I’ll wait here until Greengrass comes back and takes the barrier down.”

Hermione was honestly a little hurt as she said, “Wow Malfoy, am I really that repulsive to you? I thought it was just a muggle-born thing, but you dated Lilly. So it clearly is just me.”

“Stop trying to back me into a corner, Granger.”

“I’m not,” Hermione said honestly, “but I really don’t understand what I ever did to you to make you hate me so much.”

“You didn’t do anything,” Draco said, looking at the ground, “I just can’t be around you, we’ve been over this.”

“But that’s bullshit, because you didn’t even know about that until recently. What about in 1st year, or 2nd year?” Hermione asked, “You have been horrible to me since…well since I became friends with Harry.”

Draco watched her in amusement, and she then said, “It was because I became friends with Harry, wasn’t it? That’s why you didn’t like me.”

“Look,” Draco said, “We’ll talk about this somewhere else. Let’s just do this quickly and get it over with, okay?”

“Agreed,” Hermione said, and now she had his permission she leaned forward and gave him a quick peck on the lips. The barrier dropped, and they walked out into the entrance hall as if nothing had ever happened.

“Yes, it was because of Potter I didn’t like you,” Draco said as they walked out into the grounds which were freezing and covered completely in snow, “and Weasley. My family and Weasley’s hate each other anyway.”

“And your problem with Harry was that he embarrassed you when he didn’t become your friend,” Hermione guessed.

Draco nodded reluctantly, “He’s a Potter, half-blood or not, and his family were famous for their magical strength. I did want to be his friend.”

“And when he became friends with me, a mudblood at that, you were even more embarrassed because he didn’t want to be friends with you and you’re a pure-blood,” Hermione said slightly sarcastically.

“You really shouldn’t call yourself that,” Draco said darkly.

“Why not?” Hermione asked, “You call me it all the time, so why shouldn’t I call myself it? That’s what I am after all, isn’t it? A filthy little mudblood.”

“No, you aren’t!” Draco snapped.

Hermione was slightly taken aback as she looked him in the eye, “Then what am I, Draco?”

He didn’t take his gaze away from hers, “You’re too good for me, that’s what Granger. That’s why I’m staying away from you.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Hermione asked in exasperation.

“Exactly what it sounds like,” Draco said darkly, “whatever you seem to see in me is wrong. I’m not a good person, Granger and you are. So get yourself out of my mess while you can.”

“What mess, Draco?” Hermione asked with a frown.

“Would you stop asking me questions? Just stay away okay! Do you know how hard it is for me to make you stay away at all the time? I - Granger, what are you doing?” Draco stopped mid-rant as Hermione stooped to the ground.

“Don’t you fucking dare,” He said, as Hermione scooped some snow up in her hands.

Hermione smirked at him, “I’m a Gryffindor, Malfoy,” she said as she threw the snowball at his head, and hit him on the cheek.

“Did you listen to anything I just said?” Draco asked irritably.

“Yes, but I am choosing to ignore it. You can’t make choices for me, I am not a child so you can push me away all you want but I’ll keep coming back,” Hermione said matter of factly.

“Really? You’re not a child? Because you’re acting like one right now with your stupid snowball fight,” Draco said dryly.

“Oh come on, live a little,” Hermione teased.

Draco shot her a glare, and then mischief sparkled in his eyes as he pulled his wand from his pocket and with one swish brought all of the snow from the tree they were standing under down on Hermione’s head, “Bloody Muggle-borns don’t have the first clue about how to have a good snowball fight,” he said playfully.

“I can’t believe you just did that!” Hermione shuddered as she shook the snow off of herself.

“You started it,” Draco combatted.

Hermione smirked and pulled her wand from her soaked jacket pocket and with a single spell threw him into a snowdrift that had been formed while Hagrid cleared a path from his hut to the school.

When Draco emerged spluttering from the huge pile of snow he said, “This is getting personal now Granger,” as he built himself a snow wall to hide behind.

Hermione copied him, but built hers thicker and higher, “I can do anything better than you Malfoy. I’m smarter, remember?”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night Granger,” Draco called from his snow fort.

The next thing Hermione knew a giant ball of snow was launched at her, but she avoided it and transfigured a stick on the ground into a snow machine gun which she loaded with snowballs. She grinned as she began to fire it at Draco’s pretty weak snow wall, she could tell it had collapsed when he shrieked as a snowball hit his neck and slid down his back.

However when she peered over her wall she couldn’t believe her eyes. Draco had built a mini-castle, and attached to the top was an ice-canon, “Are you trying to bloody kill me Malfoy?” Hermione asked in disbelief.

“You’re a Witch, you can use Protego!” Draco called, and she could hear the amusement in his voice.

Hermione did, and if she hadn’t she would have been very cold as Draco’s giant ball of ice missed her and smashed a hole in the ice of the lake.

“Okay, maybe that was a little dangerous. Sorry, Granger,” Draco’s voice said sheepishly from his snow castle.

“What the hell was that?” Harry asked as he appeared behind Hermione.

“Never seen a snowball fight, Potter?” Draco jeered.

Harry took cover in Hermione’s fort and yelled, “You smashed a hole in the lake, Malfoy!”

“It was an accident,” Hermione pointed out in amusement.

“You’re defending your opponent?” Harry asked with a raised eyebrow as he helped her strengthen her fort.

Hermione smirked and said, “Doesn’t mean I won’t kick his arse. You on my side or what?”

Harry grinned, and from across no-man’s land they heard a new voice enter the fore, “Two against two is fairer than two against one.”

“Oh come on Daphne, you’re not seriously going to help him?” Susan’s voice asked as she yelped, and jumped into Harry and Hermione’s snow fort soaking wet.

“They have a snow cannon!”

“We have a snow machine gun,” Hermione pointed out with a smirk.

“And we can make more,” Harry said when he found more sticks on the ground.

“Well you can’t,” Lilly said as she entered the now very crowded snow fort, “I’ve seen you in Transfiguration.”

“Are there four of you in there?” Draco asked in disbelief.

“No,” Hermione lied.

“You bloody cheats!” Draco exclaimed.

“Well the light side always wins Malfoy, even if the dark side do have cookies,” Harry called.

“What the fuck are you talking about Potter?”

“Muggle reference!” Lilly called in amusement.

“Bloody muggle-borns!” Draco cursed.

Lilly grinned as she and Susan made two new snow weapons and began to bombard Draco and Daphne’s ice castle with them. From their shrieks they guessed that at least a few of the snowballs had gotten through the walls.

As the mini castle crumbled Hermione grinned at Lilly and Daphne, “Girl power rules!”

“Hey, what the hell am I? A bloody statue!” Harry asked in amusement.

“Well in fairness, you are pretty feminine,” Susan said.

“Well fuck you, I’m starting my own team,” Harry said as he got up.

Daphne laughed from across the way, “You’ll never last on your own Potter.”

“Just bloody watch me,” Harry said with a grin as he left the snow fort, and set up his own little snow castle in between the current two bashed and beaten ones. This distraction had given Draco and Daphne time to build up their castle again, and all three ‘armies’ were ready to fight once more.

Hermione, Susan and Lilly and Daphne and Draco began to bombard each other with a variety of new weapons, including a catapult, and a grenade launcher. The latter had pretty much destroyed the Slytherin castle, but as they were rebuilding it Hermione frowned, “Harry has been really quiet since he left.”

“Probably because he can’t transfigure anything into a weapon!” Daphne called in amusement.

Moments after her words were uttered there was a roar from the direction of Harry’s castle, and it shook the ground so much that it destroyed the Slytherin castle and Hermione’s fort. They looked in the direction of Harry’s castle in bemusement and couldn’t believe their eyes when they saw the walls collapse and Harry emerge on what appeared to be a 12 foot tall ice giant.

“You made a bloody ice Gollum!” Hermione shrieked in disbelief, “How the hell did you do that?”

Harry grinned, as his ice Gollum roared and said something that sounded like, ‘smash’.

“Okay Potter, we surrender!” Draco said quickly as he backed away from the huge chunk of ice.

“Really Malfoy? Already?” Hermione asked in disbelief.

Draco raised his eyebrow at her, “Do you want to fight that thing?”

“He has a valid point,” Lilly said, “we surrender too!”

Harry laughed loudly as his ice giant took a giant chunk out of the remainder of Draco and Daphne’s ice castle, and Daphne screamed loudly.

“What on earth do you think you are doing Mr. Potter?”

Harry glanced to the doorway where McGonagall was watching, and appeared to be fuming.

“Practicing my Transfiguration, Professor,” Harry said matter of factly.

“Dismantle that thing immediately! You are scaring the first years!” McGonagall said angrily.

“Sorry Professor,” Harry said sheepishly as he jumped down into the soft snow and aimed his wand at the Gollum’s chest, “Reducto!”

Everyone gaped as the ice giant erupted and fell down on their heads in the form of very fine snow.

“When did Harry get that powerful?” Susan asked in disbelief.

“Yeah, I thought he just got lucky every year, or that someone saved him by a fluke,” Daphne remarked.

“No, his name isn’t Frodo,” Lilly said under her breath.

“Who is Frodo?” Draco asked.

“Muggle reference, Malfoy,” Hermione said as she stared at Harry in awe.

“A word please Potter, and who started this foolish fight?” McGonagall asked as she surveyed them all.

Hermione bit her lip, “I did Professor.”

“You too then Miss Granger,” McGonagall said, so with a guilty look about her she and Harry followed McGonagall into the school.

Draco was frowning, and Susan asked, “What’s up with you?”

“He feels bad for getting Hermione into trouble,” Daphne teased, “and hes pissed Potter made him look bad in front of her.”

Draco scoffed, “He didn’t make me look bad. That was nothing.”

“That was a bloody impressive bit of magic, admit it,” Lilly said.

“I’ll admit nothing,” Draco said stubbornly, “and I didn’t get Granger into trouble. She did start it.”

“And you didn’t walk away,” Daphne pointed out.

“What is this, the Spanish inquisition?” Draco asked irritably.

“Oh my god, Draco, that was a Muggle reference!” Lilly exclaimed.

Draco shot her an amused smirk, “I do read books, Lillian.”

Lilly picked up a remnant of the ice castle and shoved it down his back. He cursed loudly, and she said, “Call me Lillian again, go on, try it.”

“I’m good thanks,” Draco said with a shudder.

Daphne sniggered, “Aren’t you glad Hermione isn’t here to see you get owned by a girl?”

Draco glared at her, “I’m leaving, and when you see Granger tell her this was not fun.”

“We’ll tell her you had a great time then!” Susan called after Draco as he walked away in the direction of the school.

TBC :)


	8. A Not So Merry Christmas

McGonagall reached her office, and shut the door behind Harry and Hermione. She sat down behind her desk and fixed them both with a stern look.

“Sorry Professor-” Hermione began to say.

“Have a biscuit,” McGonagall said, pushing a tin towards them.

Hermione frowned, “A…a biscuit?”

Harry smirked, remembering a very similar conversation from last year, “Why thank you Professor,” he said as he helped himself to some Scottish shortbread.

Hermione’s frown deepened, but she took a biscuit anyway, and then sat down across from McGonagall.

“Mr. Potter, I should give you detention for that stunt in the grounds, but as it is Christmas I will refrain from doing so. However, I must award 20 points to Gryffindor, your skills in the classroom ought to be just as good.”

Harry was amused, but said, “Sorry Professor, I’ve been teaching myself the stuff I thought would come in handy against Voldemort. So pin cushions just didn’t quite cut it.”

“However Potter it appears you have become your Father over the summer holidays,” McGonagall continued, looking through her glasses at him disapprovingly, yet amusement sparkled in her eyes.

“Well I felt I needed to loosen up a little, Professor,” Harry said brightly.

“Indeed,” McGonagall said, “Although Professor Dumbledore and I are concerned about your new friendships this year,” this was directed at them both.

“Don’t you encourage inter-house friendships, Professor?” Hermione asked.

“I am sure by now you are both aware, we are fast approaching another war,” McGonagall said sincerely, “Not all friendships may be as they appear.”

“We know, Professor,” Harry said honestly, “Hermione and I have been trying to figure out what Malfoy is up to. I told you after Hogsmeade it was him who cursed Katie Bell.”

“And you still have no proof of that Potter,” McGonagall said sharply, “so I would advise that you both mind your own business and be careful of the company that you keep.”

“Yes Professor,” Hermione said.

With a nod McGonagall said, “Then you may go, and Merry Christmas to you both.”

“Merry Christmas Professor,” Hermione said as she and Harry left their Head of House’s office and began to walk in the direction of the grounds in the hopes of meeting up with the others.

“What was that about?” Harry muttered under his breath.

“She must know Draco is up to something,” Hermione whispered, “but she won’t tell us that she does. But why else would she warn us away from him? What is going on?”

“I don’t know, but whatever it is I’m starting to think she’s in on it, her and Snape,” Harry replied.

“Do you think Dumbledore knows what’s happening?” Hermione asked in disbelief, “if McGonagall and Snape know…”

“I think Dumbledore knows exactly what is happening,” Harry said darkly, “and he’s doing nothing to stop it.”

“Or help Draco!” Hermione hissed, “He’s just going to let him ruin his life? Well I’m sorry but I won’t!”

“Neither will I,” Harry said firmly, and he reached down and gripped her hand, “Don’t worry, we’re going to help him. Look at the breakthrough we made today.”

Hermione nodded and as they reached the entrance hall they saw Daphne, Susan and Lilly walk into it. The moment they got close they could feel the heat of the drying charms they had placed on themselves.

“So how much shit did you get in?” Susan asked.

“None,” Hermione smiled, “she let us off because it was Christmas.”

“And she gave me 20 points for Gryffindor for my Transfiguration,” Harry said in amusement.

“Seriously?” Daphne asked in disbelief, “I mean it was impressive, but she gave you points for breaking the rules?”

“Uh, Daphne,” Hermione said, “in case you haven’t noticed. Every year Harry gets points for breaking the rules.”

Harry shrugged, “It’s my due for putting up with Snape being a snarky bastard all year, and for all my near death experiences.”

“Yeah don’t brag about it, Potter,” Daphne joked.

“Trust me, I’m not,” Harry said darkly. 

They fell into an awkward silence, and then Susan said, “So, we’re doing another party tonight in Hufflepuff since its Christmas and all. You two coming?”

“Sure,” Hermione said, she glanced to Harry.

He nodded and said with a smile, “Yeah.”

“Wicked,” Susan said, “Daphne, pass the message onto Draco if you see him in the common room.”

“Sure thing,” Daphne said with a mock salute to Susan, “see you guys later,” she said with a wave as she walked towards the dungeons.

Susan yawned and said, “Well I’m going to have a nap, and a shower, see you guys tonight.”

“Bye Suse,” Lilly said as they parted ways and Lilly joined Harry and Hermione on their walk up to the grand staircase.

“Why are you two so quiet? Have you had another light bulb moment or something?” Lilly asked suspiciously.

“No, what are you-”

“Yeah, actually we have,” Hermione said, cutting Harry off and looking at Lilly, “Snape and McGonagall both know about Draco’s mission, and we think Dumbledore might too.”

“We don’t actually know that Snape and McGonagall know either, that’s guesswork,” Harry pointed out.

“It’s smart guesswork,” Lilly said, “but why would Dumbledore just let it continue if he knew?”

“Because he knows Draco will never manage to succeed,” Hermione said darkly, “he’s just letting him continue with his suicide mission.”

“Well he is very manipulative,” Lilly said matter of factly.

Harry frowned, “What do you mean?”

Lilly shrugged, “Look at all these things that have happened to you, Harry. I mean I know I’m not supposed to know about the whole second year thing, but you’re telling me a 12 year old kid can find a Basilisk and kill it and Dumbledore can’t? He’s using you, he uses everybody. The Slytherins know it, but everyone thinks they just think that because of Dumbledore’s liking for Muggles.”

Hermione frowned and said, “I hate to say it, but she’s right Harry. I mean Dumbledore must have known about the philosopher’s stone, he must have worked it out. But he left it all to you, and surely he knew Sirius was innocent…”

“You’re saying he’s used me this whole time to do his bidding?” Harry asked in disbelief.

“Or to train you, because he knew you would have to fight Voldemort,” Lilly chipped in.

Harry was speechless.

“These are just theories though, Harry,” Lilly added as she placed her hand on his arm, “I’m sorry, I know you’re close to him.”

Harry was shaken out of his reverie by Lilly’s hand on his arm, “Oh, no I’m fine. Just surprised…what you say makes sense.”

Lilly shrugged, “I don’t know, we should talk about it at our next meeting. I’m sure Daphne knows more than me, a lot of what I know is what she told me.”

“That’s a good idea,” Hermione spoke up, she had been watching the interplay between Harry and Lilly with interest. 

“Well I’ll see you guys tonight,” Lilly said as they reached the 5th floor and she headed in the direction of the stairs to Ravenclaw tower.

Hermione smirked as they boarded a moving staircase to the 6th floor landing, “So, you like her even though she has the same name as your Mother, huh?”

“Shut up Hermione,” Harry muttered.

“Are you having a moral dilemma right now?” Hermione asked in amusement.

“Yeah, whether I should use a silencing charm on my best friend or not,” Harry said as he shot a glare at her.

“Oh come on, you totally got goosebumps when she touched you,” Hermione said.

“Why were you looking that closely at my arm?” Harry asked in disbelief.

“I just happened to notice,” Hermione said matter of factly.

“Look I don’t pry into your love life,” Harry said irritably.

“Yeah right,” Hermione snorted, “every time I go anywhere where you think I might bump into Draco you watch us on the bloody map!”

“Since when did you start calling him Draco?”

“This is getting involved in my love life, just for your information,” Hermione said in amusement.

Harry rolled his eyes, “Seriously though, when did you start calling him Draco?”

“When I started to see him as a human being, not a brainwashed idiot,” Hermione replied.

“So before or after you had to kiss him to get out of that barrier?” Harry asked.

“Mostly after,” Hermione admitted sheepishly.

Harry sniggered as they reached the Fat Lady, “So an agreement then, I won’t get involved in your love life if you don’t get involved in mine?”

Hermione considered this for a moment, “No can do. Fairy lights.”

Harry rolled his eyes as the portrait hole swung open and he followed her inside.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Hermione was standing in front of a mirror in her dormitory in her underwear when her door was burst open.

“So you said since you came into my dorm I could - woah, you don’t have any clothes on.”

Hermione rolled her eyes, “I have underwear on, and your timing is perfect. This dress or this dress?”

“What am I your gay best friend?” Harry asked in disbelief.

“I don’t know, are you Harry?” Hermione teased, “You don’t seem flustered by my lack of clothing.”

“Trust me, I am,” Harry said awkwardly as he sat down on one of the vacant beds

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him, “Does that mean what I think it means?”

“That means put some bloody clothes on,” Harry said irritably.

“Alright then, which dress?” Hermione asked, holding up a black sparkly one and a red flowery one.

“Well if Malfoy’s going to be there I’d suggest the black one,” Harry said.

Hermione rolled her eyes but slipped the dress on anyway and said, “Since you’re here come over and zip me up.”

“Uh, why don’t you come here Hermione?” Harry asked as he crossed his legs.

“Really, Harry?” Hermione asked in disbelief as she walked over to him.

“Look, I’m a 16 year old boy. My body seems to find anything with a pulse and a chest appealing,” Harry said awkwardly, “You don’t know what it’s like.”

Hermione laughed and stood up as Harry finished with her dress. She straightened it and turned around, “So what do you think?” she asked.

“I think that I now understand why everyone’s been saying you changed over the summer,” Harry said, “and not just mentally.”

Hermione snorted, “Was that your attempt at subtly saying my tits have gotten bigger?” she asked bluntly.

“Would you stop being so blunt already?” Harry asked irritably, “I’m having a hard time as it is.”

“You’re having a hard time?” Hermione joked wickedly.

“Hermione, you know exactly where you can fuck off to,” Harry said dryly.

Hermione just laughed and said, “Wow, you almost sounded like Draco there.”

“Yeah, apart from that I called you Hermione instead of Granger, or mudblood,” Harry pointed out.

Hermione shrugged, “He’s started calling me a muggle-born now.”

“Well progress is a wonderful thing,” Harry said sarcastically, “maybe he’ll start calling you sweetheart next.”

“Oh bugger off Harry,” Hermione said with a mock glare at her best friend.

Harry sniggered, and Hermione scanned his clothes, “So what are you wearing tonight?”

“Uh, this,” Harry replied.

“It’s a Christmas party,” Hermione said.

“So?” Harry asked.

“So you have to dress up!” Hermione exclaimed, “You can’t wear that. Let me transfigure your clothes for you, since you can’t do that but you can make ice gollums.”

“Oh would you quit it with that, you’re just jealous that I can do something you can’t do,” Harry said in amusement.

“No, I’m annoyed you’ve been training in secret,” Hermione said honestly.

“And you’re a little jealous,” Harry said.

“Maybe a tiny bit jealous,” Hermione admitted.

Harry grinned, “So what am I wearing then?”

Hermione waved her wand and transfigured his clothes. He had been wearing baggy jeans and a t-shirt, and he was now wearing dark blue jeans and an emerald green shirt.

“Really?” Harry asked in disbelief as he looked down, “Slytherin green?”

“It brings out your eyes,” Hermione said matter of factly, “Lilly will love it.”

“Would you shut up about Lilly?” Harry exclaimed.

Hermione smirked as she slipped high heels on and said, “Nope, I didn’t agree to your deal, remember?”

“You cannot be seriously wearing those,” Harry said in disbelief as Hermione stood up, “you’re taller than me!”

“Well that’s not difficult Harry,” Hermione said matter of factly.

“Yeah well if you’re going to be mean, then I’ll be honest with you,” Harry said.

“About what?” Hermione asked warily.

“Every single guy you see tonight is going to look at your tits the second he sees you,” Harry said, “and probably chat you up.”

“Are you saying I look like a slut?” Hermione asked angrily.

“No,” Harry said, “but nobody has ever seen this side of you before. And I’ve seen far too much of this side of you for one night.”

Hermione shot him a glare as she made for the door, “Come on, and don’t stand on the stairs or they’ll turn into a slide and I’ll break my neck.”

“Don’t tempt me at the moment, maybe that would get you to shut up about Lilly,” Harry muttered darkly.

Hermione, rather wisely, waited until she was at the bottom of the stairs to say, “So are you going to make a move tonight?”

“If you bring this up one more time I swear to God I will tell Malfoy that I caught you writing Mrs Hermione Weasley in the margins of your notes last year,” Harry threatened.

“Alright, I’ll stop bringing it up!’ Hermione said, raising her hands in defeat, “okay?”

“Okay,” Harry said brightly, “so, let’s go to this party then.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The Hufflepuff common room was busy with the remaining 6th year students when Harry and Hermione arrived. It seemed that all of them were already gathered there, apart from Draco. Harry and Hermione were the sole remaining Gryffindors. Susan was the sole Hufflepuff girl, but Oliver Rivers and Wayne Hopkins were both staying at the school. Lilly and Lisa Turpin, and Terry Boot and Anthony Goldstein were the only Ravenclaws staying. And Daphne and Draco were the only Slytherins. So in total their little party amounted to 10 people, 11 if Draco showed up at any point.

“Hey! Merry Christmas!” Susan said with a grin when they crawled in, “there is firewhiskey, butterbeer, and egg nog over there.”

Harry smiled and said, “Merry Christmas Susan,” as he made his way to the alcohol table.

“Draco isn’t here, I saw you look for him when you came in,” Susan said with a slight smile.

Hermione rolled her eyes, “I wasn’t looking for him-”

“Yeah right,” Susan remarked, “you kissed him earlier.”

“And how would you know that?” Hermione asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Well I assume you wouldn’t have been able to get out unless you did, and since you got out you must have kissed him,” Susan said slyly, “So?”

“So what? You’ve kissed him before, it’s not like you need me to fill you in,” Hermione remarked, “and I only gave him a peck anyway so we could get out of there.”

“Well you missed out, Draco Malfoy is a great kisser,” Susan said matter of factly.

“That is not helpful Susan,” Hermione pointed out as she grabbed a butterbeer.

“What isn’t helpful?” Daphne asked curiously.

“Me pointing out Draco is a good kisser apparently,” Susan said in amusement.

“Well she would know about that, she got out of the barrier earlier,” Daphne pointed out.

“Apparently it was only a peck,” Susan said.

Daphne shook her head, “You did miss out, Draco’s a fantastic kisser.”

“Yes well, I have kissed people you know? I don’t need to kiss Draco bloody Malfoy,” Hermione said irritably.

“Oh spill the beans then Granger, who have you kissed?” Daphne asked with a grin, their previous argument seemed to have been forgotten in light of it being Christmas.

Hermione stood her ground and held her head high, she didn’t normally gossip but then this was not a normal day or a normal situation, “Viktor Krum,” she said.

“And?” Susan asked eagerly.

“Yeah, was he any good?” Daphne asked in amusement.

Hermione’s cheeks flushed, “Well let’s put it this way, he would be difficult to beat.”

“Who would be?” Harry asked as he and Lilly joined the group.

“Viktor Krum,” Susan said matter of factly, “Hermione here is saying he’s a difficult kisser to beat.”

“You snogged Viktor Krum?” Harry asked in disbelief.

“Did you really believe me when I said we were talking in the rose garden?” Hermione asked him in amusement.

“Well, yeah, and so did Ron. He’d have gone mental if he knew you’d snogged Krum,” Harry said with a shake of his head.

“I don’t have to do whatever Ronald says Harry, especially not now,” Hermione said bitterly.

Lilly chuckled, “Well I for one am jealous. Viktor Krum is the best Quidditch player of our generation, and you’ve snogged him!”

Harry cleared his throat, “I’m not too bad myself you know.”

Lilly raised an eyebrow at him, “Oh I know you’re good Harry. But you’re not quite Viktor Krum.”

Hermione sniggered, and Susan said, “So if Skeeter was right about you and Krum…was she also right about you and Harry?”

“No,” Harry said firmly, “That was complete bullshit.”

“Yeah,” Hermione agreed, “Harry and I are like brother and sister,” she shot him an amused glance and he glared at her. It was a subtle reference to what had happened earlier, but nobody seemed to notice it.

“Why are we talking about snogging anyway?” Lilly asked in amusement.

“Oh because Hermione only gave Draco a peck to get out of the barrier earlier,” Susan said, “and we were just saying that she missed out because Draco is a great kisser.”

“Well he is a fantastic kisser,” Lilly agreed.

“And as I was just saying, I have kissed plenty of people and I don’t need to snog Draco bloody Malfoy, regardless of how good a kisser you all seem to think he is,” Hermione said matter of factly.

“Like I’d kiss you anyway Granger,” Draco’s cool drawl said from behind them as he emerged into the common room, “although I am honoured that you ladies value my kissing skills so highly. I wonder what you would think of Potters.”

Lilly raised an eyebrow at him, “We really need to stop talking about you with our back to the entrance passageway. And does everything have to be a competition between you two?”

“Yes,” Draco and Harry said simultaneously.

“How good a kisser are you anyway, Potter?” Daphne asked, “Does anyone actually know?”

“Well Cho Chang must,” Lilly said.

“But she was crying, so…”

“Hermione, whose side are you on here?” Harry asked, glaring at his best friend.

Draco sniggered, “That bad then Potter?”

“She was crying before I kissed her,” Harry said, turning his glare on the blonde man, “her boyfriend had just died.”

“Using a poor innocent girl like that,” Draco tutted with a shake of his head, “and I thought you had morals.”

“You want to discuss morals?” Hermione asked in disbelief, “You dated three bloody girls at the same time.”

“Yes, but I also let them find out the truth,” Draco said, “When I realised it was going too far.”

“Wow Draco, those morals are solid gold,” Daphne said sarcastically, “You should have grown some balls and had the guts to tell us yourself, in person.”

“Yes, I understand what ‘yourself’ means Greengrass,” Draco said dryly.

“Did you come down here to have fun or be a dick?” Susan asked irritably, “Because if the answer is to have fun, there’s the alcohol table. And if the answer is to be a dick, then there’s the door.”

“It’s actually a hole in the wall, not a door, but each to their own,” Draco smirked as he walked across the room to the alcohol table.

“Fucking dick,” Susan muttered under her breath.

“Hey, you invited him,” Daphne pointed out.

“For Hermione’s sake, not mine,” Susan said.

“My sake? Why do you all have it in your head that I’m in love with him or something? He bullied me for my entire life, he thinks I’m less than human! What do you think I want to do, screw the guy?” Hermione hissed in an angry undertone.

“Well with the way you’re dressed tonight…” Daphne said, trailing off.

Hermione had a slight outburst at that, “Are you calling me a slut too? Because Harry called me a slut earlier-”

“I did not call you a slut!" Harry cut in, “I just said that dress showed off certain aspects of your-”

“Just say tits Harry, you’re a 16 year old guy not a 12 year old boy,” Hermione snapped irritably.

Harry gaped, and Hermione continued, “So I like to wear nice dresses every so often, that doesn’t make me a slut! Look at the way you dress every day, I’ve seen your school uniform. It’s appalling and Snape should do something about it as your Head of House!”

Daphne blew out some air, “Wow Granger, I’m trying really hard not to curse you into oblivion for that comment.”

“Well it’s true,” Hermione said hotly, “you get pissed because guys flirt with you all the time? And you blame it on the ‘Veela blood’? Well try dressing in a normal school uniform not a tiny skirt and high heels and maybe guys will actually respect you!”

Tears were starting to form in Daphne’s eyes as she shouted, “Just because your boyfriend is fucking some little Gryffindor tart doesn’t mean you can insult everyone else who dresses a certain way! I’m not like her Granger, so stop taking out all your anger on me! Why don’t you go find some of that Gryffindor courage and take all of your shit out on her?”

Hermione immediately felt guilty, and she opened her mouth to say so, but Daphne had already spun on her heel in the direction of the Hufflepuff dormitories. Susan bit her lip and said, “That was really harsh Hermione,” as she rushed after the blonde girl.

“I get it Hermione, you’re angry at Lavender,” Lilly said gently, “but Daphne’s right, she isn’t her.”

“How can she not see what she’s doing?” Hermione asked quietly, “You can Lilly, can’t you? You can see what she’s doing to Harry.”

“Hermione, I can see what she’s doing,” Harry said, “But let her do it. I’m not stupid enough to start a relationship with someone that selfish and self-absorbed. I can take care of myself, Lilly is right your problem isn’t with her and me, it’s with Lavender.”

Hermione sank into an armchair, and sighed, “You’re right,” she admitted.

“I’m going to go check on Daphne,” Lilly said, she patted Hermione’s arm as she walked past, and Harry followed the Ravenclaw into the Hufflepuff dorms.

“For the record, you don’t look like a slut.”

Hermione looked up and smiled a watery smile, “Thanks Malfoy.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“She’s a fucking prissy bitch Susan!” Daphne exclaimed as she threw herself onto one of the beds, “She thinks she’s so high and mighty with her fucking morals! Well she can get the hell off of her high horse, she’s far from perfect! Little Miss Know-It-All with her ‘oh look Draco, I’m so sweet and innocent’ façade, I want to fucking punch her!”

“Calm down Daphne.”

“I will not calm down!” Daphne shouted, “She just called me a slut! I mean did you hear her? She actually called me a slut!”

“Well,” Susan said diplomatically, “In her eyes you are sort of screwing around with her best friends emotions.”

“I’m not screwing him around,” Daphne said tearfully, “I just can’t let myself get attached to him, I won’t go through that again Susan!”

Susan sat down next to the girl, “I know Draco broke your heart, but that doesn’t mean that everyone will,” she said gently.

“But what is Harry Potter apart from a Gryffindor version of Draco?” Daphne asked angrily, “they are just too similar Susan.”

“No they aren’t,” Susan said, “Draco is a coward, and a bit of an evil bastard. Harry has a temper, but he’s a good guy.”

“There’s no such thing,” Daphne said bitterly.

“No such thing as what then?” Lilly asked, appearing in the room with Harry on her heels.

“We’re just discussing Daphne’s issues with men,” Susan said offhandedly.

Lilly frowned, “Well Hermione is feeling very guilty-”

“Oh she can fuck off,” Daphne said angrily, “she’s made her stance on me perfectly clear.”

“Well frankly you both need to get off of your high horses,” Lilly said, “and grow the hell up. You have a chip on your shoulder about the fact there may actually be some feelings here between Hermione and Draco and you’ve got to get over that. And she has got to stop treating you like you’re Lavender, so you are both at fault.”

“What the fuck do you think you are? Everyone’s personal shrink?” Daphne bit.

“Well since you all seem to need one at the moment, I guess I am,” Lilly bit back, “I never thought I’d be the person with the least amount of issues in a bloody group of friends but the rest of you don’t seem to know how to keep your mouth shut and keep your personal problems personal.”

“I think you need to get off your fucking high horse,” Daphne said irritably.

“Daphne, shut up,” Susan said firmly, “Look we’re going to have issues, we’re all so different after all. But Lilly is right, even if she didn’t say it in the best way.”

Daphne shot a glare in Lilly’s direction, “Well I’m not apologising to Granger.”

“No, and you shouldn’t have to,” Harry agreed, “She was at fault and she will apologise, trust me.”

Daphne scoffed, “Why do you have to butt into everyone’s business Potter? Isn’t your own personal drama enough? Why do you have to stick your fingers in everyone else’s pies?”

Harry shook his head angrily, “Yeah you’re right Greengrass. I’m such a shit person for trying to help everybody. How dare I actually want everyone else to have a happy life?”

“Harry-”

“Just leave it Lilly, I’ll talk to you later,” Harry said, leaving the dorm and feeling even more angry towards Daphne than he had earlier.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“I feel so guilty, I should apologise,” Hermione said.

“No, let her cool down,” Draco said, sitting down on the arm of Hermione’s chair, “She does tend to take things personally but she’s got a lot of issues.”

“I shouldn’t have spoken to her like I did,” Hermione said as her head fell into her hands, “She does remind me of Lavender and that does make me angry. Does that make me a bad person Malfoy?”

“Let’s be honest Granger, I’m really not the person to talk to about being a bad person,” Draco said darkly.

Hermione glared at him, “You aren’t a bad person, and this isn’t about you. It’s about me, so just don’t make it about yourself for once!”

Draco smiled a little and said, “Alright, I’ll indulge your narcissism. It doesn’t make you a bad person, but I don’t get why you’re so bothered by this whole thing. What do you see in Weasley anyway?”

“I don’t entirely know,” Hermione admitted, “I guess it was just always Ron, Harry and me and I always thought of Harry as a brother. Apart from in 4th year when I had a crush on him, but if you tell him that I will kill you.”

“Well, I have a theory,” Draco said as he glanced at her, “I think you liked the idea of Weasley, he’s normal and comfortable right? And let’s face it he’s quite dim, but he has a sense of humour and they always say the clever girls like the funny guys.”

“I suppose,” Hermione said slowly, “is this your theory?”

“I’m getting to it,” Draco said patiently, “so I think you subconsciously think that if you were with Weasley your life would be normal, but you would always be better than him too because let’s face it that’s not hard with Weasley. You don’t like the idea of your other half being better than you, of their reputation exceeding yours, so you like the idea of someone who you don’t have to worry about that with.”

“That’s really harsh,” Hermione frowned.

“But it’s also true,” Draco said, “and it’s ironic. It shows how selfish you are which makes it all the worse that you think Daphne’s selfish. You won’t even consider being with someone on a level pegging intellectually with you because you are too scared they’ll be better than you. Either you’re a raging psychopath, or you have a whole load of self-esteem issues.”

“Look at me Malfoy, why wouldn’t I have self-esteem issues?” Hermione asked with a sigh.

“Why would you?” Draco combatted.

Hermione was actually speechless for a moment, “Was that…a compliment?”

Draco seemed to wrestle with this comment for a moment, and then Harry emerged from the dorms.

“She is such a piece of work!” Harry exclaimed angrily as he pushed Draco off the arm of Hermione’s chair and shoved himself in next to her.

“How polite Potter,” Draco muttered.

“Oh shut up Malfoy, I can’t believe her Hermione,” Harry said irritably.

“What did you do Harry?” Hermione asked in amusement.

“I didn’t do anything, she’s just a bitch!” Harry exclaimed.

“Of course she is Harry, what did you do?” Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Nothing! Nothing at all, oh wait apparently I’m a shit person for actually trying to help people I care about. Apparently that’s getting in their business and being annoying, not trying to actually help people who are more fucked up than me, which is fucking hard to find by the way,” Harry ranted quickly.

“Wow Potter, you have some serious issues.”

“Fuck off Malfoy! Why are you even here hanging around Hermione like some creep?” Harry asked angrily, “Just go back to your bloody pit!”

“Harry!” Hermione exclaimed, “Just because Sirius died last year you don’t get to come back to school and pretend you are your Father! You hated the way he treated Snape, and what you are doing right now is treating Draco exactly like that so calm the hell down or I swear to god I will bloody curse you!”

Harry took a deep breath, “Fuck, I did sound like my Father there.”

“Wasn’t your Father a saviour of the wizarding world?” Draco asked with a raised eyebrow, “Wouldn’t you want to be like him?”

“Not in this way,” Harry sighed, “Because he was also a bully, and I never want to be that. I…I…Merlin, I can’t believe I’m saying this but I apologise Malfoy.”

Draco frowned, “Thank you, I think?”

Harry shrugged, “I’ll leave you two to whatever you were doing before I barged in. I need a firewhiskey.”

Hermione smiled a little as Harry walked away, “He’s like a puppy.”

“What?” Draco asked with a frown.

“Oh you know, he does something bad but then is so awkward and clueless and apologetic that you just forgive him every time,” Hermione said in amusement.

“I had noticed,” Draco said, resuming his perch on Hermione’s armchair.

“You’re very civil and relaxed tonight Malfoy,” Hermione said casually, “is there any reason why?”

“Even I relax a little at Christmas, Granger,” Draco said simply.

“But this is exceptional, you haven’t called me a mudblood all night, and then there was our little ‘moment’ earlier today,” Hermione said, testing the waters.

“I think you are imagining things Granger, there wasn’t any ‘moment’, I was merely being polite with it being Christmas and all,” Draco said.

“Yeah, and like I said earlier you can push me away all you want, but I’ll keep coming back,” Hermione said firmly.

Draco rolled his eyes, “Like a cockroach,” he muttered as he got up and walked towards the drinks table.

She was going to follow him, but then Susan, Daphne and Lilly emerged from the dorms and Hermione had to swallow her pride.

“Daphne, can we talk for a moment please?”

Daphne glared at Hermione but walked over to her all the same, “What do you want, Granger?”

“I’m really sorry Daphne, what I said earlier isn’t like me,” Hermione said, her apology really was heartfelt, “Sometimes you do remind me of Lavender and that makes me angry I’ll be honest about that, but I also really like you. And I’m sorry for calling you selfish because I’m selfish too. Do you know that I want to be with someone who isn’t as smart as me so I can feel better about myself?”

“Draco’s been talking to you, hasn’t he?” Daphne asked, a slight hint of amusement making its way into her voice.

Hermione couldn’t help but smile, “Yeah, but he’s right. That was what I saw in Ron.”

“Look we’re probably about as different as people get Hermione,” Daphne sighed, “if we’re going to try and be friends I suppose we have to realise that.”

“So a Christmas day truce like in 1914?” Hermione asked as she held out her hand.

“What are you talking about?”

“Muggle reference,” Hermione said casually.

Daphne rolled her eyes but took Hermione’s hand, “Truce,” she agreed as she shook it.

TBC :)


	9. Gonna Give All My Secrets Away

As midnight on Christmas day approached the alcohol began to run out, and the common room was significantly louder than it had been earlier as everyone sat in a circle on the floor for one of Susan’s ‘fun’ games.

“Okay, strip poker or truth and dare?” Susan shouted above the noise.

“Not strip poker,” Hermione said firmly.

“I second Granger on that one,” Draco remarked.

“Oh come on, it’s fun!” Daphne grinned.

“Yeah, strip poker!” Lisa said eagerly.

“No seriously guys, strip poker is a bad idea,” Harry cut in, “I never ever want to see Malfoy naked.”

“Like any of us want to see you naked, Scarhead,” Draco remarked.

Hermione couldn’t help but chuckle as several of the girls then proceeded to look Harry up and down, much to his embarrassment.

“Well how about spin the bottle as a compromise?” Oliver piped up. 

“Sounds fair,” Susan agreed and Wayne then grabbed an empty bottle and placed it in the centre of the room.

“Someone want to enchant it?” Lisa asked.

Hermione did so, and then when she sat back down it spun, and the game began. This whole thing made her nervous, she had never played a drinking game or anything like this before. It happened all of the time in the Gryffindor common room, but she and Harry normally sat these sort of things out.

The bottle slowed down and landed first on Lisa, and second on Oliver which meant that Lisa was the one telling Oliver to do something, or asking him something which he would have to answer honestly.

Oliver, a fairly attractive blonde Hufflepuff looked slightly nervous as Lisa grinned, “True or false, you and Theodore Nott?”

“Obviously false,” Draco scoffed, “Theo isn’t gay, Daphne just spread that rumour because he wouldn’t go to the Yule Ball with her.”

“Sorry to disappoint you Malfoy,” Oliver said with a very slight smirk, “but that is true.”

Lisa grinned, “I bloody knew it! Tracey is going to be gutted she-”

“Isn’t she chasing after Zabini?” Lilly asked.

Lisa made a strange noise that was clearly her laugh, “What? No! She would have to find him first, he blends into the walls!”

Draco rolled his eyes, “He’s just shy.”

“Shy?” Daphne asked in disbelief, “I’ve seen him about four times since 1st year!”

“In case you hadn’t noticed, the bottle is spinning again,” Wayne pointed out in amusement as the bottle which had been spinning slowed down and landed on Susan who smirked as the bottle spun again and landed on Daphne.

“Bear in mind that I have been your friend since we were kids,” Daphne said with narrowed eyes, “Don’t be too mean.”

Susan laughed, “Oh come on, would I?”

“Hmm, let me think about that for a moment, yes,” Daphne remarked simply.

Susan grinned, “Well I think it’s only fair after earlier that you and Hermione kiss and make up.”

Daphne glared at her, “You cannot be serious right now, please tell me you mean that in a metaphorical sense.”

“Nope, a literal sense,” Susan smirked.

“You are a perverted bitch,” Daphne said.

“No, just somebody who wants to make her two friends pay for fighting all of the time,” Susan said matter of factly.

Hermione cringed, “Do we really have to go through with this?”

Draco smirked, “It’s just a kiss Granger, weren’t you the one who said you’d kissed plenty of guys?”

“Yeah, guys,” Hermione stressed, “not girls!”

“So that broom cupboard incident-”

“Don’t even mention it!” Daphne snapped.

Harry was watching the interplay with interest, and said, “Well, I bet Ron wishes he could be here right now.”

“Oh fuck off Harry,” Hermione said.

Daphne rolled her eyes as she crossed the room and sat down next to Hermione, “We’ve had enough to drink, it’ll be fine.”

Hermione, who did feel slightly tipsy but certainly not drunk wasn’t quite so sure, “Fine, but let’s just get it over with quickly.”

“Deal,” Daphne said, and she pecked Hermione’s lips as quickly as possible. 

Draco sniggered, and Hermione kicked him in the leg, “Bloody bastard,” she muttered as Daphne went back to her place and wiped her mouth. 

Hermione muttered under her breath, “I’ve kissed two bloody Slytherins in one day. That’s enough for a lifetime.”

“Ah but which did you prefer, me or Daphne?” Draco asked in amusement, he on the other hand was far less tipsy than Hermione.

“You two kissed?” Lisa practically shrieked, and Hermione’s head actually rang afterwards with the sound.

Terry grinned, “Ah, the muggle-born and the pure-blood, a love story like Romeo and Juliet is it?”

Lilly glanced at Terry in surprise, “That’s a Muggle reference.”

“Yeah, I’m a half-blood,” Terry shrugged.

Draco snorted and said, “It’s hardly a love story, Greengrass trapped us under a mistletoe barrier. Kissing Granger seemed a better option than being stuck with her all day.”

“Yeah well I wasn’t exactly thrilled to kiss you either Malfoy, I still can’t get the smell of hair gel out of my nostrils,” Hermione remarked.

There was some laughter, and Draco glared at her. But then they were distracted by the bottle landing on somebody else now that the dare had been done. This time it landed on Lilly and slowed to a stop for a second time on Harry.

“Oh thank Merlin, at least you’ll be nice to me Lilly,” Harry said with relief.

Lilly grinned, “You really do think I’m this innocent little Ravenclaw don’t you? Well, I will have you know Harry, I’m not your sweet innocent little Hermione over there.”

Harry paled a little, “What are you going to do to me?”

“Well I could tell you to strip,” Lilly said in amusement, “but I’m nice so you only have to take your top off, since all the girls seemed to eye you up when Draco said nobody wanted to see your body.”

Harry’s cheeks turned pink, “Seriously?”

“Hey it’s a dare, you’ve got to do it,” Lisa said, eyeing Harry almost hungrily, “suck it up.”

“I’ll get you back for this Lilly,” Harry said.

Lilly just smirked as Harry unbuttoned his shirt and discarded it behind him. When he looked up he realised most of the girls, and Oliver Rivers, were gaping at him.

“What?” He asked self-consciously.

Daphne snapped out of it first, “Uh, I don’t think any of us expected you to be so…not a scrawny git.”

Lisa said with a grin, “Well it looks like Hermione isn’t the only Gryffindor who got hot this summer!”

Harry couldn’t help but notice that Lilly was frowning, and he felt self-conscious again, “What is it?” he asked.

“You just have so many scars,” Lilly said quietly.

“Occupational hazard of being this fantastic boy-who-lived,” Harry replied under his breath so that the others couldn’t hear.

Lilly smiled a little sadly at him, “I’m sorry,” she said as the bottle began to spin, “you should put it back on. You look uncomfortable.”

Harry smiled gratefully at her and put his shirt on, he was just beginning to button it up as the bottle landed on Lisa and then on Draco. 

“Well Draco Malfoy, I wonder if you are as buff as Harry Potter.”

Draco scoffed and said, “You think he’s tough because he’s got some scars?”

“Well then,” Lisa smirked, “take your top off too and we can have a fair comparison.”

“No,” Draco said coolly.

“Are you scared?” Lisa asked in amusement, “do you not think you’ll measure up to Harry Potter?”

“No, I’m just not playing some stupid game,” Draco said irritably.

“Rules are rules,” Wayne remarked.

“Just because Potter does something doesn’t mean I have to,” Draco said angrily, “so would you just leave me alone?”

“He’s just a coward,” Susan said with a shrug.

“I’m not a fucking coward!” Draco shouted, “How would you feel if I told you to take your top off?”

“Well I will if you want,” Susan joked.

“Yeah, Malfoy’s just too scared to compare himself to Harry,” Lisa said with a smirk, “he knows he’ll lose.”

Draco got to his feet angrily, “Does everything I do have to be compared to Harry fucking Potter? You can all fuck off, I don’t want to play your stupid fucking game anymore!”

Hermione had watched Draco silently as he got angrier, but underneath it all she could see his fear and as he stormed towards the tunnel out of the common room she got to her feet too, “I’m going to go make sure he’s okay,” she said as she rushed after him.

Draco was fast, and by the time Hermione got out of the common room she only caught a flash of his robes around the corner. She jogged to keep up with him and when she came into an empty corridor she knew he must have used the only secret passageway nearby. Ducking behind a suit of armour she followed the echo of his footsteps through the dusty concrete passageway. The passage came out behind a tapestry near Moaning Myrtles bathroom on the second floor and Hermione pushed her way out of it just in time to catch up with Draco outside an old disused classroom.

“Fuck off Granger,” Draco hissed when he saw her.

“No,” Hermione said angrily, she grabbed his arm and pulled him into the classroom, locking the door and putting a silencing charm on it before she turned to look at him.

“Would you just leave me the hell alone?” Draco shouted, “You are seriously pissing me off now!”

“I’ll tell you what then Malfoy, I won’t waste anymore of your precious time,” Hermione said hotly, “I’ll just check right now if my suspicions are right.”

“What the hell are you-”

Before he could finish Hermione grabbed his left arm and pulled up his shirt sleeve. She had expected it to be there, but seeing the dark mark writhing on his arm was worse than she could have imagined.

Draco pulled his hand back as if Hermione’s touch had burnt him and when she looked up she saw so much anger in his eyes that it almost scared her, but then she saw the amount of pain and fear underneath that anger.

“Why the hell can’t you just stay out of things Granger? Believe it or not I’m actually trying to protect you at the moment but you’re not making it very fucking easy for me,” Draco shouted, “so I hope you’re happy now, with all your suspicions confirmed.”

“No, I’m not,” Hermione said coolly, “Because as much as you have made my life hell over the last few years I didn’t believe this was you Malfoy.”

“Well you were wrong,” Draco hissed, “You don’t know anything about me Granger! I’ve done things that would shock you!”

“Like trying to murder Dumbledore?” Hermione asked, “Because I know about that, I know what you did to Katie and I know it was an accident. You don’t want to do this Draco, I know that too.”

“You don’t know anything about me!” Draco exclaimed, “and I don’t know how you found out but-”

“No, I do know you, better than you think,” Hermione said, “I know you don’t want to do your Father’s bidding. I know you want to live your own life, and you can. If you just let me help-”

“I don’t need the help of a filthy little mudblood like you!” Draco hissed, seething with anger.

“Call me what you want Draco,” Hermione said calmly, “but I want to help you, and whether you let me or not I will. You don’t deserve to die and this is a suicide mission, he wants you to die to punish you for your Fathers arrest.”

“Which is your fault!” Draco practically roared, “So when I do die, it will be your fault Granger.”

“I didn’t want any of this to happen!” Hermione said as tears formed in her eyes, “I just wanted to help Harry. I never wanted Sirius to die, or Voldemort to do this to you! You don’t deserve it and I know it’s my fault, I have to live with that but if you kill Dumbledore and you do survive…Draco you will have to live with that every day for the rest of your life.”

Draco’s defence began to crumble as he saw the tears running down Hermione’s face, “I know,” he said, his voice breaking, “but I don’t have a choice Granger. If I don’t kill Dumbledore, Voldemort will kill me and my family!”

Hermione shook her head, and shut her eyes for a moment. When she opened them Draco had tears in his eyes and his wand trained directly on her forehead, “I’m so sorry I have to do this, Hermione.”

“No!” Hermione shouted, pulling her wand out faster than he could have expected, “Expelliarmus!”

His wand flew through the air and she caught it, turning her watery gaze on him, “You are not obliviating me Draco Malfoy! I will remember this conversation whether you like it or not.”

“Are you stupid Granger?” Draco asked as the tears now openly fell down his face, “Do you know how much danger you are putting yourself in by knowing about this? By knowing about what I’m doing? Snape is one of them, and if he knows what you are doing he will kill you.”

“I put my life in danger all of the time for Harry,” Hermione said hotly, “and if I choose to do it for you then there is nothing you can do about it.”

“What if I want to do something about it?” Draco asked quietly, “what if I don’t want to put you in danger?”

“You hate me Malfoy, why do you care about my role in this?” Hermione asked.

“Because I don’t hate you,” Draco said, finally looking her in the eye, “and I won’t let you die because of me. I can’t be the person you want me to be, I can’t just switch sides in the blink of an eye. I have too much to lose, I’m one of them now, I have an obligation to…him.”

“No,” Hermione said, reaching out and grabbing his hand, “You are not one of them Draco.”

“You saw that thing on my arm,” Draco said weakly, “How can I not be one of them with that? Do you know what you have to do to become one of them?”

“No,” Hermione said quietly.

“You have to murder someone Granger,” Draco said, his knees shook and he sat down heavily on the floor, leaning against the wall, “I’m a murderer, I am not a good person and I am beyond saving!”

Hermione knelt in front of him and took his hands in hers, tears openly fell down both of their faces now, “You are not one of them Draco. You might have that mark on your arm but you are a 16 year old boy, you are not a cold-blooded killer.”

“Yes I am,” Draco said, looking up with a tear-stained face and looking like a lost child, “I killed a Muggle to become one of them.”

“No, I’m sorry but I don’t believe that,” Hermione said, “you are many things but a murderer is not one of them. I’m sure of that in my heart.”

“Hearts can deceive you Granger,” Draco said darkly, his gaze once more firmly on the floor.

“Mine doesn’t, it’s always right and right now it’s telling me that you are a good person,” Hermione said honestly, still holding tightly onto his hands.

“I don’t know how your heart can believe it when mine doesn’t,” Draco said weakly, “I’m not sure I even have a heart.”

Hermione shook her head, “You have a heart, and you can trust me. I will help you in any way that I can so that you don’t have to do this, and I won’t tell anyone about this.”

“Not even Potter?” Draco asked.

“He knows, he worked it out,” Hermione said softly, “and frankly he would rather help you than kill you right now. If you kill Dumbledore then things will be different, he’s one of the only Father figures Harry has ever had. And as much as I hate to say it about Harry, he would do far worse to you than Voldemort.”

Draco frowned, and Hermione said, “He can be dangerous and volatile sometimes, and you don’t want to put yourself in his warpath. I don’t want you to do that.”

“And why do you care so much all of a sudden Granger?” Draco asked quietly.

“Because I guess over this last little while I’ve seen flashes of a great person underneath this façade you put up,” Hermione sad honestly, “and I like that person, I really do.”

Draco looked up from the floor and caught her eye, “I just wish things could be different,” he admitted, and he sounded so broken.

“They could be,” Hermione began to say, “If you just let me help-”

Before she could finish Draco closed the small gap between their faces and kissed her. Hermione was so shocked at first that she didn’t react to his lips on hers. But she did acknowledge that they were softer and warmer than she had expected. She responded after the initial shock wore off, and wasn’t entirely surprised by the nature of the kiss. It was hard, and rough but not sloppy or wet surprisingly. The raw emotion that Draco seemed to pour into the kiss was more than he could translate into words, and just as Hermione was beginning to comprehend what was going on he pulled away and got to his feet quickly.

“That shouldn’t have happened, and you can’t know about this,” Draco said, the fear was back, “just promise me you’ll stay away Granger. Stay away or you’ll get killed, promise me you’ll stay away,” he said as he removed her charms from the door and ran away as fast as he could.

Hermione let her head drop into her hands, she had never felt so confused with so many feelings going through her head at once. She didn’t know what to do, or who to talk to and she felt on the verge of a nervous breakdown herself as she shakily got to her feet. In the end she knew her only choice was to go back to the party and hope that either Harry, Lilly, Susan or Daphne would be able to help her sift through the mess that had become her life.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When Hermione walked into the Hufflepuff common room it was significantly emptier than it had been before and the circle of drinking game players had disbanded. On the sofa Daphne and Susan were lounging casually. Lisa Turpin and Terry Boot were snuggled up quite closely on an armchair, and then on another armchair by the fire was Harry, and sitting on his lap giggling was Lilly.

Hermione couldn’t help but smile a little as she walked past them towards the sofa.

“Have you been crying?” Susan asked gently.

“Can we just talk in the bedroom Susan?” Hermione asked, trying not to start crying all over again.

Susan nodded and got up, “Sure Hermione,” she said with a small smile as took her arm, “Come on.”

They didn’t talk until they were safely through the tunnel and in the girls’ dormitory which was empty. Only when they were sitting side by side on Susan’s bed did she ask, “What happened with Draco?”

Hermione’s emotions were all over the place and upon being asked that question she promptly burst into tears.

“Oh Hermione, come here,” Susan said, hugging the curly haired Gryffindor.

“He really is a piece of shit Susan!” Hermione exclaimed through her tears.

“I know Hermione, what did he do?” Susan asked as she stroked Hermione’s hair.

“I saw his mark, and he let me see him vulnerable, and he…he…he…”

Susan frowned, “Hermione what is it? What did he do?”

“He kissed me,” Hermione blurted out.

Susan was speechless momentarily, “Why are you crying? Isn’t this what you wanted?”

“Not like this,” Hermione said, wiping her tears and looked up at the redhead, “it was so…desperate and he was so alone and that was why he did it. Then he told me to promise I would stay away from him and ran away like none of it had meant anything.”

“Hermione, in his mind he’s trying to do the right thing which is difficult to comprehend considering that this is Draco, but that’s what it is,” Susan said gently.

“But I don’t want him to do that,” Hermione said angrily, “I don’t want him to stay away from me!”

“Hermione if you got killed because of your involvement with Draco how do you think he would feel? He would never be able to live with himself,” Susan pointed out, “and look at it this way. He has just admitted that he likes you, and kissed you and now you know he really is trying to protect you. That is a big step for Draco, he doesn’t let people in ever and he’s just let you into a huge part of his life that nobody else knows about.”

Hermione nodded, “Merlin, you’re right and I’m being so selfish aren’t I?”

“You’re being a little selfish,” Susan admitted with a small smile, “and of course I’m right, I’m a Hufflepuff.”

Hermione laughed weakly and said, “Well I can see why they say go to a Hufflepuff for advice,” she sniffled.

Susan smiled and handed her a tissue, “What are you going to do now?”

“I don’t know,” Hermione said honestly, “keep pestering him I guess. But he trusts me now, and I hope we can help him stop this.”

“We will help him,” Susan promised, “but not tonight with the amount of alcohol we’ve consumed. Let’s just go to sleep, and we’ll meet tomorrow afternoon when we’re all sober.”

Hermione nodded and pushed herself to her feet, “Okay,” she said softly, “but I can’t stay here tonight. I just need to talk to Harry alone, about…everything.”

“Hey, I get it, he’s your best friend,” Susan said with a smile and Hermione nodded as they left the dorm and emerged once more into the common room.

Hermione hugged Susan and said gently, “Thanks for everything tonight.”

“Hey you’ve always got a friend in me,” Susan said honestly, “you better pry your best friend away from Lilly though if you want to get him back to the Gryffindor common room.”

Hermione couldn’t help but laugh a little as she turned around to see Harry and Lilly snogging on the armchair. She meandered over to them and nudged Harry’s arm, “Come on loverboy, we’ve got to get back to the Gryffindor common room.”

Harry and Lilly broke apart and both looked sheepish when they saw Hermione’s amused smirk.

“Right,” Harry said, clearing his throat.

Lilly nodded vigorously, “I should get back to Ravenclaw,” she said as she jumped off of Harry’s lap. 

Before Harry could get himself in an awkward situation Hermione did a quick spell behind her back to make things easier for him. He breathed a sigh of relief and made a note to ask Hermione how she knew those sorts of spells later on.

“We’ll walk you Lilly, you don’t want to be getting caught or anything,” Harry said as he pulled out the Marauders map.

“Don’t go getting out the cloak,” Hermione said in amusement, “you’re too drunk to not trip over the hem.”

Harry shot her a glare, “I’m fine thank you very much, but with the map we shouldn’t need the cloak anyway.”

“What cloak?” Lilly asked curiously.

“Oh nothing,” Harry said suspiciously, and Lilly raised an eyebrow at Hermione.

“We really can’t tell you,” Hermione admitted sheepishly. They had reached the tunnel that led out of the common room, and Hermione took the map from Harry to scan the route since she was the most sober. Her eyes fell on Draco’s dot, which was in the Slytherin boys’ dormitory, but she pulled them away and found only one problem. Filch was in the Trophy Room and Mrs. Norris was prowling along the 5th floor. 

But then she saw something else, Severus Snape was in the lower dungeons, and Hermione frowned as she followed his dot.

“Harry! Snape is going to kill Draco!”

“Whu-”

Hermione hit him in the chest with a spell that was supposed to be used in healing to stop people from panicking and bring them out of shock. But it also worked remarkably well for sobering people up.

“He’s going to kill him?” Harry asked, snapping back into alertness immediately.

“He’s going into the Slytherin common room, look!” Hermione said, her heart pounding with fear. 

“Hermione, I don’t think Snape is stupid enough to kill a student in his dorm-”

“We have to go down there and check it out,” Lilly said, her eyes wide.

“How?” Harry asked quickly, “we don’t know the password!”

“How can we find it out?” Hermione panicked.

“Bloody hell you two are thick for two of the smartest people of our age,” Lilly said in disbelief, “Daphne!”

The blonde walked over, with Susan in tow. She had sensed the panic and was already nearby.

“Snape’s going into the Slytherin boys’ dorm, and there’s only Draco there. We need to get in and find out what he’s doing,” Lilly said as she got into the tunnel.

“Why didn’t I think of that,” Hermione muttered as she followed the Ravenclaw into the tunnel.

“Because you’re too busy panicking about Draco,” Daphne said calmly as she clambered into the tunnel after the other two girls, and Susan and Harry followed them, forming the rear. Once they were out of the common room they darted down a secret passage from the upper dungeons to the lower dungeons which brought them out nearby the entrance to the Slytherin common room.

Daphne led the group, and when they reached the wall she said, “Salazar.”

“Really? It’s that simple?” Susan asked in disbelief.

Daphne shrugged, “Yeah, so?”

“Let’s focus on making sure Draco is still alive for now,” Hermione said, following Daphne into the common room. They knew from the map that Snape was still in the boys’ dorm, but only two of them could go.

“Harry has an invisibility cloak,” Hermione said quickly, “but it only fits two people under it at one time.”

“Well you go then he’s your boyfriend,” Daphne remarked to Hermione.

“No she’s right, you’re the one he trusts,” Harry said as he flung the cloak over them, “and no offence but I’m the most powerful. Come down if you hear screams,” he added to the others as he and Hermione made a beeline for the stairs. Hermione charmed their feet not to make any noise, and put a silencing charm on them both so that their breathing and voices could not be heard. Then she put a masking charm on to cover their scent, and they rushed down to the 6th year boys’ dorm. The door was slightly ajar and they didn’t risk going in straight away as they heard talking coming from inside.

“How could you be so stupid Draco?” They heard Snape hiss.

“Why do you have to butt into everything? Can you not just let me be a 16 year old boy for once?” Draco asked angrily.

“Not when being a 16 year old boy is going to get you killed Draco,” Snape muttered, “I made a promise to your Mother to keep you alive-”

“Oh would you shut up about that? You don’t do anything for anyone else! You’re a Slytherin, always out for number one, you taught me that!” Draco shouted, “You don’t care about me or my Mother! You’re following your own agenda, his agenda.”

“He is your Master Draco!”

“No he isn’t!” Draco spat, “just because I have that mark doesn’t make me one of you.”

Snape sneered, “Did Granger tell you that too? She is filling your head with lies Draco, why would you begin to believe the words of a stupid little mudblood all of a sudden?”

“Don’t call her that!” Draco barked.

“Why? That’s all she is. Just a stupid, silly little mudblood who will be murdered soon enough for her friendship with Potter, and you will be killed if he knows you consorted with her type. Then her dirty blood will be all over your hands,” Snape hissed.

“Her type?” Draco asked angrily, “Don’t give me that Snape. My Father told me all about you and Lily Potter, or was it Evans at the time? Wasn’t she a ‘filthy little mudblood’ as you put it? Who you ran around after like a lovesick little puppy!”

Harry was frozen for a moment, and Hermione was just as stunned as she stood next to him. Through the gap in the door they saw Snape raise his wand arm, “You arrogant little-”

“STUPEFY!”

“Nice timing Potter,” Draco drawled as Snape fell to the floor with a sickening thump.

Harry frowned, and Draco said, “You can stop being invisible now.”

Hermione nodded, so he pulled off the cloak and they walked into the room. Draco was sitting on his bed in his pajamas.

Hermione laughed when she saw them, “I can’t believe you,’” she said through her laughter.

Draco’s cheeks were bright pink, and Hermione choked out, “The Chudley Cannons? After all the shit you gave Ron!”

Draco glared at her and transfigured his bright orange pajamas into emerald green ones. Harry was staring at Snape silently, ignoring the conversation between Hermione and Draco until Draco said, “Oh shut up Granger, I just defended you in case you didn’t hear. And Potter, I hate to say it but your stalking of me actually seemed to pay off tonight.”

Harry frowned, “Was it true what you said about my Mother?” he knew that Snape had known his Mother, and that they had been friends, but he hadn’t thought anymore of it than that.

Draco shrugged, “My Father told me about it. Apparently Snape was at school with your Mother and had a creepy, stalker-like crush on her.”

Harry put this information to the back of his mind for the moment and said, “What did you just say about the Chudley Cannons?”

“Nothing,” Draco said quickly, glaring at Hermione as she sniggered.

Harry frowned and looked back to Snape, “What do we do now?”

“Well we have two options,” Daphne said as she wandered into the dorm, “We either kill him or keep him captive…”

“Three options,” Lilly’s voice said as she sauntered into the room, “we could just erase his memory.”

“Somebody good would have to do it,” Susan said as she too walked in, “he’s a powerful wizard. He could easily get it back unless it was replaced with a false memory.”

Draco raised an eyebrow at them all, “I don’t think I’ve ever had this many women in my dorm at the-”

“Shut up Draco,” they all chorused.

Draco smirked a little, and Hermione said, “I could erase his memory. I’m getting pretty good at it, and I think I could give him convincing enough false memories.”

“Getting good at it?” Draco asked, “That implies you do it often.”

Hermione’s cheeks flushed and she said, “Uh, I was just practicing spells.”

Draco raised an eyebrow at her, “Yeah right, Granger what the hell are you doing?”

“Yeah Hermione, what are you doing?” Harry asked in amusement because he being Harry knew exactly what she was doing.

Hermione looked down and muttered, “I’ve been creating a copy of the Hogwarts library and erasing Madam Pince’s memory to keep the books out of the library for longer.”

Draco barked out a loud laugh and said, “Bloody hell Granger, only you would use your powerful magic for such simple things.”

“Hey better that than her being a Bellatrix Lestrange,” Harry said, adding, “no offence to those related to her.”

“None taken, she’s a crazy bitch,” Daphne said matter of factly.

“You’re related to her?” Harry asked in disbelief.

Daphne shrugged, “Druella Black, her Mother, was my Grandmothers sister.”

“Pure-bloods,” Lilly mumbled in amusement.

Hermione frowned, “Look, you guys are going to have to leave. I need to concentrate, memory charms are really difficult.”

“Alright, we’ll clear out,” Harry said as he walked towards the door and the others followed his lead.

“Come up when you’re done,” Susan said, “I think that emergency meeting for tomorrow might need to be done tonight.”

“Can I stay?” Draco asked, gesturing to his pajamas.

Hermione nodded and said, “If you promise to stay quiet.”

“Deal,” Draco said.

Hermione turned to Daphne who was lingering in the doorway, “When this is done do you want me to bring Draco up to the meeting?”

Daphne nodded and said, “I think it’s time we were all straight with each other.”

Hermione nodded once more and Daphne left, shutting the dorm door behind her. Hermione took a deep breath and shut her eyes.

TBC :)


	10. The Truth Wins Out

Hermione nodded once more and Daphne left, shutting the dorm door behind her. Hermione took a deep breath and shut her eyes.

“You’re pissed off with me aren’t you Granger?”

Hermione’s eyes shot open and she glared at him, “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Language Granger,” Draco teased.

“You kissed me Malfoy, you bloody kissed me!” Hermione exclaimed.

“You’re angry at me for kissing you?” Draco asked in disbelief.

“No, I’m angry at you for running away afterwards and telling me it didn’t mean anything,” Hermione retorted hotly, “I don’t let people kiss me if it doesn’t mean anything to me.”

“Are you telling me that you fancy me Granger?” Draco smirked.

Hermione glared at him, “Fancying you is not my priority at the moment Malfoy. Saving your life, and making sure you don’t kill Dumbledore, those are my priorities. Erasing Snape’s memory so he can’t erase yours or try and kill you, that is my priority. When all of this is over and everyone isn’t in danger then you can ask me that question. Understood?”

“Understood,” Draco said seriously as his eyes fell on Snape, “I’ll stay quiet so you can do it.”

Hermione nodded and took another deep breath, “Thank you,” she said. She closed her eyes again and felt her wand vibrate in her hand as the spell charged, she focused on the memory she needed to remove and opened her eyes.

“Obliviate.”

The memory that was extracted from Snape’s forehead gleamed silver as Hermione’s arm shook. This was the hardest memory she had ever had to remove, because even unconscious he was fighting her. When it was done she felt drained, and she wasn’t even finished yet.

“Granger, are you okay? You look-”

“I’m fine Malfoy, just be quiet,” Hermione snapped as she focused her wand on the professor once more and shut her eyes tightly. 

“Maybe you should give him a memory of getting shagged, it might cheer him up,” Draco suggested.

“Malfoy,” Hermione growled.

He was silent, but she could almost feel him smirking. She ignored his presence and uttered the charm that would fill the void she had just created. She replaced the memory of him hearing her conversation with Draco with a memory of him patrolling the corridors and finding Ron and Lavender in a broom closet. It was one of her memories so it was realistic enough. She replaced the memory of him confronting Draco with the memory of him patrolling the lower dungeons and catching a 1st year out of bed. By the time she opened her eyes and had entirely finished the complex spell she actually stumbled.

Draco grabbed her before she could fall, and although she would never admit it she was grateful to him for it.

“You look like you’re going to pass out Granger,” Draco said, and if Hermione didn’t know better she would have thought he was worried.

“You don’t get to be worried about me, you kissed me and then ran away!” Hermione retorted as he guided her onto his bed and sat her down before she fell down.

“I’m not worried,” Draco scoffed.

“Yes you are, you’re almost as bad a liar as Harry,” Hermione said, catching her breath.

“Then where do we stand Granger?” Draco asked irritably, “what the hell are we?”

“I don’t know Malfoy, you tell me,” Hermione said, looking up at him and catching his grey eyes.

“I’d tell you if I knew the answer,” Draco said honestly, “Right now all I know is we are a Death Eater and a future war heroine for the light. I can’t see a good ending to this story.”

Hermione sighed and said, “Then for now we’re friends…people who have each other’s backs.”

Draco hesitated as she held out her hand to him, but then he took it, and his touch sent shivers up Hermione’s spine.

“And for the record, you aren’t a Death Eater,” Hermione said, “and you didn’t kill anyone, I’ll prove that if you come upstairs with me.”

Draco frowned as Hermione stood up shakily, gripping his shoulder for support, “Although you might want to put a long sleeved top on if you’re still self-conscious about…that.”

Her eyes went to the mark on his arm, and he frowned, “No, they know what I am. So why shouldn’t I let them see it?”

Hermione smiled and said, “That’s very brave of you.”

“Don’t get your hopes up, it’s a one off occasion,” Draco remarked as he stood up and gripped her arm, “Merlin Granger, are you even going to be able to get up those stairs?”

“You’re not carrying me if that’s what your suggesting Malfoy,” Hermione retorted.

“Why would I carry you when I could levitate you?” Draco scoffed, “Sometimes I forget you’re a witch Granger.”

“You’ll remember if I curse you,” Hermione said as they began the climb up the stairs.

“You’re gripping onto me for dear life, I somehow doubt you could curse me right now,” Draco pointed out.

“Oh I don’t know, I think I could find the energy to curse you anytime I wanted Malfoy,” Hermione said.

Draco hid a small smile as they emerged into the common room where Daphne, Susan, Lilly and Harry had made themselves at home by the dying fire.

“Hermione!” Harry exclaimed when he saw her struggling, “What did you do to her Malfoy?”

“Oh shut up Harry,” Hermione said in exasperation, “he didn’t do anything, apart from irritate me.”

“Memory charms are very draining,” Lilly said, helping Hermione onto the sofa, and pushing her sweaty hair back from her face, “especially if the witch or wizard is powerful and Snape is.”

“I hadn’t realised quite how powerful a witch you were Hermione,” Susan said in awe.

Hermione looked at her in disbelief, “I’m not, look how drained I am.”

“But look how powerful Snape is, and you’re only 17,” Daphne said, “You know that witches and Wizards don’t reach their magical peak until they’re 21. Exhausted or not what you did in there was impressive.”

Draco nodded and sat down next to Hermione, “Now, not that I’m not grateful, I am. But what the hell is going on here?”

Harry glanced to Daphne and she rolled her eyes, “Don’t nominate me as the designated speaker, Suse is better.”

Susan shook her head in amusement and said, “Well it all began with Hermione being upset the night Ron kissed Lavender. I found her crying, brought her to a party and we had fun. So then I introduced her to Lilly and Daphne. We told her to fake date you to break your heart for what you did to us, and Harry was totally against the idea because he was convinced you were a Death Eater-”

“And I was right,” Harry said, “even though nobody bloody believed me. To quote Hermione “Harry seems to think Draco Malfoy is now a Death Eater” and then she laughed.”

“Well Granger does have this annoying tendency to see the best in the worst people,” Draco pointed out.

Hermione looked at him in disbelief, “Would you stop being a self-depreciating git for 5 minutes so Susan can tell you whats going on?”

Draco shot her a glare, but shut his mouth all the same. Susan smiled and continued, “So after you guys went to Slughorn’s party and you disappeared Draco; Harry and Hermione followed you, and Daphne followed them. And so we all found out you were most likely a Death Eater and then in a complicated series of conversations we figured out you were trying to kill Dumbledore and that it was probably a mission from Voldemort to get you killed and thus punish your Father.”

“Long story short,” Lilly nodded, “But we don’t know how you were planning on doing it since your cursed necklace idea failed when Katie Bell nearly died.”

“I didn’t mean for that to happen,” Draco said, “She was supposed to take it to Dumbledore, she wasn’t supposed to touch it.”

“Yeah we guessed that from your guilty conscience,” Susan admitted.

“So what? You took it upon yourselves to save me?” Draco asked in disbelief.

“No, that was Grangers idea,” Daphne said matter of factly, “You screwed us all over, remember?”

“She’s talking bullshit, none of us wanted you dead,” Lilly said, shooting an amused glance at Daphne, “So we all know the whole story, and we all want to help you. None of us want you to become a murderer.”

“It’s too late for that,” Draco said darkly.

“What?” Daphne hissed.

The others looked equally confused, because of course only Hermione knew about this piece of information. She had intended to tell Harry when they got back to the common room but then this had happened. 

Hermione rolled her eyes, “Malfoy seems to believe that he killed a Muggle to become a Death Eater.”

Draco lost his temper, “Believes? I remember killing her Granger!”

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him, “What did you just see me do?”

Draco frowned, and Hermione elaborated, “Remove someone’s memory and replace it with a fake one.”

“You…you think that happened to me?” Draco asked with wide eyes.

“I’m certain of it,” Hermione said, “because I do not think that you are a murderer.”

“Neither do I,” Lilly said from where she was sitting on Hermione’s other side, “Regardless of what you think you are Draco, I don’t think you could ever be that.”

Draco frowned, “But…how will you find out?”

“I’ll try and remove the false memory,” Hermione said, pulling her wand from her bag.

“No,” Draco said, “Hermione, you are completely drained. If you do this you’ll hurt yourself.”

Hermione frowned at the sound of her name on his lips, she rather liked it, “Did you just call me Hermione?”

“It is your name…Granger,” Draco said defensively, “and sometimes the only way to stop you is to surprise you,” he added as he waved her wand above his head.

She glared at him, “Give me it back you prick!”

“No, I’m not letting you seriously hurt yourself just to help me,” Draco said firmly, “I’ll give you it back when you’re thinking rationally.”

“Have you met me? I always think rationally!” Hermione exclaimed.

“I hate to side with Malfoy, but you don’t when your emotions are concerned, and they are now,” Harry said, swiping Hermione’s wand from Draco and putting it into his back pocket, “I’ll give you this back tomorrow.”

“Harry,” Hermione whined like a child.

“Look, I can’t remove the false memory,” Daphne spoke up, “but I am quite skilled in Legilimency, I can have a probe around and tell you if there is another memory there.”

“I don’t want you inside my head,” Draco said darkly.

“What are you scared I’ll find?” Daphne asked with a raised eyebrow, “Sexy thoughts about Hermione?”

“What?” Hermione squeaked.

Draco’s cheeks tinged pink as he glared at the Slytherin girl, “No, I just don’t want you poking around inside my head.”

“Because you’ve had sexy thoughts about Hermione,” Daphne grinned, “Holy Salazar Draco, you are transparent.”

Hermione’s cheeks were bright red, and Harry sniggered, “Well Hermione was saying ‘Malfoy’ in her sleep the other night.”

“Oh for fucks sake Harry!” Hermione exclaimed.

Lilly looked vaguely amused as she glanced between them both, “I sense a lot of animosity in this friendship.”

“Why do you think we’re just friends and not anything else?” Harry asked, glaring at her, “She’s too fucking scary.”

“I’m scary? You’re immature,” Hermione said hotly.

Susan intervened, “Come on, this isn’t about you two. This is about Draco, remember?”

“Yeah, this is about me,” Draco said sincerely.

“Oh shut up Malfoy,” Hermione said, hitting him pathetically on the leg. It was no third year punch, but it was the best she could do at 3am in the morning.

“So look Draco, how are you planning on killing Dumbledore? Just spit it out and it will make all of our lives a whole lot easier,” Daphne said with a yawn.

“Yeah, then we can all go to bed,” Lilly said, yawning too as Daphne’s caught on.

“Why the hell would I just tell you that?” Draco asked in disbelief, “That would make me the worst Death Eater ever-”

“Since you aren’t a Death Eater,” Hermione said, “Like we established earlier before you kissed me, you bloody arsehole, that is irrelevant.”

“He kissed you?” Lilly asked in surprise.

“What?” Harry barked.

Hermione waved a hand, “Keep up, he kissed me then ran away like the coward he is. Grow some balls for once Malfoy and tell us how you’re planning on killing Dumbledore. We know it’s got something to do with the Room of Requirement since you keep disappearing there.”

“Oh for fucks sake, it’s a fucking vanishing cabinet okay?” Draco spat out.

Harry frowned, “What?”

“What are you planning on doing? Vanishing him until he starves to death?” Daphne asked in amusement.

“No you idiots,” Hermione said darkly, not taking her eyes away from Draco’s grey ones, “It obviously has a twin. He’s going to use it to bring Voldemort’s army of Death Eaters here.”

Harry pulled out his wand and trained it on Draco, “Is that true?” he asked hotly.

Draco hesitated and then he felt Hermione’s hand on his leg, and he knew he had come too far to lie now, “That was the plan, yes. But I had to get the vanishing cabinet working again.”

“And have you?” Harry asked coolly.

“No,” Draco replied simply.

“How fucking stupid are you Malfoy?” Harry asked, his anger exploding, “What did you think those Death Eaters would do once they got into the school? Did you just think they would kill Dumbledore and leave? What about the first years, and the second years, what about the innocent students in this school? Did you really think there wouldn’t be a battle, that people wouldn’t get hurt or killed?”

“Look, I don’t have a choice!” Draco exclaimed, “I have to kill Dumbledore and I have to get the Death Eaters in here! That is it, that’s my job and I can’t fail. I have no fucking choice Potter!”

“You always have a choice!” Harry shouted, “How can you not have a choice?”

“You don’t have a family,” Draco hissed, “You don’t know what it’s like to be told that if you fail your entire family will be killed!”

“I don’t have a family,” Harry said angrily, “but I know loss and don’t you dare try and tell me I don’t! My Godfather died last year BECAUSE OF ME! It was my fault he died, Voldemort lured me into a trap and my Godfather died saving my fucking life! So forgive me if I don’t give a shit about Voldemort murdering your Father and your Aunt because they did this to me! They killed Sirius!”

As Harry’s anger grew his hair ruffled in the wind as a small hurricane began to brew around him. It was a form of uncontrollable magic, like the accidental sort of childhood. It could be controlled to an extent, it wasn’t quite so dangerous but it was also terrifying to watch.

Draco took a step back and swallowed.

“Don’t piss yourself Malfoy,” Harry said nastily. 

“Harry, stop it!” Hermione exclaimed, hitting her friend in the chest, “You idiot!”

Harry dropped the mini hurricane and looked at Hermione in disbelief, “What?”

“You’re so stupid sometimes!” Hermione shouted as tears formed in her eyes, “Merlin, I remember how terrified you were when we went to the Ministry last year. Voldemort threatened me and Ron and we are your family! Can’t you see how scared he is? He’s terrified, just like you, screaming at him and scaring him is not going to help!”

Harry stared at her for a moment and sat down heavily. He didn’t say another word, and Hermione breathed heavily. Draco grabbed her as she stumbled once more, “Sit down Hermione,” he mumbled gently.

She did, and Draco remained standing, “I don’t want this,” he admitted darkly, “but I don’t see how I have a choice. I don’t see how I can save my family if I don’t do this.”

“You have to do it,” Lilly said softly, “You have to fix the cabinet and bring the Death Eaters.”

“What?” Harry barked.

“No, she’s right,” Hermione said weakly, “it’s the only way to save Draco’s life and his family’s lives. He has to bring the Death Eaters here, but at least this way we can be ready for it.”

Harry stared at them all as if they were insane, “And what about Dumbledore?”

“He knows,” Lilly said, “Like you said, he, Snape and McGonagall all know. They are all in on this, don’t you see what’s happening here?”

“No,” Draco and Harry said in unison.

Lilly sighed, “Have you noticed anything strange about Dumbledore, physically or mentally?”

Harry frowned, “His hand is black…and he’s been giving me lessons about Voldemort’s past.”

“He’s dying,” Daphne realised as she looked at Lilly.

The Ravenclaw nodded, “That blackened hand…well if it was fixable then Pomfrey would have fixed it. The only wounds that leave scars are those that are…” she trailed off, her eyes catching the lightning bolt on Harry’s forehead, “Cursed.”

Harry’s frown deepened, “He’s dying?”

“The curse is slowly killing him,” Hermione said, “He will die soon anyway.”

“So you’re saying Dumbledore is just going to let a 16 year old boy become a murderer because he’s dying anyway?” Harry asked in disbelief.

“No,” Draco said quietly, “I’m not going to be the murderer, Snape is.”

“What?” Harry asked sharply, his head snapping up to look at the Slytherin.

“Snape made an unbreakable vow with my Mother to protect me,” Draco said slowly, “and if I’m going to die killing Dumbledore then that means that Snape will do it, to protect me.”

“And he, McGonagall and Dumbledore all know about it,” Susan whispered.

“That’s why he’s training you, so you have the information you need to defeat Voldemort,” Hermione said, turning her drooping eyes towards Harry.

He looked mentally drained, his shoulders hunched and his face filled with the lines of a much older man, “So what do we do?”

“Nothing,” Lilly said, “That’s all we can do.”

“We just have to sit by and watch it play out,” Susan agreed, “We can’t stop Snape from killing Dumbledore without putting Draco’s life at risk.”

“And likewise we can’t prevent the Death Eaters from coming here without risking Draco’s life,” Daphne pointed out.

“All we can do is get the DA back together and prepare for the inevitable battle, and inform the Order,” Hermione said with a frown, “although I feel like we should keep this from Dumbledore.”

“We can’t tell the Order without them telling Dumbledore,” Harry pointed out.

“So then we sit by and wait,” Lilly said, “We let things play out, we help Draco fix the Vanishing Cabinet…and when it’s all over we get out of here and take Draco with us before Snape can.”

“I hate to say it, but that sounds like a shit plan,” Draco said in the silence that followed.

“Plans suck anyway,” Harry said irritably, “When have any of our plans ever worked Hermione? Let’s face it, we plan, we get there and then all hell breaks loose.”

Hermione sighed, “I know, but in this case the plan is essentially to not have much of a plan. Like I said, we can get the DA back together, we can have them ready to pick up the call to arms when Draco tells us they are coming.”

“All the while keeping this from Dumbledore,” Lilly added.

“And Snape,” Draco said.

“And McGonagall,” Harry said irritably.

Hermione yawned, her head dropping onto Draco’s shoulder. He frowned but didn’t wake her and Lilly said, “I’m starting to regret ever becoming friends with you Harry.”

“Welcome to my life,” Harry said darkly.

Susan yawned, “Look, this is too much. Tomorrow night, ROR at 7. Draco, you better come too, you’re as big a part of this as any of us now.”

Draco just nodded, and Susan hooked her arm through Lilly’s, “Come crash in Hufflepuff tonight,” she said.

Lilly yawned and nodded, “Great idea,” she said as they left the common room together.

Harry rubbed his forehead which was burning, and got up, “Come on Mione, we need to get back to Gryffindor and get some-”

He turned around and saw her sleeping against Draco’s arm and stopped speaking. 

Daphne yawned too as she got to her feet, “Just let her sleep here tonight. You don’t want to move her in the state she’s in.”

Harry was hesitant, “I don’t really want to leave her here alone.”

“Don’t you trust us Potter?” Draco drawled.

“Not really,” Harry said, “but I’ll leave her with you until I get Snape’s body out of here and into the hallway. Then I’m coming back and staying here with her.”

“Bloody paranoid,” Daphne yawned as she disappeared into the staircase down to the girls’ dorm. Harry disappeared too, to levitate Snape out of the common room, and while they were alone together Draco couldn’t help but look at Hermione. He admired her beauty, and she was so peaceful as she slept against him, her breathing soft and steady. The night had been filled with drama, and surprises and arguments. But all he could think about was that it had also brought him closer to her.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When Hermione begin to stir awake the first thing that she found odd was the lack of sunlight streaming through the window. She opened her eyes sleepily and rubbed the sleep from them, and it was only after the blurriness of the morning had disappeared that she realised where she was. There was no sunlight because she was in the Slytherin common room, which was of course below ground level, in fact out of the large windows on one side of the room Hermione could see directly into the lake.

“You snore, Granger.”

Hermione jumped, and as the amused drawl reached her ears, she realised that the soft cushion she was lying on was actually Draco Malfoy. She looked up with red cheeks, she had slept on the sofa with him, all night.

He was looking at her with amusement, his hair was ruffled and it looked soft instead of slick and gelled back. Hermione couldn’t help herself as she reached up and touched it.

“You should keep it like that, it’s much nicer this way,” Hermione said, catching Draco’s eye.

His grey eyes conveyed his surprise, so Hermione pulled her hand back and looked away. As she did she saw that on the sofa opposite of them Harry was lying with a blanket over him, fast asleep.

“What is he, your guard dog?” Draco remarked sarcastically to avoid talking about that strange moment with his hair.

“Apparently so,” Hermione said with a slight smile. She was aware that she was still lying with her head on Draco’s chest so she sat up and winced in pain. Sleeping on a couch was never particularly comfortable.

“He didn’t seem to trust me with you,” Draco commented.

“Well you were trying to kill Dumbledore up until last night,” Hermione pointed out with a yawn.

“Nice morning hair by the way Granger,” Draco said almost fondly, and Hermione glared at him. She was aware her hair tended to be bushier in the morning, but she had never thought Draco Malfoy would have to see her in the morning. She reached for her wand so she could fix her hair and then she frowned, “Where’s my wand?” she asked Draco suspiciously.

“Your guard dog has it, remember?” Draco said as he stretched his legs, “he took it from you to stop you from trying to take that memory out of me.”

Hermione nodded as the previous night rushed back to her now she was more awake and alert. 

“By the way Granger…thanks, for last night,” Draco said, and Hermione couldn’t help but smile at the fact it seemed to physically hurt him to apologise.

“You’re welcome Malfoy,” Hermione said, “as hard as it is to believe I don’t want you to die. And whatever Snape is up to, it doesn’t seem good."

Draco nodded, and looked down at a loose bit of thread on the sofa to avoid taking this conversation any deeper. Hermione then smiled a little at something entirely unrelated, she had slept with Malfoy all night and yet this morning he seemed perfectly put together.

“What?” He asked irritably.

“Nothing,” Hermione chuckled, “it’s just…I think you have more self-control than Harry, either that or you really don’t find me at all attractive.”

Draco frowned, “What are you talking about?”

Hermione chuckled as she got to her feet and stretched her legs, “Let’s just say that on the odd occasion that I have to share a bed with Harry the mornings are awkward.”

Draco grinned a little wickedly, and Hermione said, “And don’t ever tell him I told you that.”

Draco smirked, “I am afraid I can’t promise that Granger,” he said as he too got up. He looked like he was going to leave, but before he did he mumbled in her ear, “and for the record, the answer is self-control, not the other thing you came up with.”

Hermione was speechless as he crossed the room and disappeared into the dormitory, and she found herself with a wide grin on her face as she kicked Harry awake. So he does like me.

“Come on sleepyhead, we need to get to our own common room,” Hermione said as Harry sat up groggily. She pulled the cloak out from underneath him and set about checking the map while he yawned and woke himself up.

“Clear path to the 5th floor, then we have Filch,” Hermione said as Harry got up, she threw the cloak over them both and they left the common room to emerge into the cold dungeons.

“What time is it?” Harry yawned.

“8am,” Hermione answered, “Which is why we need to hurry, not showing up to breakfast is suspicious remember.”

“Yeah, yeah I know,” Harry said sleepily, then he frowned at the wand in Hermione’s hand, “how’d you get your wand off of me?”

“I took it out of your back pocket before you woke up,” Hermione said in amusement, “You are kind of dead to the world when you’re asleep.”

Harry nodded, “That’s a fair observation. But why are you so happy this morning?”

Hermione shrugged, “Oh I don’t know, I just feel like we’ve made good progress you know? Draco trusts us, we have a plan, sort of.”

“Yeah, I know. But that wouldn’t make you grin like an idiot,” Harry pointed out as he yawned once more, “What is going on with you and Malfoy? Should I be worried? Because I know I joked about it and all, but I never thought it would actually happen Hermione. And he really is bad news, I don’t want you getting yourself hurt, or even killed all because of-”

“Harry, don’t worry,” Hermione said, “I know how much bad news he is, alright? We’re not together, we’re not…anything. He just…”

“Flirts with you?”

“Yeah,” Hermione admitted with a slight blush.

“Well you flirt with him too,” Harry pointed out.

“You were the one snogging Lilly last night,” Hermione remarked as they lowered their voices in the entrance hall. There were students on their way to the Great Hall for breakfast.

Harry glared at Hermione, but he didn’t actually speak to her again until they had boarded the staircase from the 1st to 2nd floor and the school was quiet once more, “From what I heard last night you snogged Malfoy.”

Hermione’s cheeks went even darker, “It’s complicated alright. There were a lot of tears, and…anger. It wasn’t like your alcohol induced snogging session with Lilly.”

“What if I actually like her?” Harry asked, catching Hermione’s eye, “She’s fantastic.”

“She is,” Hermione agreed, “but this isn’t like you. Your screaming match about Sirius last night, now that was like you. But snogging girls, and being all sarcastic…are you trying to be Sirius?”

“I’m trying to have fun, I know that’s a hard thing for you to get your head around Hermione, but that’s all this is,” Harry said, “it was Christmas, I had a few drinks and I actually had fun. I’m not becoming a womaniser like Sirius, I like Lilly.”

“And I like Draco,” Hermione admitted sheepishly.

Harry sighed, “But I can’t date her, I can’t bring her into this. You know if Voldemort knew I had a girlfriend he’d use that against me.”

Hermione nodded and said, “And I can’t date Draco. He won’t let me in until this is over for a start because he doesn’t want me to get killed because of him. But even after that…I’m a muggle-born and he’s a pure-blood, there is no way his family would ever let that happen.”

Harry grabbed her hand under the cloak, they were quiet again as they slipped past Filch on the 5th floor. As they boarded the final staircase to the 7th floor Harry said, “This is shit.”

“Yes,” Hermione agreed, “but then dating isn’t exactly our priority right now anyway. There are bigger things at stake here, like lives. We have to focus on getting the DA back together and preventing people from dying in the inevitable fight that will come when the Death Eaters get here.”

“Look, we were prepared last year and we all survived,” Harry said gently, “and there will be more of us here, we’ll know the terrain. Look at it like a football game, we have the home advantage.”

Hermione smiled, and said, “You should repeat that at the meeting tonight and see who gets the reference.”

Harry grinned and said, “I might just do that.”

TBC :)


	11. Of Plans and Preparation

Boxing Day dragged by as slowly as it possibly could. Hermione and Harry attempted to pass it by doing homework. Even though Christmas was over they still had 5 days until the rest of the school returned, so Hermione was keen to make sure they made some progress on their Christmas workload. “We are N.E.W.T students now”, she had kept saying. But Harry had been quite distant, and Hermione got the distinct impression that he was daydreaming about Lilly.

By the time they went to the meeting that evening they had finished their Potions essay, and Hermione had promised to stop nagging Harry for a little while. They were the first in the Room of Requirement, and tonight it had lots of comfortable beanbags and a table in the middle with hot chocolates waiting on it.

Hermione smiled a little at the change, and Harry said simply, ‘I think with all that’s going on people need cheering up.’

‘I think you’re right,’ Hermione admitted, she had spent the day working because she needed rest. The previous night had really drained her, and today she had being trying to get her strength up purposefully.

“Oh this is cute,” Lilly said when she walked into the room and flopped down onto a beanbag, she caught Harry’s eye and Hermione made sure she noisily set about getting the hot chocolates ready so that they could talk.

“So about last night,” Lilly said awkwardly, “it was just because it was Christmas and we’d had a drink, right?”

Hermione who was pretending not to listen, could hear the hope in Lilly’s voice and in that moment she sounded like Ginny. She was hoping Harry would say no, but Hermione knew he would say yes, to keep her safe. In many ways he and Draco were very similar.

“Yeah,” Harry said with a nod, “it’s probably best if we just forget it ever happened.”

Lilly nodded and smiled, “Okay, I thought you’d say that anyway. I just wanted to straighten it out.”

“Is that okay with you?” Harry asked, “I mean did you want it to….be more?”

“Nah,” Lilly said with a smile, “Not with all that’s going on right now. Draco and I haven’t long broken up, and with all of this…well it’s just complicated isn’t it?”

Harry nodded, “Very complicated,” he said.

Hermione felt like knocking their heads together, but she didn’t. She respected Harry’s choice, she knew his reasoning was right. Voldemort would use everything he could against Harry, and Harry was trying to minimise the amount of people that would get hurt in this upcoming war.

Before their conversation could go any further the door opened. Susan and Daphne walked in together, and Hermione couldn’t help but wonder for a moment what they knew about each other, and what they had gone through together. Lilly was a little bit of an outsider, but had bonded with Hermione recently. But as a pure-blood, and a half-blood who was raised by her pure-blood Aunt, Daphne and Susan were very close. She knew that they had basically grown up together, but Hermione was sure they must have had some shared horrors in their past to be as close as they were.

“Just waiting for Draco then are we?” Daphne asked as she accepted the hot chocolate Hermione handed her.

“Looks like it,” Lilly said, smiling at Hermione as she accepted her hot chocolate.

“Well he always has been good at turning up late,” Susan said, “Ooh, thanks Hermione. I’m freezing!”

Hermione laughed as she passed a mug to Harry, and sat down with her own steaming cup of hot chocolate on the last remaining seat, a large beanbag made for two or three people. She had left a cup on the table for Draco, if he showed up.

“So, yesterday was an eventful Christmas,” Susan said to make small-talk and break the silence. It was a well-known fact that Hufflepuffs hated silences and always had to fill them.

“We’ve had worse,” Hermione said as she glanced at Harry who nodded.

“Last Christmas did suck,” Harry admitted, Mr. Weasley had been hurt and that had been a scary Christmas.

“I’ve had worse too,” Lilly said with a sad smile, “Yesterday was actually a fun Christmas for me.”

“Apart from the late night obliviating session with Snape, I’d be inclined to agree,” Daphne admitted.

“Did he seem to remember anything today?” Harry asked curiously.

Daphne shook her head, “No, Draco said he hasn’t spoken to him all day.”

“Well I did sort of program him when I replaced his memory,” Hermione admitted sheepishly.

“You programmed him?” Lilly asked with a raised eyebrow, “What is this Doctor Who?”

“Who is this Doctor?” Daphne asked with a frown.

Harry smiled and said, “Muggle reference.”

Daphne rolled her eyes, and Hermione said to Lilly, “No, not like that. Sometimes when you replace a memory you can add associations, so I may have slipped in an association with one of the new memories.”

“An association with what, Draco?” Susan asked with a frown.

Hermione nodded, “With the second memory I put the thought in that he should stop giving Draco such a hard time.”

Daphne shook her head in disbelief, “Holy Salazar, that is powerful magic! No wonder you were so drained.”

Harry smiled proudly and said, “Well she is the smartest witch of our age.”

Hermione blushed a little, and then the door opened and the final member of their party walked in. He didn’t say anything as he sat down next to Hermione on the large beanbag and looked around at the others expectant eyes.

“Hermione made you a hot chocolate,” Susan said, once more to break the silence.

Draco glanced at the hot chocolate on the table, but didn’t touch it.

“I didn’t poison it Malfoy,” Hermione remarked, “if I wanted you dead I’d do it in a far less cowardly way.”

Draco smirked at her, “Typical Gryffindor,” he said as he picked up the hot chocolate, “murdering someone to their face and then inevitably getting caught.”

Hermione rolled her eyes, “I don’t care how clever and sneaky you think you are, you would get caught if you murdered someone too. There is no such thing as the perfect murder.”

“The Killing Curse, there that’s it the perfect murder,” Draco said matter of factly.

“No,” Lilly pointed out, “because it’s illegal so the Auror Department can use the traces of magic it leaves behind to identify the wand it was used with.”

“But what if you steal someone else’s wand and use that?” Daphne asked.

“Then the Aurors would find out who you stole the wand from and they would be able to find out your identity,” Harry said as if this were obvious.

“Alright then, so that isn’t the perfect murder. But I know what is,” Susan said matter of factly, “You just convince a dementor to help you, and then the dementor sucks the persons soul out, good as dead right? Then the dementor can’t tell the Aurors who told them to do it because they can’t speak, and there are no traces of magic so they can’t trace the person via their wand and since the dementor sucks out the soul and therefore the memories, the Aurors can’t tap into their head and extract anything.”

Harry raised an eyebrow at the redhead, “I’m slightly scared right now.”

“Hufflepuff’s are scary,” Daphne said in amusement, “They are a mixture of all the houses, but everyone underestimates them so they have the element of surprise.”

“They make the best Aurors,” Lilly piped up, “They aren’t as ruthless as Slytherins, or as stupidly gung-ho as Gryffindors, or as methodical as Ravenclaws. Most Aurors need a team-mate, normally Gryffindor and Slytherin, good cop, bad cop you know? Hufflepuffs don’t, they have all the traits of good cop and bad cop in one person.”

“That is very interesting, although I have no idea what a cop is,” Draco drawled, “and for the record, how would you convince the dementor to help you? Even the Dark Lord struggled to get the dementors on his side.”

“That is the only flaw in the plan,” Susan admitted.

“And would you stop calling him the Dark Lord?” Hermione asked irritably, “Only his followers call him that.”

“Have you seen the giant snake on my arm?” Draco asked sarcastically.

“Haven’t we established that you aren’t one of them?” Hermione asked pointedly, “So don’t call him that. Call him by his name.”

“We all do,” Lilly said, “even Daphne.”

“Yes well, as they say, fear of the name only increases fear of the thing itself,” Daphne said with a shrug, “If you’re too scared to say his name of course you’ll be terrified of him.”

Draco sighed, “Fine.”

“Say it then, his real name,” Susan pushed.

Draco looked nervous, but he nodded, “Vol…de...mort.”

“Technically his real name is Tom Marvolo Riddle, but good progress Malfoy,” Harry said with a very slight smirk, “but for now, I propose we get down to business and stop talking about murder.”

Susan grinned sheepishly but nodded, “Business, of course,” she said.

Hermione chuckled and pulled out some parchment from her bag, “Well I have the original list of DA members, but I suggest starting a new one and getting everyone’s signatures again, just to be safe.”

“A change of name would also be good,” Harry pointed out, “We’re hardly doing this for Dumbledore, are we? He’s the one manipulating everyone here, and lying to us.”

“Well what do you suggest instead?” Hermione asked with an amused smile, “Harry’s Army?”

“Definitely not,” Harry said as he made a face, “What was it that Cho came up with when we were originally naming it? It had the same initials…DA…and then Ginny said we ought to make it stand for Dumbledore’s Army.”

“The Defence Association,” Hermione remembered, “That was Cho’s suggestion.”

“Well it is an association to defend Hogwarts,” Susan said thoughtfully, “So it does work.”

“And we don’t have to change the initials that way,” Hermione said, “So the coins will still be fine to use assuming everyone still has them.”

“To those of us who weren’t in on your secret society last year, you do realise we have no idea what you are talking about, right?”

“Oh sorry Malfoy,” Hermione said, “The others do, I gave them coins, and I have one for you.”

Draco frowned as Hermione pulled a galleon out of her bag and handed it to Draco, “It will burn when we call a meeting, and the date and time will appear on the galleon. You shouldn’t need it apart from for the call to arms when the Death Eaters come. Obviously if we’re going to keep up with this charade it has to seem like you still hate us, and we hate you.”

“Understood,” Draco said, slipping the galleon into his pocket.

Hermione had also pulled a quill from her bag, and at the top of her blank piece of parchment she wrote in her neat, spiral writing “The Defence Association”.

“Have you jinxed the parchment again?” Harry asked in amusement.

“Of course I have, I can’t risk people betraying us like last year,” Hermione said, “only…it’s slightly darker than just writing ‘SNEAK’ into the persons head.”

Lilly sniggered, “That was hilarious last year, Marietta Edgecombe was mortified.”

Susan shook her head, “She shouldn’t have betrayed us,” she said angrily.

“Well she was a bitch,” Lilly said with a shrug, “and not exactly trustworthy. But I suppose you weren’t to know that.”

“I wish we had,” Harry said honestly.

“Well it’s too late for that now,” Hermione said, “The jinx will activate if anyone who has signed the parchment betrays us, but I’ve put in a loophole in for Draco because obviously it will look like he’s betraying us when he brings the Death Eaters in.”

“If I sign it won’t they then know I’m in on it?” Draco asked with a frown.

“Only if they see your name, you’ll sign in invisible ink at the bottom of the page,” Hermione replied.

“And you really think we shouldn’t tell the DA members the full story?” Susan asked with a frown.

“No, nobody can know about it apart from us. The more people who know the more danger we put Malfoy in. As far as the DA members will be aware the war is getting very close so we’re training for the inevitable fall out it will bring,” Harry said firmly.

“Hannah’s one of my closest friends, how am I supposed to keep this from her?” Susan asked with a frown.

“Well I think Hannah can be trusted to know the truth, but not until she’s signed this,” Hermione said, gesturing to the parchment, “at some point Harry, we have to consider telling Ron the truth.”

“That point is not today,” Harry said darkly, “once he comes back from Christmas we’ll see how pissed off he is and then we’ll have that conversation.”

Hermione sighed, but nodded, and Draco then asked with a frown, “What jinx have you put into this parchment exactly? You said it was dark.”

Hermione smirked, “If I didn’t know any better I’d say you were scared Malfoy.”

“Just curious,” Draco said simply,

Hermione smiled and said, “Well if someone betrays us there’s an automatic memory charm put in there which will replace their memories of what we are doing.”

“That’s not exactly dark,” Susan said with a frown.

Hermione looked sheepish, “Yes, well that’s only part of it. If someone betrays us their tongue will be glued to the top of their mouth as punishment for blabbing.”

Draco looked horrified, “And you’re sure the loophole means that it won’t think I’m betraying you?” he asked.

Harry frowned “Is it permanent?”

“I’m sure Malfoy, and it shouldn’t be Harry,” Hermione replied, “Not if I did the spell right.”

“And if you did the spell wrong?” Daphne asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Then I don’t know how long it would stay like that for,” Hermione admitted, “it should be a couple of months.”

“Merlin, that is pretty dark,” Susan said, sounding a little impressed, but also slightly scared.

Hermione sighed and consulted her old DA list, “Times are getting darker. But let’s get on with things. We can immediately score off some names on this list. Fred and George have left.”

“So have Angelina, Alicia and Lee,” Harry added, and Hermione nodded, scoring the names from the original list.

“And of course there are some people here who can’t be a part of this, like Katie,” Hermione said with a glance at Draco, “Even when she gets back from St. Mungo’s I don’t think involving her is a good idea.”

“I think you’re right,” Susan said, “It’s too much for her this year.’

Draco was silent in the corner, and so Hermione put a cross over Katie’s name and sighed, “Then there are those we can’t trust anymore.”

“Well Marietta Edgecombe is obviously one of those,” Susan remarked, she, Harry and Hermione were the only original DA members in the room so the others were taking a backseat for the moment.

“And Cho,” Harry said after a moment, “She was friends with Marietta, and she’s too volatile emotionally. I don’t think bringing her back into this whole thing is a good idea.”

“That is all very true,” Hermione said, putting a cross next to Cho’s name, “But face it you’re also avoiding her.”

“Come on, it’s awkward as hell around her,” Harry complained, “She kissed me then burst into tears, who does that?”

Hermione and Draco shared a sheepish glance which didn’t go unmissed by the girls, but it did go unmissed by Harry. Hermione simply said, “No, you are right, despite your ulterior motives. In that case I don’t think we’ll have any problems with the others left on the list, but we’ll figure that out after we’ve signed. Who wants to go first?”

Harry got up and said, “I will,” he took the quill from Hermione, dipped it into the ink and scrolled his signature atop the page. Hermione went next, putting her perfect, neat signature underneath Harry’s. Susan signed next, and then Lilly.

Hermione glanced between Daphne and Draco who seemed to be having an internal battle within themselves, which one of them would betray their culture and way of living first?

“Right, do you have any invisible ink?” Draco asked as he pushed himself to his feet.

Hermione positively beamed at him as she handed him it, and that threw him a little. But he just gave her a small smile in return as he signed his name in the invisible ink at the bottom of the parchment and sat back down, turning his gaze on Daphne.

“Come on Daph,” Susan said, “You don’t want to be on the other side.”

“In an ideal world I would be neutral,” Daphne sighed as she got up and took the quill.

“Just like your Father,” Draco muttered. 

Daphne shot her fellow Slytherin a glare and signed her name a little reluctantly, “This is for you Draco, and nobody else so try being grateful.”

Draco didn’t say anything to that, and Daphne sat back down. There was suddenly a tense air in the room, and Hermione decided to break it by rattling out the names of those left on the list, “Alright here are the people we have left. If you have any objections say so when I’m done. Ernie MacMillan, Anthony Goldstein, Colin Creevey, Dennis Creevey, Dean Thomas, Cormac McLaggen, Ginny Weasley, Hannah Abbot, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Lavender Brown, Luna Lovegood, Michael Corner, Neville Longbottom, Padma Patil, Parvati Patil, Romilda Vane, Ronald Weasley, Terry Boot, Seamus Finnigan.”

Daphne raised her hand, “Do you really think it’s wise to have Vane there? She spent the best part of this year trying to slip Potter love potions.”

Harry smirked and said, “Thanks for looking out for me there Greengrass.”

Daphne glared at him, “That’s not what I’m doing. I just don’t think our leader being infatuated would be conducive to our cause, does she have any particular skill that makes you want to keep her?”

“No, and you make a valid point,” Hermione said as she put a cross next to Romilda’s name, “I’ve never really liked her anyway.”

“Neither have I,” Harry admitted, “She’s a bit…obsessive.”

“By that nature you should cross She-Weasel off too,” Draco drawled.

Hermione glared at him, “No, Ginny is a powerful witch, and a friend. She is a good asset to the DA.”

Harry nodded his agreement, “Especially when she’s angry, then she’s even more powerful.”

“Well what about Cormac then?” Susan asked, “Why is he on the list? He’s a prick.”

“He’s a loyal prick,” Harry said, “and pretty good too, so I think he should stay.”

Susan rolled her eyes, “If he tries to feel me up I’m making you kick him out.”

“Deal,” Hermione said in amusement, “Any other objections to those on the list?”

There was silence, so Harry asked the next question, “Alright then, any suggestions for new members?”

“Well I wouldn’t recommend any of my fellow male Slytherins,” Draco said, “Blaise is notoriously secretive so I really do not know if he is trustworthy. But I do trust Theodore Nott. His Father is a Death Eater, but after seeing what happened to me he’s about as terrified of them as you all are. The last thing he wants is to join them, so I believe you can certainly trust him.”

Harry and Hermione didn’t look too convinced, but Lilly said, “Draco’s right, Theo is a nice guy if a little bit cocky at times. He’s very mixed up at the moment, this could really help him out.”

Hermione looked at Harry, “We gave Malfoy a chance and he hasn’t killed us yet,” she pointed out.

“Yet?” Draco asked in amusement, “Your faith in me is astounding Granger.”

“Again Malfoy, up until last night you were planning to kill Dumbledore, remember?” Hermione asked sarcastically.

Draco simply shrugged, and Harry sighed, “Alright put Nott down for consideration. Greengrass, do you recommend anyone?”

“Well obviously I don’t recommend Millicent or Pansy, but Sophie Roper is a half-blood, she’s spent all of her years at Hogwarts being bullied by the other Slytherins for it so I suspect she would consider joining, and Tracey Davis hates the Death Eaters as much as you all do,” Daphne said, “They murdered her parents for not joining Voldemort.”

“So you think they can be trusted, but would they bring anything to the DA?” Hermione asked curiously.

“Well they are both very clever, Ancient Ruins and Arithmancy is Tracey’s thing, but they’re both pretty good at everything,” Daphne said diplomatically.

Hermione looked to Harry, “What do you think?”

“Half-bloods generally aren’t quite so fanatic about Voldemort, and having your parents killed because of him would make you hate him,” Harry said simply, “Put them on the consideration list.”

Hermione nodded and did so, looking up into the silent room once more, “Susan, do you recommend any Hufflepuff’s that aren’t on the list?”

Susan was thoughtful for a moment, “Leanne would do it because of what happened to Katie, they were really close. Sally-Anne likes to keep to herself so I doubt she’d want any part of it, but Megan would be up for the idea. As for the boys, well Justin, Ernie and Zacharias are already part of it. That just leaves Ollie and Wayne.”

“Why didn’t they join the first time?” Harry asked curiously.

“They were scared of being caught and punished,” Susan said, “They’re both muggle-born so they follow the rules pretty vigorously. They seem to think if they get in trouble for anything they’ll be expelled.”

Harry smirked and glanced at Hermione, “I know somebody else like that.”

Hermione rolled her eyes and said, “I’ve being breaking the rules every year for you so shut up.”

Harry’s grin widened, “What was it you said in first year Mione? We could have been killed or worse expelled?”

Draco sniggered, “Only you would find getting expelled worse than being killed Granger.”

“Oh shut up Malfoy,” Hermione said hotly, “You grew up with this around you, it’s all you ever knew and you take it for granted! All of you pure-bloods do, and some half-bloods too. Think of it for muggle-borns. We grow up in this shitty world where magic only exists in fairytales and then we are brought into this amazing, magical world. Of course we’re terrified of losing that!”

A silence filled the room, and Draco looked quite guilty.

“That’s why we work as hard as we do,” Lilly said quietly, “I don’t know if it was the same for Hermione, but I always felt like if I wasn’t good enough they would make me go back.”

Hermione nodded weakly, “I was exactly the same, and I want to learn as much as I can about this world. That’s why I take so many classes, and read so many books.”

It was clear Draco wasn’t going to apologise so Susan cleared her throat, “So shall I ask Ollie and Wayne then?”

Harry nodded, he had been quiet throughout the explosion of anger, but he knew exactly how both girls felt. This world was the greatest thing to happen to him, despite all the crap he had gone through here and he would never want to go back to the Muggle world. Hermione added the names to the consideration list and then she turned her gaze on Lilly.

“Any suggestions Lilly?”

Lilly was thoughtful for a moment, “Well as irritating and bitchy as they can be Mandy and Lisa are very clever,” she said, “and as for the boys, well the only two not already there are Stephen Cornfoot and Kevin Entwhistle. And how do I phrase this…well they’re pricks.”

The others laughed and Hermione said, “Well I can definitely see the merits of Lisa, I know she’s a nice enough person and I know she would work hard at it.”

“But you aren’t convinced by Mandy?” Lilly asked with frown.

“No,” Hermione said.

“Why?” Susan asked curiously, “I mean I know she talks a lot, and she’s a gossip but she’s a nice person.”

“Is she?” Hermione scoffed, “She’s always seemed incredibly bitchy to me. And how is it I got bullied for having bushy hair but she didn’t just because her hair is blonde?”

Draco smiled a little and said, “So you’re jealous of her then Granger.”

Hermione glared at him, “No, I’m not jealous-”

He smirked and said, “Well don’t let that be a reason to stop her from joining this thing. If she starts to bother you just tell her that you’ve kissed Draco Malfoy, and if she tells you she has too she’s lying.”

Susan rolled her eyes, “Oh please, it’s not that much of a privilege.”

“That wasn’t what I overheard you saying last night,” Draco said in amusement, “you all seemed to rave about how great a kisser I was.”

“Right Malfoy, this is not the time for an ego trip,” Harry said sharply, “we’ve got a lot to talk about here.”

“And plus, Harry’s better anyway,” Lilly piped up slyly.

Hermione scoffed, and then suddenly she felt all eyes on her.

“Have something to share with the group, Hermione?” Susan asked with a grin.

Hermione’s cheeks flushed, and she could feel Harry’s glare on her, “Well I may have kissed them both at varying points.”

“That was one time, in third year,” Harry said, his cheeks turning bright red, “In a stupid game of truth and dare.”

“And your preference?” Daphne asked in amusement, ignoring Harry.

Hermione’s eyes darted to Draco, who looked incredibly smug.

Lilly grinned, “Well I think I’ve got a better comparison, I kissed both of them when they were around the same age.”

Susan smirked and said, “Well you know the answer don’t you? You each preferred kissing the person you were attracted to most. Isn’t it obvious Hermione has a thing for blondes?”

“Did you see my first boyfriend?” Hermione asked in disbelief, “he was certainly not blonde.”

“No, but the posters you have on your bed are all of blonde muggle pop stars,” Susan grinned, and Hermione’s cheeks turned beetroot.

“Why have you been in Hermione’s bedroom?” Harry asked Susan sharply.

Hermione rolled her eyes, “The other day we were up there so I could give Susan a couple of muggle books to borrow, get your mind out of the gutter.”

Harry chuckled and said, “Anyway, back to the subject of business. As far as the DA goes our next step is to collect signatures. I’m going to delegate that to Hermione now she’s no longer on Malfoy-watch.”

“Malfoy-watch?” Hermione asked in disbelief, “You were the one watching him piss!”

Harry glared at her, “Yes, but you were the heroic one trying to gain his trust and save his life and all that.”

Draco watched on silently, and Harry said, “And he trusts us now so you can collect the signatures. Everybody likes you, and you’re a good people person unlike me.”

“Fine,” Hermione said simply, “I don’t mind that anyway.”

“For now can we train?” Susan asked, “Until the others get back from Christmas break?”

“I don’t see any reason why not,” Harry said honestly, “We’ll just have to be careful to keep it from Dumbledore, all of it. Whatever is going on between you two is going to have to not go on, we can’t risk being found out all because you’re in a broom cupboard together,” he said to Hermione and Draco.

Draco smiled politely, “Not a problem Potter, I have self-control.”

Hermione couldn’t help but chuckle as she shared a knowing glance with the Slytherin. Harry just rolled his eyes, “See that right there, it’s not convincing me that you aren’t together.”

“Well we aren’t together,” Hermione said honestly, “kissing someone doesn’t make you attached at the bloody hip to them Harry. He’s still the arrogant, pain in the arse who tried to kill Dumbledore.”

Draco rolled his eyes, “How long are you going to go on about that for?”

“A long time,” Hermione said pointedly, “Look, nobody is dating here, and nobody is involved so there is nothing to worry about.”

“I’m not quite convinced,” Harry said with narrowed eyes, “but I’ll take your word for the moment. So we’ll meet up every couple of nights until the others come back, and Hermione will try to get their signatures. Malfoy, your priority is fixing that vanishing cabinet, right? Do you need physical help?”

“No,” Draco replied, “It’s just a matter of getting the frequency right, like a radio. If anyone comes into the Room of Requirement with me it will look suspicious anyway.”

“Yeah well I’m not entirely sure I trust you yet,” Harry said honestly, “So I’m going to put Susan on Malfoy-watch. Whenever you’re in there doing work on it take her with you.”

Susan rolled her eyes, “Seriously?”

“Sorry, I’ve got another job for the other two,” Harry said sheepishly, “and you’re the most patient anyway, so it makes sense.”

“Great, I have a babysitter,” Draco muttered.

Hermione glared at him, “Do I have to mention that you were trying to kill Dumbledore up until yesterday?”

“I’m pretty sure you’ve mentioned enough times,” Draco said sarcastically.

“Good,” Hermione said with a false smile.

Draco rolled his eyes and Harry turned to Lilly, “I’m going to need you to work with me on this one Lilly. Dumbledore’s teaching me about Voldemort’s past, I’m going to share what I’m learning with you. You’re the most logical, and besides Hermione probably the best at problem solving. Once we’ve finished with the signatures I think I’ll get Hermione in on this one too. I need to know why Dumbledore is telling me the things he is before he dies.”

Lilly nodded with a smile, and Daphne asked, “So what about me then Potter? What’s my job in all of this?”

“You’re the one with all of the connections,” Harry said simply, “Someone has to monitor things at the Ministry, we need to know how bad this is getting. Anything from the little things in the Prophet that sound at all Death Eater or Voldemort-like. It all needs to be checked out, we’ve got to know what we’re dealing with.”

“You want me to be your researcher?” Daphne asked in disbelief.

“Would you rather be on Malfoy-watch?” Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

Daphne rolled her eyes and muttered, “No.”

Harry smirked, “So don’t complain then. Any reasonable objections?”

Nobody spoke, so Harry said, “Alright then, meeting adjourned. For now let’s just get on with our lives, be careful what we talk about in public and make sure we don’t let on that we’re helping Malfoy.”

Daphne smirked as she mock saluted Harry, “Yes Auror Potter sir!”

Hermione barked out a laugh, and as Harry’s face grew increasingly pink the others all joined in with her laughter.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Hermione, Susan is supposed to be on Malfoy-watch.”

Hermione rolled her eyes but didn’t look up from her essay, after their meeting the day before Draco had decided to do some more work on the vanishing cabinet, “Yes so she won’t appear on the map.”

“But she is on the map,” Harry pointed out from where he was neglecting his homework, “and so is Malfoy, they’re in the Hufflepuff Common Room.”

Hermione frowned as she looked up, “What? Why would they be in the Hufflepuff Common Room?”

“What if he’s betrayed us? What if he’s doing something to Susan?” Harry asked quickly.

Hermione gave Harry a pointed look, “If he’s doing anything to Susan it will be snogging her.”

Harry raised an eyebrow, “You sound jealous.”

“I’m not jealous,” Hermione scoffed, “He can kiss who he wants, he’s already snogged half of the female population of Hogwarts anyway.”

Harry snorted, and said, “We really should go check it out though, I mean just in case something is going on.”

Hermione sighed and closed her book, “Alright, come on then.”

“You were fast to agree,” Harry sniggered as he threw the cloak over them, “are you sure you’re not jealous?”

Hermione fixed Harry with a glare, “Shut up Harry.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When Hermione and Harry walked into the Hufflepuff common room they were shocked to see Draco and Susan, not snogging, but instead reading.

They looked up when the two Gryffindors walked in, and Susan said, “Nice to see you, but what brings you down to this end of the school?”

“Harry thought Malfoy had kidnapped you,” Hermione said with a roll of her eyes.

“And Hermione thought he was snogging you,” Harry smirked, “she even got a little jealous.”

Hermione glared at Harry again, “I wasn’t jealous!”

Draco smirked, “I’m honoured Granger.”

Hermione turned her glare to the blonde, “Well you don’t need to be Malfoy. Why are you even here? Shouldn’t you be fixing a vanishing cabinet?”

“Well Granger,” Draco drawled, “as powerful as my gaze is I can’t fix a vanishing cabinet by looking at it.”

Susan rolled her eyes, “That’s his usual rude way of saying that we’re researching vanishing magic.”

Hermione smiled very slightly, the others didn’t even see it, “And have you gotten anywhere?”

“Not yet,” Susan said honestly, “but as you can see, there are a lot of books. Daphne’s just on her way up with some of her own books.”

“Actually Daphne’s here with those books,” Daphne’s voice said from behind them as she walked past with a pile of books.

“Talking in the third person is a sign of madness Greengrass,” Draco drawled.

“Fuck off Draco,” Daphne said, and then she purposefully dropped the books on his hand and he swore loudly.

“Vindictive bitch,” Draco muttered, looking down at his hand which was now bleeding, “How am I supposed to write like this?”

“Bloody hell Malfoy, you’re a drama queen,” Hermione said as she grabbed his hand and pulled her wand out, “is this like that time you got a scratch off a hippogriff and claimed your arm was going to fall off?”

“Have you seen how sharp those things claws are?” Draco asked as his cheeks flushed slightly.

“Yeah, well you shouldn’t have ignored Hagrid and insulted it then, you stupid prick,” Harry said irritably.

Draco glared at Harry but said nothing as Hermione performed a basic healing charm on his hand. He convinced himself it was the charm that made his skin tingle, and not Hermione’s touch.

“What the fuck?”

Everyone’s heads spun in the direction of the entrance tunnel where Neville Longbottom stood wearing a cardigan, and looking very confused.

TBC :)


	12. The Training Begins

PREVIOUSLY:

“What the fuck?”

Everyone’s heads spun in the direction of the entrance tunnel where Neville Longbottom stood wearing a cardigan, and looking very confused.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Oh hey Nev,” Harry said, “What are you doing in the Hufflepuff common room?”

“When I got back and couldn’t find you two in Gryffindor I came down here to talk to Susan,” Neville said quickly, “but the real question is, what is Malfoy doing here and why is Hermione holding his hand?”

Hermione quickly dropped Draco’s hand and muttered, “I was just doing a healing charm.”

Harry nodded and said, “And Malfoy is here because we’re, you know, turning over a new leaf and helping him.”

Neville looked at Harry like he was insane, “I know you’ve been a bit unhinged since Sirius died, but do you realise how crazy trusting him is? He’s a complete prick for a start, and a liar, and a selfish bastard.”

Draco raised his hands, “What the hell Fatbottom? Why do you all hate me so much?”

Hermione looked at him in disbelief, “Do I have to go back into the whole you tried to kill Dumbledore debate again?”

“He tried to kill Dumbledore and you’re helping him?” Neville barked.

“No, we’re helping him to not kill Dumbledore. It’s very confusing, you’ve missed quite a lot Neville,” Harry said with a frown.

Neville glared at Harry, “Catch me up, now.”

“Well it’s more complicated than that-”

“No, tell me now or I’ll go and tell Dumbledore about these weird new friendships,” Neville threatened.

Daphne raised an eyebrow at him, “When did you grow balls Longbottom?”

Neville turned to glare at her and then frowned, “Who are you?”

“Daphne Greengrass, Slytherin, ex-girlfriend of that prick and designated war researcher of Harry Potter,” Daphne said sarcastically.

Neville turned to Harry, “Seriously Harry, what the fuck is going on?”

“Would you stop fucking swearing?” Harry asked irritably, “Like I said it’s confusing, and it’s a very long story.”

“Well shorten it,” Neville said.

“Okay,” Hermione said with a glance to Harry, “But only us, and one other person knows about this so you have got to keep it under wraps.”

“Who do I have to tell?” Neville asked simply.

Hermione sighed, “I was going to fake date Malfoy then break up with him to get revenge because he dated three girls at the same time, Susan, Daphne and Lillian Moon, she’s a Ravenclaw. But in the process of doing that we sort of accidentally found out that Malfoy was a Death Eater, and that he was on a mission to kill Dumbledore from Voldemort who would kill him, and his family if he failed. So we gained his trust, and now we’re trying to help him.”

“That is confusing,” Neville said after a minute of silence.

Hermione nodded, “Only we aren’t helping him not kill Dumbledore, like Harry said.”

“Because Dumbledore has to die for Draco to not be killed, and he’s going to die anyway,” Susan added.

Neville lifted his hand and swooshed it over his head.

Hermione smiled a little sadly, “Dumbledore is cursed, he’s dying. That’s why his hand is black and burned, Snape and McGonagall are both in on this whole thing. Dumbledore knows Malfoy is trying to kill him, but he’s letting it happen because he knows he doesn’t have long to live anyway.”

Neville frowned, “Are you telling me that Dumbledore would just let a kid become a murderer?”

“Well sort of, we think Snape might be planning to kill Dumbledore in place of Malfoy,” Harry cut in, “He made an Unbreakable Vow with Malfoy’s Mother to protect him.”

“So if you aren’t trying to stop Dumbledore being killed, then how are you helping Malfoy?” Neville asked, “And if you know he’s a Death Eater why are you helping him?”

“Because he doesn’t want to be a Death Eater,” Susan replied, “This is his family being punished for the fact Lucius Malfoy was caught and imprisoned.”

“He’s on our side Neville,” Hermione said gently.

“At least we think he is,” Harry said with a suspicious glance at Malfoy, “He might just be snogging Hermione to get into our good books.”

“I go away for a week and the whole place goes to the dogs,” Neville said with a shake of his head, “I never thought I’d see Hermione Granger dating Draco Malfoy.”

Hermione rolled her eyes, “We’re not dating! It was one kiss at Christmas time! It’s not a big deal, it’s not like I haven’t kissed other guys before, right Neville?”

Neville’s cheeks flushed, and Harry barked, “What?”

“Really Harry?” Hermione asked irritably, “What age are you? Kissing people really isn’t that big a deal! Just because you’ve only had a couple of awkward kisses doesn’t mean the rest of us never kiss anyone! You’re acting like Ron!”

“I’ve actually kissed Lilly too, not just Cho,” Harry said, “And I’m not acting like Ron! How many other random guys have you kissed?”

“Merlin Harry! You sound like Ron did when he found out Ginny was dating Dean!” Hermione exclaimed, “They aren’t random guys, is Neville a random guy?”

“He’s pretty random,” Draco drawled.

“Oh shut up Malfoy,” Hermione barked.

“Sorry to interrupt this little argument,” Neville cut in, “But seriously, what is going on? What are you planning?”

Harry tore his eyes away from Hermione who he had been glaring at and said, “We’re re-establishing the DA. But it’s the Defence Association now, not Dumbledore’s Army. He’s lying to us all and manipulating us after all.”

Susan nodded, “Draco’s plan is to bring Death Eaters to Hogwarts, and we have to let that go ahead as planned. If Voldemort thinks Draco is straying from his mission he’ll kill him. All we can do is be prepared to fight when they arrive.”

“I still don’t understand why we’re doing all of this just to save his life,” Neville said as his eyes fell on Draco, “Is it worth it?”

“Nobody deserves to die,” Susan said gently, “Or worse. You know what Voldemort can do.”

Harry looked down, he knew about Neville’s parents, and he suspected that Susan knew too. Neville sighed, “Well I’ll help because I’m with Harry till the end. But if you betray us Malfoy I swear to Godric you’ll suffer a fate ten times worse than death.”

Draco snorted, “From you Fatbottom? What are you going to do, eat me to death?”

Susan glared at Draco, “Does he look fat to you? Your stupid nickname from when he had puppy fat really doesn’t fit anymore.”

“And I think you’ll find I’m more powerful than you think Malfoy,” Neville said coolly, “I was using my Father’s old wand, but when it broke last year I got a new one, and it actually works.”

Draco frowned as Neville took out his wand and fired a blasting charm at Draco. It was actually aimed inches from his ear, but it did the job and Draco jumped up in fright.

“What are you doing, you fucking crazy bastard?” Draco shouted.

Harry grinned and Susan looked quite proud but Hermione and Daphne were as stunned as Draco. Neville fixed the hole in the wall he had created and said, “Calm down Malfoy, it was 3 inches from your ear, it was never going to hit you unless you were stupid enough to jump in front of it.”

Harry’s grin widened as he said, “Neville has been training in the Room of Requirement with his new wand.”

“I was forcing my magic through my old one,” Neville said, sitting down on an armchair, “because it was so old and shit. So when I got the new one I was a bit…explosive with it.”

Draco snorted, “Is that supposed to be an innuendo, Longbottom?”

Hermione rolled her eyes, “Do you have to make everything about sex? Honestly for a guy who’s never had it you’re bloody obsessed.”

“I had three girlfriends-”

“Yes Malfoy, I am friends with all three and none of them slept with you,” Hermione said in amusement, “So you can drop the playboy façade. We all know you’re a big softy at heart.”

Draco scoffed, “You’re not very smart for a teenage genius Granger.”

“Seriously, what the hell is going on between those two?” Neville asked under his breath.

Daphne was sitting closest and whispered, “Sexual tension if you ask me. They’ve been like that all week.”

“Well Hermione does seem to like love/hate relationships,” Neville said with a frown, “but I’m not sure I’m too happy about that one.”

“No, neither am I,” Harry said quietly, “but I’m keeping an eye on it. If he hurts her I’ll finally have an excuse to kill him.”

“I can hear you Potter, we’re in the same room,” Draco drawled.

“Good Malfoy, then you know that I will hunt you down and make you pay if you hurt Hermione,” Harry said cheerfully, and Draco paled slightly.

“So, am I caught up then?” Neville asked in amusement.

“I think so,” Harry yawned, “and you’ve met the gang, apart from Lilly. Do you want a job? Everyone else has one.”

Neville shrugged, “I might as well put myself to some use.”

Harry laughed, “Well then you can be my Deputy, as leader of the DA that is. Help me run things?”

Neville smiled and said, “For once you’re not leaving me out? Am I your replacement Ron?”

“You’re slightly more level-headed than Ron, and much more efficient,” Harry said with a slight smile, “and I wouldn’t say replacement, we don’t want to lose Ron…but we’ll just have to wait and see how he takes all of…this.”

Neville nodded thoughtfully, “Well I should have known we wouldn’t have had an easy year, not with you around Harry.”

Harry smiled slightly sadly, “Easy isn’t really in my vocabulary Nev, welcome to the Malfoy-watch.”

Draco rolled his eyes, “Why is this all about me?”

Hermione glared at him, “Again Malfoy, you tried to kill Dumbledore.”

“Fuck off Granger!”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Hermione…Hermione…Mione.”

Hermione jolted awake, and initially she thought the person who had been gently shaking her was Harry.

“Harry,” she mumbled, “I’m tired.”

“Then go to bed, where normal people sleep,” the voice said, amusement tinged in it.

Hermione frowned and opened her eyes, she looked up through her bleary eyes at the person standing next to her, it wasn’t Harry, “Oh Neville, I’m sorry I thought you were Harry.”

“I heard,” Neville said with a smile, “Are you okay Hermione? It’s 4am, you’re working yourself to the bone here over…” he glanced at her book and frowned, “What class has an assignment on memory magic?”

Hermione frowned and sat up, wincing as her back ached from the chair she had fallen asleep on in the Gryffindor common room, “It’s not for a class, it’s for…Malfoy.”

Neville sighed and said, “Sit down on the sofa.”

Hermione did, wondering why Neville was being so nice to her when he was clearly annoyed at her friendship, if that was what it was, with Malfoy. He had been back for the whole day now, and still hadn’t told anyone why he was back early. But then again, nobody had wanted to ask either. Neville sat down next to her and gently spun her around.

“What are you doing?” Hermione asked sleepily.

“Just a soothing charm,” Neville said as he cast the charm and Hermione let out a sigh of relief as the pain began to ebb away, “but it will only work for a few hours so you should probably get to bed soon.”

Hermione nodded and turned to look at him, “I’m sorry Neville, for not realising that you had changed this year. I mean we’re friends, and with Ron and I fighting I’ve even been talking to you more than usual-”

“It’s okay Hermione, I’m used to people not noticing me,” Neville said honestly, “But I think that’s going to have to change soon. I don’t think I can handle being in the background anymore, or being the one who always gets left out.”

Hermione frowned, “I never realised how horrible we were to you Neville.”

“No, you were never horrible Hermione, apart from that time when you petrified me,” Neville said with an amused smile, “Ron sometimes seemed to look at me like this pathetic little kid who couldn’t do anything, but you were always nice to me.”

“Is that why you’re worried Neville?” Hermione asked, “Because I can tell you are, about this whole thing with Malfoy.”

“Of course I’m worried, he’s a Death Eater and we’re helping him,” Neville said, “There are so many things that can go wrong there, he could be lying to us, or playing us.”

“I know, but I don’t think he is,” Hermione said sincerely, “You didn’t see him Neville, when I confronted him about the mark. He was so ashamed, and angry and terrified, he was just so scared, it was like looking at a lost little boy.”

Neville met Hermione’s eye, “I know Draco Malfoy better than you think Hermione. He was my first friend, we ran in the same circles as kids. But the moment I was sorted into Gryffindor he never looked at me as a friend again. You see why I don’t think he’s trustworthy?”

Hermione just nodded, “I’m sorry, I never knew that you were friends Neville.”

Neville just shook his head and sighed, “You really trust him, don’t you?”

Hermione nodded again, “I don’t know why but I really do, and the reason I’m doing all of this work is to prove to him that he can trust himself.”

Neville frowned, “What do you mean?”

“He thinks he killed someone,” Hermione admitted quietly, “He thinks he killed a Muggle to become a Death Eater but I just don’t believe it. I think his memory was altered to make him think that he did. For all that he is I can’t believe that he’s a murderer Neville.”

Neville’s eyes seemed darker than normal, he seemed to have grown more serious recently and Hermione hadn’t even noticed. He looked at her and took her by surprise when he placed his hand on top of hers, “What if you do this Hermione, what if you dig into his head for proof the memory has been altered and it hasn’t? What would you do then, if he really had killed a Muggle?”

Hermione had been wrestling with the thought for the past few days, and she couldn’t answer as she looked down at her hands. Neville tightened his grip on her hand, “Would you still help him?”

“No,” Hermione finally managed to say, looking up and catching his eye, “No, I don’t think I could.”

Neville nodded, “Good, because I wouldn’t either. If he’s scared and on our side for the right reasons, and if you and Harry trust him then I’ll do my best to trust him too. But not if he’s a Muggle killer…”

Hermione just gave him a small nod and cleared her throat, “Neville, can I ask you something?”

“My Grandmother is in St. Mungo’s,” Neville said, before Hermione had a chance to ask the question, “That’s why I’m back early.”

Hermione’s eyes widened, “Oh no, is she going to be okay?”

“For the moment, yes, in the long-run I don’t know,” Neville said honestly, “She’s got something wrong with her heart. The two things Healers can’t fix are hearts and brains, they can do all they can but it’s just going to get worse and worse. She had some sort of fit on Christmas day and stopped breathing.”

Hermione nodded and squeezed his hand, “They call it a heart attack in the muggle world. The Healers have probably already told her, but stopping drinking alcohol, and stopping smoking, and lowering how much sugary and fatty foods you eat really help reduce the risk of it happening again.”

“They’ve told her,” Neville said as he stared at their hands, “But she’s stubborn and I doubt she’ll stop what she does because Healers told her to.”

“I’m so sorry Neville, that’s a horrible thing to happen at Christmas,” Hermione said.

Neville just shook his head, and they were silent for a while, the only sound was the crackling fire and the snow gently hitting the windows.

“Where will you go during summer if she’s still in hospital?” Hermione asked.

“I don’t know,” Neville replied honestly, “But she’s all I have left apart from my Uncle.”

Hermione didn’t actually know how Neville’s parents had died, but she had a feeling it had something to do with Voldemort. Neville could clearly tell what she was thinking and said, “My parents aren’t dead Hermione, not really.”

“Oh Neville, it’s really not any of my business,” Hermione said sheepishly.

“I could tell you were thinking about it,” Neville said, “They were tortured to insanity by Bellatrix Lestrange 2 days after Harry’s parents were killed.”

Hermione just wanted to hug Neville, but she wasn’t sure he’d appreciate that, “I’m so sorry Neville, I’m sorry that I didn’t know any of this about you.”

“I’m pretty guarded too Hermione, even if I don’t show it by throwing abuse at you like Malfoy does,” Neville said, and there was no malice in his voice, just tiredness.

Hermione sighed, “Then I can understand why you don’t trust Draco, apart from what you said about how you were once his friend. I mean, Bellatrix is his Aunt.”

Neville only nodded, and Hermione let go of his hand, “I should probably go to bed, before that soothing charm wears off.”

Neville seemed to have been in a daze but her words broke him out of it, he nodded and said, “I think I’ll stay down here a little longer, goodnight Hermione.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Three days before the rest of the school were due to return Hermione used the magic galleons to call a meeting in the Room of Requirement at 9.30pm, after curfew. It wasn’t far for Harry, Hermione and Neville to go, just down one set of stairs, along a corridor and up another set of stairs. Since there were three of them and they couldn’t fit under the cloak together they just weren’t using it, Harry had it tucked in his cloak just in case but they were relying on the Marauders map.

“Filch is on the 5th floor,” Hermione said as she bit her lip, “and Mrs Norris is on the 3rd.”

“Okay so why do you look so nervous?” Harry asked.

Neville who had had a growth spurt over summer looked at the map over Hermione’s shoulder and said, “Snape is patrolling the entrance hall, and if they aren’t careful Malfoy and Greengrass are about to walk right into him.”

“Well we can’t do anything about it from up here,” Harry said, “is our path clear?”

Hermione double-checked the map and nodded, “Yes, the corridors are empty.”

“Then let’s move before they get less empty,” Harry said, and he pushed open the portrait and climbed out of the common room. Hermione and Neville followed, and they were all silent as they walked through the school, keeping an occasional eye on the map. Daphne and Draco seemed to manage to slip past Snape somehow, and Susan had bypassed the entrance hall using a secret passage to the 2nd floor. When they got to the corridor, Harry paced three times and the door appeared.

Once they were inside they realised that the room had changed again. There was a small seating area in one corner, and the rest of the room was a large duelling style room with targets, very similar to how the DA room had looked.

“Did Malfoy and Daphne get past Snape?” Harry asked once they were safely inside.

Hermione nodded and sat down in one of the chairs, “They are halfway up the grand staircase, and Susan is on the 6th floor, she knows a lot of secret passageways.”

Neville laughed, “Susan didn’t need a map to find them, she just snuck around a lot after curfew and explored.”

“I didn’t even realise you were friends,” Hermione smiled.

“Oh yeah, I practically grew up with Susan,” Neville smiled, “We ran in the same pure-blood circles…”

“So you knew Daphne too?” Harry asked curiously.

Neville frowned, “Barely, as kids we bumped into each other but I didn’t recognise her as an adult. Susan does know her really well though, from what I gather she didn’t have a great time of it growing up. Everyone thought her family had been with Voldemort but they had sort of sat on the fence throughout the whole war. She and her little sister got bullied a lot.”

“She has a sister?” Hermione asked in surprise.

“Astoria,” Neville nodded, “She’s in Ginny’s year, and a Slytherin too.”

“I didn’t know that, but she doesn’t talk about herself much,” Hermione said.

“She never really talked much when we were younger either,” Neville admitted, “I think she had a lot going on at home, but I never really knew what, and it’s not my business anyway.”

Harry gave a small nod and looked at the map which was now lying on the table, “Lilly knows the passages too,” he said in amusement.

Hermione frowned, “How do you know?”

“Because when I looked a couple of minutes ago she had just left Ravenclaw tower, and now she has just reappeared in the out of order bathroom across the hall,” Harry said with an impressed grin, “She actually disappeared off the map, that means the passage she was using wasn’t known to the Marauders.”

Hermione chuckled as the door opened and the very person they were talking about walked in looking incredibly laid back in jeans and a baggy top, her hair was thrown up into a loose bun and she was wearing her glasses. She smiled around at them when she walked in, “Good evening all.”

“Please tell me about that secret passage,” Harry said as soon as he saw her, “It’s not even on my map. Where is it? How did you find it?”

Lilly laughed and said, “I found it running away from Filch. At the bottom of Ravenclaw tower there’s a bathroom, and one of the stalls is always out of order, but if you go in and stand on one of the tiles while flushing it, the wall behind opens up. It brings you out behind a mirror in that old bathroom across the way. It only works if you know alohomora mind you, otherwise you wouldn’t be able to get out.”

“You have no idea how impressed I am right now,” Harry said as the door opened once more and Susan walked in. Like Lilly she was dressed quite casually, just wearing jeans and a top with her long red hair pulled into a ponytail.

Lilly laughed again and Susan flung herself onto one of the chairs, “Wow, it’s a long walk up here, even with secret passages.”

“Yes we did notice how many you used,” Hermione said in amusement.

Susan smiled, “Well I got bored in my first few years here,” she glanced around, “So we’re just waiting for Draco and Daphne then? That figures.”

“They do have the furthest to come,” Lilly pointed out, “We’re literally at the opposite end of the school.”

“No we’re not,” Harry snorted, “Trust me this school goes deeper than the dungeons, and Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and the Astronomy towers are all higher than this room.”

“Alright then smart arse,” Lilly said in amusement, “Are you channeling Hermione?”

Harry shot the Ravenclaw an amused look, and then the final members of the party walked in and they were bickering.

“It was clearly your fault! If you didn’t wear so much bloody Muggle hair gel he wouldn’t have been able to sniff you out with that huge nose of his!”

“Hair gel? How about the amount of fucking perfume you wear? I’m pretty sure that’s how he smelled us!”

“Yeah well you didn’t have to start bloody snogging me!”

“What else was I supposed to do? Say sorry Professor we’re on our way to a secret meeting with Harry fucking Potter?”

“You could have thought up a lie, or done anything apart from snog me!”

“Are you two done with your lovers quarrel?” Harry asked in amusement.

“Fuck off Potter,” They both barked at the same time.

Daphne glared at Draco and sat down, “And for the record, I’m also pissed you got me in detention.”

“Well you got me in detention too,” Draco said as he also glared at her.

“And if we get caught again, don’t snog me!” Daphne exclaimed, “We broke up for a reason.”

“Yeah well Grangers a better kisser than you anyway,” Draco bit back.

Hermione couldn’t help but smile slightly as she shoved down her jealousy, “Guys, sorry to break this up. But we’re all here now, and we have some important things to discuss.”

Draco and Daphne tore their glares away from each other to look at Hermione.

“Why are we here Granger?” Daphne asked.

“Well partly to discuss some things before the others get back, but also so that I can see where you all are with your defensive skills,” Harry said honestly, “but we also need to try and get to the bottom of whether or not you’re a murderer Malfoy.”

“I think I can do it,” Hermione said, catching his eye, “I’ve been doing a lot of reading, and it’s very complex but I think I can manage it.”

Draco gave her a small nod.

Harry said, “But I want to check your skills out first, because Hermione’s extraction method could drain her, and possibly knock Malfoy out. So while we’re all fit and healthy let’s do some tests.”

“Knock me out?” Draco asked Hermione asked they walked to the centre of the large open room.

“Maybe, but I’m sure you’ll be okay,” Hermione said with a smile.

Harry then began to speak again and they all fell silent, “Alright so I just want to do some basic checks. First of all, spell-casting. You each have a dummy in front of you, and an ‘X’ on the floor. So can you all stand on the ‘X’ and hit the dummy with Reducto?”

They all got in position and Harry watched from the back of the room. The results were mostly as expected, Hermione hit her dummy in the heart where it left a small hole. Neville was still clearly overcompensating and hit his dummy in the chest a little too powerfully so the whole thing exploded. He winced, but Harry just cocked his head and said, “Hey, it would still do the job!”

Draco used a blasting curse to the head, and it left a bigger hole in the dummy than Hermione had made, but it didn’t blow up like Neville’s had. Lilly was precise, and went for the heart, just like Hermione. Daphne rather vindictively hit the dummy in what would be a sensitive area for a man, but Harry couldn’t deny that it wasn’t creative. Susan’s aim was a little bit off, she had clearly being going for the heart but hit the dummy in the shoulder. 

“Alright, not bad,” Harry called from the back of the room as he waved his wand and restored the dummies to normalcy. The next task he set them was power, he asked them to hit the dummies with a blasting charm to the head, as powerfully as they could. Neville’s turned into a fireball which he had to put out with Aguamenti. Hermione’s wasn’t too powerful, but Harry knew her spellcasting was good enough to make up for the fact that she lacked in power. Daphne and Susan were both remarkably powerful, Susan’s dummy was reduced to ashes and Daphne’s was blasted so far back it dented the wall. Lilly was at about the same level as Hermione, but her spell-casting had been just as good, it was odd to Harry how alike she and Hermione were actually. Draco was powerful, but not as powerful as Harry knew he and Neville were. All the same, like Susan his dummy was reduced to ashes.

Harry had to admit, he was impressed, “Okay, next then. Shield charms.”

They all nodded and he said, “I want you to each put up a shield charm and I’ll see how quickly I can break through them.’

Draco’s shield charm was very powerful, and it took a forceful blasting charm for it to crumble, Harry was impressed as he moved onto Neville who looked slightly nervous.

“Shield charms were never my strong point Harry,” he said.

Harry nodded, “I know, but just focus Neville. The new wand will really help with that, close your eyes and cast it.”

Neville shut his eyes and spoke the incantation, a fairly feeble shield appeared around him.

“Good! You have the basic shield, now focus. Imagine the magic flowing from your core down your arm, into your wand and out into that shield charm,” Harry said.

Neville was silent, but Harry saw that his shield was gradually growing stronger and stronger and he grinned proudly, “That’s great Neville!”

Neville grinned when he opened his eyes and saw the shield. Harry broke it down fairly easily, using a combination of stupefy and blasting charms, “It does need work,” he said honestly before he moved on, “But it’s great progress for one night.”

Daphne’s shield was as strong as Harry expected having seeing her power earlier. It was about the same strength as Draco’s, and took the same amount of effort to knock down. Hermione’s was also strong, despite the fact she hadn’t had much power earlier. However, Harry knew that Hermione’s focus was on defensive spells rather than offensive spells. Hers proved the hardest yet to take down, but he eventually got there. 

Lilly’s shield was one of the weaker ones, about the same standard as Neville’s and it broke down after about 6 stupefy charms were cast at it, she wrinkled her nose up irritably, and Harry said, “Don’t worry about it, shield charms are easy to work on. I’d rather you struggled with that than something a lot harder to fix. We’ll work at it.”

Lilly smiled and said, “Thanks Harry.”

Harry moved on to the final person, Susan, who had been the most powerful of the girls earlier. He had expected a difficult shield to break, and that was exactly what he got. Her shield was the most powerful, and defence was certainly her strong point. It took Harry almost 10 minutes of constant bombardment to break it down.

“Well done everyone,” Harry said cheerfully when he had finished, “Obviously it isn’t as easy in battle because you are casting spells as well as trying to protect yourself. But that’s great progress, and although some of you need work that won’t be a problem, and we should have enough time.”

They all nodded, they were taking this whole thing seriously. Even Draco was listening intently to Harry, but then again he was scared for his life and would probably do anything to make sure it wasn’t ripped from him by Voldemort.

“I have a few more things I want to check,” Harry said, “One of them is pretty brutal, but it can’t be avoided. In 4th year, Professor Moody practiced the Imperius curse on the Gryffindor-Slytherin class. Did he do the same to the Ravenclaw-Hufflepuff class?”

Susan and Lilly simply nodded, and so Harry continued, “I need honest answers about how well you coped with it. We can’t risk it being used on us, we have to become resistant and trust me it hurts like hell but it’s possible to fight it. I can fight it particularly well, and I remember Hermione being able to fight it a little bit.”

Hermione nodded, “I wasn’t great, but I think with practice I could resist it.”

Neville’s cheeks flushed and Harry smiled as he remembered Neville’s feat of gymnastics in 4th year. His fellow Gryffindor shook his head, “I really struggled to resist it.”

Draco gave a nod, “I can resist it fairly well most of the time. It depends on how powerful the spell-caster is however.

Daphne also nodded, a haunted look in her eyes as she said, “Yeah, I’d say I’m pretty much resistant to it as well.”

Harry tore his eyes away from the two Slytherins, wondering what horrors they had gone through in the past. He looked to Lilly and Susan who both seemed sheepish.

“I’m terrible,” Susan admitted, “I couldn’t fight it at all. He made me do Irish dancing in the middle of the room.”

Lilly gave her a sympathetic smile, “I don’t think I’m great either.”

“No, you fought it,” Susan remembered, “He asked you to do a headstand, and you ended up falling over halfway up because you fought it.”

“I’d say that makes you pretty good,” Harry said sounding mildly impressed as he wrote something down in his parchment notebook. His eyes darkened when he looked up again, “And now for the harder question, have any of you got any idea whether you can withstand the cruciatus curse without giving information away?”

Neville couldn’t look up at Harry as he said, “I’m sure I’d crumble quickly.”

Lilly nodded, “Me too, I don’t have a high pain threshold at the best of times anyway.”

Hermione bit her lip, “I’m not sure how long I’d be able to hold out for, but I don’t think I would tell the person straight away.”

Susan was frowning as she said, “I agree with Hermione, my pain threshold is pretty high but the cruciatus curse…” she trailed off.

Harry nodded, “Well it’s a hard thing to do. It feels like your body is being ripped apart. Now I’m fairly confident I could withhold information but like Malfoy said about the imperius curse, it all depends on how powerful the caster is,” he turned his gaze to the two Slytherins, awaiting answers from them.

“I think I can withstand it for a fair amount of time,” Daphne said, “I’ve had it used on me a few times, and I know it depends on the strength of the caster, but I think I could handle it and protect the information.”

Draco nodded, a dark look in his eyes, “I can withstand it pretty well. I would eventually give the information, but that would take weeks.”

Harry frowned, “How have either of you been in a situation where you’ve had it used on you?”

“How do you think we got punished as children, Potter?” Draco asked coldly.

“Pure-blood children in old families like ours don’t get grounded, or a small smack when they do something wrong,” Daphne said coolly.

“That’s disgusting!” Hermione exclaimed, “How is that not against the law?”

Susan shrugged, “It is, but do you think that matters to people like Lucius Malfoy? Have you seen how backwards our world is?”

Harry shook his head angrily, “I get how it happens in the muggle world, we hide the bruises and we’re too scared to talk so nobody knows. But how the hell do people get away with it in the wizarding world when the cruciatus curse does so much more damage than someone’s hand?”

“Because we hide it and we’re too scared to talk about it,” Daphne said simply, “Just like in the muggle world.”

“Some of the pure-blood families, the more ancient ones,” Susan said, “They don’t think their children respect them unless they fear them.”

“That is fucking ridiculous,” Neville muttered under his breath.

“It is, but it’s the same in the muggle world,” Harry said, “They do it to get respect,” he cleared his throat, “But time is racing and we need to check some other things. I want you all to try and produce a patronus.”

They could tell the subject needed to be changed so they did as Harry said. Hermione’s patronus was perfect, an otter as it always had been. Harry for the fun of it sent his stag patronus charging at Draco who cursed loudly and jumped very high into the air. Susan had been able to conjure a patronus in 5th year, and she still could, her badger patronus was as good as it had been the previous year. Neville hadn’t been able to create a fully corporeal patronus before, and Harry watched him carefully to see if he could create one now. Harry knew it was hard when you didn’t have happy memories, and he had always held onto that thought, or memory of him and his family which still worked. His happy memories of Sirius were tinged with the sadness of losing him so they never worked these days.

Harry couldn’t believe his eyes as Neville’s patronus took form, it was a large bear and Neville himself seemed stunned that he had produced it. From beside him Hermione grinned and hugged Neville, “Well done Neville!” she exclaimed.

Neville grinned, “I actually did it!”

Harry grinned at his friend, “What changed Nev?”

“I finally found a happy enough memory,” Neville said honestly as he looked incredibly proud of himself, “The ministry last year, I know it sounds stupid but I proved myself and I felt part of something for the first time.”

“It doesn’t sound stupid,” Harry said honestly, “My happy memory isn’t even a memory, or at least I don’t know if it is. It might not even be real, it’s just me and my parents, together as a family.”

Neville smiled sympathetically at Harry as he patted him on the back and moved away to watch the others. Harry had never seen Daphne, Lilly or Draco produce a patronus so he didn’t know if they could. He watched Lilly, and it took a few attempts but eventually an animal emerged from her wand and she grinned happily as it did, her owl patronus flew around her then disappeared and Harry gave her a smile of encouragement.

When he turned to Draco and Daphne they were both struggling, so he frowned and walked over to them, “What are you struggling with?”

Draco glared at the Gryffindor, “There’s a slight flaw in this charm Potter, it requires a happy memory.”

“You must have at least one happy memory,” Harry said, surely everyone had at least one happy memory.

Daphne frowned, “Hang on a minute…I think I might have one that works.”

Harry nodded, “Just close your eyes and concentrate on that memory, and the feeling of happiness then cast the charm.”

Daphne shut her eyes, and the corners of her mouth turned up very slightly, when she opened her eyes and cast the charm her patronus took form. Harry couldn’t help but snigger very slightly when he saw that it was a raccoon.

She grinned at the patronus as it ran around then vanished, “That’s amazing! Thanks Pot- why are you smirking?”

“It’s just appropriate,” Harry said in amusement, “Your patronus being a raccoon. I mean they look quite cute and cuddly but they’re actually bloody vicious.”

Daphne rolled her eyes good naturedly, “Fuck off Potter.”

Harry laughed as he turned to Draco, “Come on Malfoy, what are your happy memories?”

“I told you Potter, I have none,” Draco said angrily, “So this charm just won’t work for me. Now can we concentrate on getting this fake memory out of my head, if it is fake?”

Harry nodded and called the others all back over to the seating area, with a slight smirk Harry said, “Well I think we established from that session that I’m the most skilled, and powerful here.”

“Really Harry?” Hermione asked with a raised eyebrow, “Shall I start calling you James?”

“Who’s James?” Lilly asked with a frown.

“Harry’s Father, who was arrogant and cocky, just like Harry is being now,” Hermione said pointedly.

Harry scoffed, “Hermione, you can’t call my Father arrogant and cocky. You didn’t even know him!”

“But I did, and he was arrogant and cocky.”

In seconds everyone had turned to the voice and had their wands trained on the man standing behind them, everyone but Harry that was. He had recognised the voice before he even turned to look at the man in his old ragged robes.

TBC :)


	13. The Last Marauder

PREVIOUSLY

Harry scoffed, “Hermione, you can’t call my Father arrogant and cocky. You didn’t even know him!”

“But I did, and he was arrogant and cocky.”

In seconds everyone had turned to the voice and had their wands trained on the man standing behind them, everyone but Harry that was. He had recognised the voice before he even turned to look at the man in his old ragged robes.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Remus, what the hell are you doing here?” Harry asked in disbelief.

“Making sure you aren’t doing anything stupid,” Remus said with a pointed look at Harry.

Harry was annoyed, but he said to the others, “You can drop your wands, he’s my…Godfather, of sorts.”

“I was never your Godfather, Sirius was,” Remus said sincerely.

“Yeah well Sirius is dead so you’re the best I have,” Harry said darkly.

“You can’t be here,” Susan said fearfully, “you’re a werewolf!”

Lilly rolled her eyes, “And the full moon is at the end of the month. What’s he going to do, bite your head off with his human teeth?”

Remus smiled very slightly, “Thank you Miss. Moon.”

Lilly smiled and Harry narrowed his eyes at the man he thought he could trust, “How did you find us here?”

Remus held up a map, and Harry gaped. Remus smiled and said, “You didn’t think your copy of the map was the only one, did you? We each had one during our Hogwarts years, your map is Peter’s, it was confiscated in our 7th year. James’s is in your vault in Gringotts and this is Sirius’s, I lost mine while we were at school. I found this in Sirius’s bedroom after he…well you know when.”

“So you’ve been spying on me?” Harry asked angrily.

“I’ve merely been occasionally glancing at the map to check that you were okay,” Remus said, “You may have noticed that the order have had people following you.”

“Yes, I did notice that. I spoke to Tonks after he broke my nose,” Harry said, glancing irritably at Draco.

Remus gave a small nod, “Naturally when I saw you meeting up with people I knew you were not friends with, like Draco Malfoy, I grew worried. So I followed you here, and I have been standing in the corner since you got here.”

Harry was still pissed off at being followed and spied on, “If you followed us why didn’t I see you on the map?”

“Because I helped invent the map Harry, I know a charm that makes me invisible on it. I knew you would be looking at it,” Remus said simply as he sat down at the end of the table and surveyed the teenagers, “Now, would you mind telling me what this motley crew of yours is up to?”

“I would mind since I don’t know if I can trust you,” Harry said angrily, “You did follow me, and you have been spying on me after all!”

Remus did look genuinely hurt, “Harry, you said it yourself, I’m like a Godfather to you. I am only doing what Sirius wanted, we modified this map together so that we could keep an eye on you. He asked me before he died if I could look out for you.”

Harry shared a glance with Hermione who gave a small nod. He sighed and said, “Do you know that Dumbledore is dying?”

“No, but that news doesn’t surprise me,” Remus said honestly, “His blackened hand should have been healable by magic if it wasn’t cursed.”

“Well that’s kind of how we figured it out Professor,” Daphne spoke up, “That and because of Draco.”

Remus smiled slightly, “Please call me Remus, I am no longer your Professor,” he turned back to Harry, “So you know Dumbledore is dying, what more is there to this?”

“Well Malfoy is supposed to kill him,” Harry said, “He’s a Death Eater and he’s on a mission from Voldemort to kill Dumbledore. He doesn’t want to do it, but if he fails then Voldemort will kill him and his family.”

Remus sighed, “Of course, to punish Lucius for being foolish enough to get caught.”

Draco nodded glumly.

“But Snape is in on it too,” Harry said, “And don’t say what you always say! I don’t care that Dumbledore trusts Snape, he tried to erase Malfoy’s memories, and he knows about Malfoy’s mission. He’s even made an Unbreakable vow with Malfoy’s Mother to protect him!”

“And we think that must mean that if Malfoy fails to kill Dumbledore then Snape will, right? To protect him,” Hermione said, searching Remus for answers.

“That is likely,” Remus said, “However I do think Dumbledore’s trust in Snape is worth a lot.”

“Well that’s part of the reason for this motley crew,” Daphne said darkly, “We don’t trust Dumbledore.”

Remus opened his mouth to protest against this, but Neville was faster, “And we have a right to not trust him. If you were friends with Harry’s parents then you must know that my parents were Harry’s secondary Godparents, if anything happened to his first set.”

Remus nodded.

Neville continued, “So how did Harry end up going to live with muggles? He should have gone to my parents, they didn’t…the Death Eaters didn’t get to them until 2 days after Harry’s parents died.”

“I’m sure Dumbledore simply knew there was a danger of that happening and sent Harry to the muggle world,” Remus said calmly.

Harry was stunned, but decided to ask Neville about this new fact later. For the moment he said, “And this year it is obvious that Snape and McGonagall are in on whatever Dumbledore is doing. Why would he be happy to let a 16 year old ruin his life just because he was dying anyway? He’s giving me all these cryptic clues about Voldemort, but nothing solid. I don’t know that I can trust him anymore.”

Remus sighed, “Dumbledore is a very complex man with-”

“He’s a manipulative git who makes himself look good through all of the things he does for muggles and muggle-borns,” Daphne said darkly, “and certainly not the hero everyone makes him out to be.”

Harry gave a small nod, “Look Remus, we can’t change anything. Malfoy still has to act like he’s going to kill Dumbledore, because if Voldemort catches any glimpse of doubt then he’ll kill him and his family. All we can do is monitor the situation, and that’s why we keep meeting up.”

“And how can you be certain you trust him?” Remus asked.

“We can’t be,” Hermione said, “We think Malfoy might have an altered memory of himself killing a muggle to become a Death Eater. We’re trying to get to the real memory, if that one is fake. But it’s very complex magic.”

“Yes, I know that it is very complex magic, and it’s certainly not the kind of magic a 17 year old girl should be doing,” Remus said, concern in his voice, “I however, do know the charm.”

“I don’t trust you,” Draco said quietly.

“Why don’t you trust me?” Remus asked calmly.

“Because my Aunt killed your best friend, Potter’s Godfather,” Draco said with a frown, “How do I know you’re not just using this as a way to destroy my mind?”

Remus smiled very slightly, “Yes, that is true. Your Aunt did kill my best friend. However another of your Aunts is a friend of mine.”

Draco frowned, “My Aunt Andromeda?”

Remus nodded.

“But she was disowned, I don’t even know her-”

“Exactly, she was disowned for being on the right side, my side,” Remus said with a smile, “and I watched you in class while I was a teacher here Draco. You were a bully, but you were nothing like your Father was at school. He wanted to cause pain, and hurt people, you are not that person and I personally will not stand back and allow a 16 year old boy to believe he is a murderer when that may be a lie.”

Hermione smiled at Draco, “And Harry trusts him, and I trust Harry, and you trust me. So it will all be fine.”

“What makes you think I trust you, Granger?” Draco asked coolly.

“Draco,” Hermione said gently, her hand brushing over his.

He sighed, and Harry and Neville shared an irritated look. 

“Fine, you can do it.”

Remus smiled slightly at the exchange and ushered Draco over to him. He asked for silence and did something similar to what Hermione had done to Snape. The silver strand of the memory was pulled from Draco and he scrunched his face up at the uncomfortable feeling that it created. When it was removed he gasped, and Remus watched him carefully, “I removed the memory, which was indeed fake. The real memory should now be clear.”

Draco’s eyes were wide, and he sat down at the edge of the seating area and gripped the edge of his chair with white knuckles. Hermione was worried as she rushed over to him and grabbed his hand, “Draco, are you okay?” she asked anxiously.

“I’m fine,” Draco said unconvincingly.

Hermione frowned, “Do you have the real memory?”

Draco nodded and caught her eye, and the fear and hurt in his eyes made her stomach flip, “I can’t Granger…I can’t with everyone…”

Hermione’s grip on his hand tightened, “Come on over here and tell me then,” she said gently. The others eyes were on them, watching them as they crossed the room. Draco sat down against the wall and Hermione knelt on the floor opposite of him.

“Did you do it Draco?” Hermione asked, her hands sweating.

Draco shook his head, but didn’t speak.

“Then who did?” Hermione asked quietly.

“My Mother,” Draco practically whispered, “She did it so that I didn’t have to…”

Hermione winced in pain, she wasn’t sure if he was aware he was doing it but he had tightened his grip on her hand again, “Did she say that?”

Draco nodded, staring at a blank spot in the distance, “She said she was going to change my memory for my safety, and that she would tell me the truth after the war.”

Hermione sighed, “She was protecting you then, like you’re trying to protect me.”

Draco gave a stiff nod and let go of Hermione’s hand, the moment was over and his steely façade was back up, “You had better inform the others.”

Knowing it was pointless to try and get anything more out of him Hermione nodded and got to her feet, walking over to the silent table.

“His Mother did it,” Hermione said, and Remus nodded, ‘I saw the real memory,’ he said.

“As horrible as that must be for him, I’m glad to know our trust in him wasn’t misplaced,” Harry said with a sigh of relief, “and if I’m honest, I’m glad that he didn’t do it. I’m almost starting to like him.”

‘I’m glad he didn’t do it too,’ Hermione said with a worried glance at the Slytherin whose head was now in his hands.

‘What now?’ Susan asked, looking around at them all.

“Now we know that Draco’s trustworthy we can get cracking on with the DA,” Lilly said happily.

“Where do you stand in this Remus?” Harry asked carefully, “Because we’re keeping this from the Order, and from Dumbledore for a reason. So are you going to run back and tell them and him about this?”

“Harry, I hope you know that my loyalty is with you before anyone else,” Remus said honestly, “but if you are going to do this you have to be more careful. It is not difficult to see that you have been spending your time together in the same common room or for the last few days Susan has been constantly with Draco. The teachers here have keen eyes and are very perceptive.”

“Fair point,” Harry sighed, “I suppose we have been a little reckless over Christmas. But it’s all going to change once everyone is back.”

“Just bear in mind that you are not trying to hide this from the students, you are trying to hide it from the teachers. Half of them are in the Order and will happily run to Dumbledore with the slightest amount of information,” Remus said firmly.

“Yeah well like I said, I think Dumbledore knows what Malfoy’s planning on doing anyway,” Harry said.

“Then why, may I ask, are you so concerned to keep it from him? As you said, you are not planning to try and change anything, just let events play out as they are supposed to,” Remus said suspiciously.

“And train the DA, so that if this blows up into a war, they’ll be ready to defend themselves,” Harry said pointedly.

“So why are you keeping this from Dumbledore and the Order?” Remus asked again.

“Because it wouldn’t make any difference,” Harry said simply, “Dumbledore would just pat me on the head and smile and tell me it was all under control. You know that, Remus. It wouldn’t change anything, for whatever reason he wants Malfoy or Snape to kill him. I’ll never work that reason out and he’ll never tell me.”

“When did you become so serious, Harry?” Remus asked sadly.

“I’m not Sirius,” Harry joked, “I’m his Godson, Harry.”

Remus chuckled, “That joke is 30 years old, and yet it still makes me chuckle. Well, your secret is safe with me. But do not do anything stupid, or I will know,” he tapped the map with a smile and left the room.

“Why didn’t you tell him about the vanishing cabinet and the Death Eaters?” Lilly asked.

“Because I didn’t want to lay all my cards on the table in one go,” Harry replied.

“But you trust him, don’t you?” Susan asked.

“Frankly, I don’t think I trust anyone apart from the people in this room right now,” Harry said honestly, “Even Malfoy.”

From the other side of the room Malfoy stuck up his middle finger and Harry chuckled, “Meeting adjourned,” he said as he got to his feet.

“Harry,” Lilly said as Susan and Daphne left together, “Can you walk me to Ravenclaw tower? I’ll show you that passage I was telling you about.”

Harry looked quite excited as he left the room with Lilly, leaving just Hermione and Neville standing at the seating area.

“I’m going to stay a while, and see if Draco is alright,” Hermione said to Neville.

“Why does he trusts you so much?” Neville asked.

“Because I don’t judge him,” Hermione said honestly, “I insult him, and call him an arse when he deserves it. But I never judge him, even now he has that mark…I still won’t view him as one of them.”

Neville smiled at her, and Hermione frowned, “What is it?” she asked.

“You just always see the best in people,” Neville said fondly, “I admire that about you.”

Hermione smiled, “Well it’s a curse sometimes.”

Neville chuckled, “I’ll leave you to it. I hope he’s alright, it must be pretty tough finding out what he just did.”

Hermione nodded, a sad look on her face, “Yeah, it must be. I’ll see you later Neville.”

“See you Hermione,” Neville said, leaving the room.

Hermione glanced over at Draco, and sighed. And then there were two.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“This is the coolest thing I have ever seen!” Harry said as Lilly showed him the entrance to the passage behind the mirror. 

Lilly laughed, “I can’t believe you’ve never found it before.”

“Well I’ve never really been to the 5th floor,” Harry admitted, “I’ve never been to Ravenclaw tower, and there’s nothing else there. Oh no… I went to the Prefects bathroom once.”

“But you weren’t ever a Prefect,” Lilly frowned.

“Oh I know, Cedric told me the password,” Harry said offhandedly as they slipped into the passage.

Lilly raised an eyebrow at him, “Oh my God, the rumours about you and Cedric were true?”

Harry looked horrified, “There were rumours about me and Cedric? Merlin! I didn’t go with him, he gave me the password so I could figure out the clue to the second task of the tournament, it involved putting an egg underwater.”

Lilly sniggered, “Well, let’s put it this way. Some people, thought you and Cedric were closer than you appeared.”

“Please tell me you weren’t one of those people,” Harry said.

“Well I didn’t know you then,” Lilly said sheepishly.

“Oh Merlin. Did you think I was gay?” Harry asked in disbelief.

“I did wonder,” Lilly said, shooting a smirk his way, “But don’t worry you’ve proven me wrong now.”

Harry actually blushed a little so he looked at the passage they were in to stop himself digging his hole deeper, “This is quite a small passage.”

“Yeah, it’s probably one of the older ones,” Lilly said, “Why? Are you claustrophobic?”

“No, not with tunnels, I don’t particularly like cupboards but that’s another story,” Harry said distantly.

Lilly frowned and stopped in front of him, which effectively meant he couldn’t get anywhere without pushing past her, “I want to ask you something, earlier when you were talking about abuse in the muggle world…you didn’t say ‘they’ you said ‘we’.”

“Did I? It must have been a slip of the tongue.”

Lilly shook her head, “I’m not going to fall for that, just because other people believe your lies and bullshit and fall around at your feet doesn’t mean I will.”

Harry sighed, “I don’t talk about it Lilly, to anyone. Not even Ron or Hermione know anything about it.”

“Well I’m not Ron and Hermione,” Lilly said, “I’m Lilly, and my muggle parents were pieces of shit. My Mum was a heroin addict and my Dad was a deadbeat asshole. They never wanted a kid, so they pretended they didn’t have one. And when I did come out of the woodwork and they were high or drunk they would push me around and my accidental magic would explode, and they would convince themselves they were hallucinating. So I think you can trust me to understand how shit it is growing up like that.”

Harry was shocked at her words, “Lilly, I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”

“Yeah, well I don’t tend to shout about it,” Lilly said, “But I trust you, and earlier you said you trusted me. So what’s the deal with your Muggle family?”

Harry sighed and sat down in the passage, Lilly sat down across from him in the small space and waited for him to talk.

“My Aunt and Uncle hated magic,” Harry said, “My Aunt hated it because my Mum was a witch and she wasn’t so she was always jealous. And My Uncle just hated anything that he couldn’t understand, they never wanted me either. Dumbledore left me on their doorstep with a letter, and they were forced to take me in. They had their own kid, and they hated me, I was never allowed to ask questions about my parents without getting smacked for it. I…”

When Lilly saw Harry was struggling she switched sides to sit next to him, and she took his hand. 

“I was basically treated like a house elf,” Harry said, “I cooked for them, cleaned for them, mowed the grass. I did everything, and they pretended I didn’t exist. There was a spare room, but it was my cousins extra room for all of his toys, so I slept in the cupboard under the stairs and sometimes my Uncle locked me in there for days without food.”

“My parents used to shut me in the cupboard if I misbehaved,” Lilly said, staring at the opposite wall, “And sometimes they would forget they locked me in there, or pass out and I’d be stuck in there for days.”

Harry squeezed her hand gently.

“So when you say house elf,” Lilly said, turning to look at him, “Did they also hit you when you ‘disobeyed’ them?”

Harry looked away from her and was quiet for a while, “I mostly got ‘accidental’ injuries. My cousin would ‘accidentally’ push the hot frying pan into me when he ran past. He beat me up a lot too, even at school and the teachers never did anything about it. My Aunt never touched me, but my Uncle…he thought he could beat and the magic out of me…so that I would be normal.”

“That’s horrible,” Lilly said quietly, “But they just don’t understand. They call us freaks, and weirdos and the more they do it the more scared we get and the more we can’t control it.”

Harry nodded, still looking distant, “The worst thing that they ever did to me was nothing physical though, they started off refusing to tell me about my parents and there were never any pictures of my parents in the house. But I asked so many questions they had to start answering them eventually. So by the time I got to Hogwarts I thought my parents were drunken delinquents who had been so stupid that they had gotten drunk and died in a car crash.”

“Well at least you found out that they weren’t,” Lilly said gently, “At least you found out in the end that they were heroes. I can’t change mine, they really are useless people like that.”

“I’m sorry Lilly, I didn’t mean it like that,” Harry said.

Lilly shook her head, “Don’t worry about it, I haven’t seen them in a while. Since the summer after 3rd year I’ve been staying at a youth hostel with the money I managed to steal from them before I left. Although that’s gone now, so I’ll have to get a job next summer.”

“I can lend you money, I’ve got too much of it anyway,” Harry said.

“I don’t want charity Harry,” Lilly sighed.

“It’s not charity, it’s a job,” Harry said, “When is your birthday?”

“April 16th,” Lilly replied with a frown.

“So you’ll be 17 for summer, and I don’t turn 17 until the end of July. You won’t have the trace on you and you’ll be able to use magic,” Harry pointed out, “That’s going to be incredibly useful for me. You can stay in a hostel in Surrey, and be my bodyguard.”

Lilly raised an eyebrow at him, “I can’t tell if you’re serious right now.”

“I’m not Sirius, he was my Godfather,” Harry said with a slight smile.

Lilly shook her head in amusement, “Really though? Are you actually suggesting this?”

“I’m 100% serious,” Harry said seriously.

Lilly laughed and said, “Okay, if everything turns out okay at the end of this school year I will take you up on that offer. But, I will work my way through and you only give me money if I absolutely need it. Deal?”

“Deal,” Harry said and he held out his hand to her, “Shall we seal it?”

Lilly smiled devilishly and leaned into him, kissing him gently on the lips, “I know a much more fun way to seal a deal,” she whispered.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“He has the hots for you.”

“What?” Hermione asked sharply.

“Longbottom,” Draco said as he looked up at her, “He has the hots for you.”

Hermione scoffed, “No he doesn’t.”

“Uh, he really does,” Draco said as he pushed himself to his feet, “Haven’t you noticed he keeps trying to get your attention and looking at you with big puppy eyes.” 

Hermione noticed Draco roll his eyes at that last part, and she smiled a little, “Neville’s a lovely guy, but I just don’t see him that way. He’s a bit too…goody goody. I don’t want to date someone who’s just a male version of me.”

Draco snorted, “What you are in fact saying Granger, is that you like bad boys. Who do you have posters of in your bedroom, hmm?”

Hermione’s cheeks flushed, “I don’t have posters of anyone in my-”

“You’re a terrible liar, come on tell me. I won’t know who any of them are anyway, they’ll all be bloody muggles,” Draco said from where he was now leaning against the wall by the door.

Hermione shook her head in exasperation, “Fine, but like you said you won’t know any of their names. Liam Gallagher, Tom Cruise, Robbie Williams, Bryan Adams…”

Draco shook his head in amusement, and Hermione frowned, “What?”

“Well I’ve only heard of two of them,” Draco said, “but I happen to know Liam was the bad boy of the Gallagher brothers, and Robbie was the bad boy in Take That.”

“Do you have any idea how gay you sound right now?” Hermione asked in amusement, “and how do you know that, exactly?”

“Lilly,” Draco said in amusement, “She talked about Muggle music a lot. She was always on about these two bands she loved, Blur and Boyzone. She insulted the, and I quote, ‘drug-taking, alcoholic, arsehole Liam Gallagher’ and Robbie Williams in these other rival bands.”

Hermione shook her head, “She’s a Blur and Boyzone fan? Ugh, she has no taste. Take That were so much better than Boyzone until they split up. My Mum wrote to tell me because I was here, I swear I have never been that upset by people I don’t know.”

Draco shook his head in amusement, and Hermione continued, “And Blur are so one dimensional! Oasis songs have so much more depth and emotion!”

“I sense a deep-seated rivalry over this in the muggle world,” Draco commented.

Hermione nodded, “I may have to re-evaluate my friendship with Lilly,” she joked.

Draco laughed, and Hermione smiled, “Are you going to be okay, Draco?”

“I’ll be fine eventually,” Draco said, “But my Mother has killed someone for me, it’s not exactly going to be easy to live with the guilt.”

Hermione crossed the room to him, “I understand that, but you must have a slight burden taken away because you know you aren’t a murderer.”

“And you know I’m not a murderer,” Draco said.

“I never thought you were,” Hermione said, holding his gaze unwaveringly.

Draco smiled, “You really are an amazing person, Granger.”

Hermione smiled back, and then Draco closed the gap between them and kissed her. It was different from the last time, it wasn’t wet for a start. It wasn’t fast, hard, rough or angry either. It was softer and slower, but there was still that sense of urgency that seemed to come with Draco’s kisses. Hermione’s hands went to his hair, and his to hers, and she deepened the kiss. The girls really weren’t joking about him being a fantastic kisser.

Draco pulled away abruptly, and Hermione frowned as she saw panic in his eyes.

“I…no, Granger, we can’t,” Draco said quickly.

Before Hermione had time to stop him Draco had grabbed the handle of the door and pulled it open. He rushed from the room, and left Hermione standing alone in it. She actually growled in frustration and tried not to hit her head off of the wall. He had done it again!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When Hermione stormed into the common room she was greeted by Neville.

“Uh, so I guess it didn’t go well with Malfoy then.”

“Ugh!” Hermione groaned, throwing herself onto the sofa.

“Is he okay? Did he blow up on you?” Neville asked anxiously.

“He’s fine,” Hermione said irritably, “He’s just a dickhead. Where the hell is Harry?”

“He’s not back yet,” Neville said in amusement, “It really doesn’t take this long to walk to Ravenclaw and back though.”

Hermione frowned and looked at the map which she still had, Harry had left in too much of a rush to get it from her, “They aren’t on the map.”

“Where are they then?” Neville asked, sounding worried.

“Probably just in the passage from the ROR to Ravenclaw,” Hermione said.

“Shouldn’t we go and check it out?” Neville asked, “They might be in trouble.”

Hermione smiled and said, “I don’t think Harry needs rescuing from Lilly’s clutches Neville.”

Neville’s cheeks flushed as he muttered, “Right, I didn’t realise Harry and Lilly were…”

Hermione shook her head, “I don’t know what they are apart from complicated. I don’t know what Draco and I are apart from fucked up. Does anyone in our friendship group have a normal relationship?”

“Well Ron’s dating Lavender,” Neville said.

Hermione scoffed, “I said normal Neville, not a guy dating a human octopus.”

“Are you jealous, Hermione?” Neville asked.

Hermione shook her head, “No, I couldn’t care less what he does anymore. He’s a clueless prick.”

“And Draco Malfoy is a dickhead,” Neville said, “Do you like any guys at the moment?”

Hermione cringed slightly, “Oh Neville, I’m really flattered but I like Draco-”

“No, no,” Neville said quickly, “I wasn’t implying I liked you. Don’t get me wrong, I had a crush on you for years but not anymore. No offence, but you’re just a bit…uptight.”

Hermione laughed out loud, “Bloody hell Neville, I’m relieved you don’t like me in that way. But you should have been here over Christmas break if you think I’m uptight. Just mention that to Susan and see what she tells you.”

Neville raised an eyebrow at her, “Maybe I will. Give me a hint?”

“I ended up waking up in bed with Susan one morning, and with Harry another,” Hermione said in amusement, “and we had a couple of fun parties too.”

“Waking up with Susan as in…” Neville trailed off.

“No,” Hermione said through her laughter, “We just sort of crashed.”

“Ah, good,” Neville said, “Because Susan is single at the moment,” he said with a small smirk.

Hermione was surprised, “Neville!”

“What? Everyone else is getting a social life, I intend to do the same,” Neville said.

“No, go for it, I was just surprised,” Hermione said with a smile as she looked down at the map and saw that Harry had appeared on it. Lilly was now in the Ravenclaw common room, and Harry in the bathroom on the 5th floor. He disappeared again, and Hermione knew he was on his way back up.

“Well I’m glad you’re behind me,” Neville said, “We don’t know whats going to happen in this war. I just want to live a little.”

“I don’t blame you,” Hermione said, “Harry feels the same way. He doesn’t want to die and know he’s never really lived.”

“It’s a burden 16 and 17 year olds really shouldn’t have to cope with,” Neville admitted.

“That’s true,” Hermione said, “but it is something we have to cope with. We know it’s going to happen, and all we can do is prepare ourselves for when it does.”

“But even though we imagine it being a horrible war, it will always be worse,” Neville said darkly, “We hope the people we love won’t die but statistically some of them will, and the world will never be the same again whatever the outcome.”

“Yes, but all we can do is try our best to protect the people that we love, and make sure the damage isn’t too bad,” Hermione said with a sad sort of smile as the portrait hole opened and Harry climbed in.

“Evening all,” he said happily.

“Good make-out session with Lilly?” Hermione asked coolly.

“What is your big deal with that?” Harry asked, with a glare at her.

“Well you told her that it meant nothing when you kissed her at Christmas, but you’ve just gone and done it again, and you have no intentions to date her in case she gets caught up in your ‘Voldemort shit’ so you’re giving her false hope!” Hermione said angrily.

“Actually, I just arranged for her to get caught up in my Voldemort shit this summer,” Harry bit back, “She’s not a pathetic little girl, she’s had a hard life and she’s tough. I think she can handle it.”

“So what you’re together now?” Hermione asked in disbelief.

“I don’t know Hermione, it’s complicated. But then you’d know all about that so you can’t talk,” Harry said irritably.

Hermione glared at him, “And what is she doing this summer?”

“She’s staying in a youth hostel in Surrey, she won’t have the trace on her so she’ll be able to help me out by using magic,” Harry said, still glaring at his best friend, “And why the hell are you so pissy all of a sudden anyway? Did you not get any from Malfoy?”

Hermione went to slap him, but he grabbed her hand and held it in the air.

“The stupid prick kissed me again, alright?” Hermione practically shouted, pulling her hand out of Harry’s grasp and throwing a stray newspaper in the fire, “And then he ran away, again!”

“Well if you went for him like that, I wouldn’t blame him,” Harry retorted.

“He kissed me!” Hermione exclaimed, “Like the last time, he always kisses me then runs away and it’s really fucking annoying!”

“Why didn’t you tell me this when you came storming in earlier?” Neville asked curiously.

“Because I didn’t want to have to tell the story twice,” Hermione said irritably, “I just don’t understand him! One minute he’s being almost cute and saying nice things and then the next he’s calling me a mudblood and kissing me then running away!”

Harry sighed, “Come on, cut him some slack. It’s not every day you find out what he just did. His Mum killed someone so he didn’t have to, he’s going to have that on his conscious. She ruined her soul to save his.”

“I think she ruined her soul when she married Lucius Malfoy,” Neville pointed out.

Harry groaned, “I feel sorry for him. I kind of know how he feels, my Mum sacrificed her life to save mine. It’s a horrible burden to bear, trust me.”

Hermione sighed, “You’re right Harry, I know you are. But I just wish I knew where I stood with him. He infuriates me.”

Harry smiled, “But you like it that way Hermione. If it were normal and complacent you’d be bored.”

“He has a point, admit it,” Neville said in amusement.

Hermione looked sheepish as she said, “Well yeah, okay. I do kind of like it.”

Harry smiled and patted her on the shoulder, “So give him some slack. He’s been telling himself he can’t be with you because he’s a Death Eater and you’ll get killed. But now he’s not technically a Death Eater since he never completed the ritual himself and he knows that. But he’s probably still worried you’ll get killed for being involved with him, and he’s wrestling with his conscious.”

“And to think you and Ron said girls couldn’t feel that much at one time without exploding,” Hermione said.

“Ron said that,” Harry pointed out, “I feel about a thousand things at once, and sometimes I wish I’d explode. Just get some sleep and see how things look in the morning Mione.”

Hermione nodded and got to her feet, “You’re right Harry, goodnight,” she said, kissing him on the cheek and heading to her dorm.

TBC :)


	14. The Defence Association

Hermione didn’t see Draco for the rest of Christmas break, she was focusing on helping Harry and Neville finish their homework and on finishing her own too. She had been spending her time between the library and the Gryffindor common room letting him work out whatever issues he seemed to have with her. On Sunday night the rest of the school returned and suddenly it was busy and loud again. Hermione and Harry didn’t speak to Ron right away, he was too busy talking to Seamus and Dean. But they were staying up late doing some work, so when everyone else began to drift away and the common room got emptier Ron shuffled over to them looking sheepish.

“Where’s Lavender?” Harry asked, “She’s usually attached to you, isn’t she?”

Ron sighed, “I broke up with her.”

“Why?” Harry asked.

“I’d rather not go into it,” Ron said, his ears turning red, “So what did you do over Christmas break?”

“We’d rather not go into it,” Hermione said sharply.

Ron looked at Hermione irritably, “Look I’ve broken up with Lavender, that clearly seems to be the thing that was bothering you. So can we just go back to normal now?”

Hermione scoffed, “Back to normal? Are you aware of how much has changed since you last decided to take an interest in your friendship with us?”

“Not unless you tell me,” Ron retorted, “I’m not a bloody seer.”

Hermione shared a glance with Harry, who himself was unsure how the news would go down, but he decided that Ron needed to know anyway.

“We sort of unearthed a plan of Malfoy’s,” Harry began sheepishly, “He had been trying to kill Dumbledore.”

“What the fuck?” Ron cursed, “Did you tell Dumbledore?”

“No...” Harry said slowly.

Ron looked entirely baffled, “Why?”

“Well we also found out that Malfoy was forced to become a Death Eater, and doesn’t want to kill Dumbledore. But if he doesn’t he and his family will be murdered, by Voldemort,” Harry explained.

“So?” Ron asked, “Another Death Eater family killed, that’s good for us.”

“Not when one of them is an innocent 16 year old!” Hermione said hotly, “Malfoy is terrified Ron, we can’t just let him be arrested, or killed. We don’t have the right to take his life away.”

“But he has the right to take everyone else’s lives away?” Ron exclaimed.

“No, he hasn’t taken anyone’s life!” Hermione shouted, pushing herself to her feet, “That’s the point Ron, he doesn’t want to be like them. He’s helping us.”

“He’s a Death Eater!”

“No, he isn’t,” A new voice said as Neville slipped into the common room.

Ron turned his head to look at him, “You too Neville? Really?”

“It’s the truth Ron, Malfoy is a bastard, that much I won’t deny. But he isn’t a murderer, and he doesn’t want to be. He’s helping us so that he doesn’t have to kill Dumbledore, and in return we’re helping him,” Harry said calmly.

“Helping him?” Ron asked in disbelief, “How exactly?”

“Well the only way for Voldemort not to see things are off, is for Malfoy to complete his mission,” Harry replied.

“Complete his mission?” Ron asked slowly, “You’re going to let him kill Dumbledore? Are you fucking insane?”

“Dumbledore’s dying anyway,” Hermione cut in, “The black hand, did you notice that? It’s cursed, and not curable by magic. He’s going to die, whether Malfoy kills him or not.”

“I don’t know whats happened this holiday but either you three have lost your minds, or you are all under imperius,” Ron said, surveying them in disbelief.

“No, Ron, we just fell into a very complicated situation,” Hermione said, “Dumbledore is going to die, so if we continue to help Malfoy carry on as if he’s going to kill him then it looks good from Voldemort’s point of view. Snape is a spy, feeding everything Malfoy does to Voldemort so we have to make the façade look convincing. But Malfoy won’t ever kill Dumbledore, it won’t come down to that.”

“Snape has made an unbreakable vow with Malfoy’s Mother,” Neville added, “To protect Malfoy at all costs, which means he’ll step in and kill Dumbledore.”

“And why the hell haven’t you told Dumbledore this?”

“Because he knows, Snape’s in on the whole thing, and we think McGonagall might be too,” Harry said with a resigned sigh.

Ron sat down heavily on an armchair, “When did all of this happen?” he asked.

Harry looked sheepishly at Hermione, who sighed and said, “It started at Slughorn’s Christmas party, when I took Malfoy. The reason I asked him was because I’d found out from Susan in Hufflepuff, that he’d dated her, and two other girls at the same time. It was a revenge thing for them, date him then break his heart. It wasn’t supposed to get this serious, but Harry and I followed him when he left the party and overheard him and Snape.”

“We tried to gain his trust since then,” Harry said, “and Hermione hit the jackpot when she saw his mark, she managed to get him to trust her and he’s with us now. We’re helping him carry out his plan so it looks convincing on his part. And we’re getting the DA back together, under a new name, to prepare for the battle that might follow Dumbledore’s death.”

Ron looked exasperated, “Why does the DA have a new name? And why might there be a battle?”

“It’s called the Defence Association, because we have reason to believe Dumbledore is lying to everyone and manipulating us all, he knows about this whole scheme but pretends he doesn’t. We’re all just pawns and he’s the chess master,” Harry said, adding before Ron could butt in, “and the reason there will be a battle is because Malfoy’s plan, which is actually Voldemort’s plan, but he has to let it play out, is to let Death Eaters into Hogwarts.”

“And you’re letting that happen? Harry seriously, what the fuck has happened to you?” Ron asked in disbelief.

“Ron, are you deaf or just stupid?” Hermione exclaimed, “It’s going to happen anyway! All we can do is prepare for it, and train the DA!”

Ron scoffed, “Which should be called Dumbledore’s Army, he’s a hero, not a bad guy! He defeated Grindelwald!”

“Ron, think with your head not your heart,” Hermione said in exasperation, “What sort of hero would keep something like Fluffy in a school full of children? If he’s such a hero why did he let us go after the stone? Why did we find the Chamber of Secrets instead of him? He obviously knew these things, but he let Harry do all of his dirty work!”

Ron looked quite defeated, and he was silent for a good while. The others didn’t say anything as they waited hopefully for him to accept that they were right and to stop being so angry with them all. Finally he said, “Well, when you put it like that…” he shook his head, “But I don’t like it, and I really don’t like working with Malfoy.”

Hermione smiled, “But you’re with us again?”

Ron’s face perked up a little, whether it was because of Hermione, or being back in the thick of things, and included again, they weren’t sure. He nodded, “But don’t expect me to get on with Malfoy, alright?”

“Alright,” Harry said, “You’ll hardly see him anyway.”

“He can’t just show up to DA meetings when he’s supposed to still be the enemy, so as far as everyone else knows we keep insulting him, and he keeps insulting us,” Neville said matter of factly, “Hermione sees him most, to relay information.”

Hermione tried not to look too sheepish about this as she fumbled in her bag for the new DA signature list.

Ron frowned, “That’s not safe, shouldn’t you be doing that Harry?”

“He only trusts Hermione at the moment,” Harry replied.

Ron’s frown deepened, “Why does he only trust Hermione?”

Hermione sighed, “Because he seems to believe I’m the only one who thinks hes not a Death Eater, regardless of his mark.”

Ron scoffed, and Hermione bit her tongue so as not to insult him when they had only just made up, “But anyway, will you sign this? It’s the new DA list.”

“Sure,” Ron said, grabbing a quill, “Did you put a S.N.E.A.K style jinx in again?”

“I did,” Hermione replied, “But I’ve also added a memory charm, so if anyone thinks about betraying us they will have their memory wiped before they can.”

“That’s genius,” Ron said in awe.

Hermione smiled, “Thanks, Ron.”

Ron smiled back and handed her the parchment, “Well it’s good to be back.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The following morning they found out that their apparition lessons would start soon, which was a daunting topic for Harry at the best of times, but even more so considering how much else he had on his mind. Classes resumed, and Hermione got busy running around between them getting people’s signatures. By the end of the week the DA was up and running again, and all that remained to be done was to set a date for their first session back. Hermione was going to suggest a date to Harry, but then he had another of his meetings with Dumbledore and she knew he would be late, so instead she decided to go to the library and get some studying in. She was sitting down, peacefully enjoying a book and taking notes, when her worst nightmare sat down next to her.

“Malfoy.”

“Granger.”

They hadn’t said a word to each other since that second awkward kiss. Apart from things like “Can you pass me that newt’s eye?” and “Your cauldron is too high, you should turn it down”. They hadn’t discussed anything of a personal nature, and Hermione had been too busy with her signatures to visit his haunt, and her own, the library.

“Have you been avoiding me, Granger?”

“I always try to avoid you Malfoy,” Hermione retorted.

“I’m starting to think you’ve ditched me for Weasley, I’ve barely seen you around since he got back,” Draco drawled.

Hermione smiled a little, he’s jealous, I can hear it in his voice, “Well I have been busy signing people up to the DA,” she said pointedly and quietly, “But if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were jealous.”

Draco scoffed, “I think you’re thinking a bit much of yourself Granger.”

“Oh really?” Hermione whispered, “Because if I recall correctly, you were the one who kissed me twice, not the other way around.”

Draco’s cheeks coloured very slightly, but he kept his composure, “I’ve kissed plenty of girls Granger, so don’t go thinking you’re special.”

“Don’t worry I won’t,” Hermione said calmly, “I’ve already been warned from Lilly, and Daphne, and Susan about how much of a scumbag you are. I have higher standards than that.”

“Like Weasel?” Draco snorted, “I think most women would take a scumbag over a ratty ginger blood traitor.”

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him, “Is there any particular reason why you hate Ron so much, Malfoy? Or is that just because you’re jealous too?”

“Why are you convinced I’m jealous of that ginger prick?” Draco asked irritably.

“Malfoy, Malfoy, Malfoy, so vulgar,” Hermione said, amusement sparkling in her eyes.

Draco noticed, and it made him smirk, “Granger, Granger, Granger, you get off on this kind of sparring don’t you?”

He expected her to blush, or for her to be flustered and embarrassed. He thought with that vulgar comment he had certainly won, but he was wrong. Hermione just raised an eyebrow at him and whispered, “And you don’t?”

For once in his life, Draco Malfoy was actually speechless. He opened his mouth, but then decided better of saying what was in his mind and closed it. Hermione grinned, “Well I think Draco Malfoy the amazing bouncing ferret is out, and Draco Malfoy the floundering fish is in.”

“Fuck off, Granger,” Draco retorted.

Hermione just laughed, “Your insults really are so unimaginative. You need to sort that out, I mean what do you have besides ‘fuck off’, ‘get lost’, and ‘my father will hear about this’ Malfoy?”

“I don’t say that last one,” Draco defended himself.

Hermione sniggered, “Really? To name one time, you said it after Buckbeak attacked you. What do you do Malfoy, write really long letters to your Father saying things like ‘Granger insulted me’ and ‘Potter beat me in a duel’ and ‘a hippogriff attacked me because I was stupid enough to insult it’?”

“Merlin, you’re a sarcastic bitch,” Draco hissed.

“That’s just the truth, therefore not a great insult,” Hermione said matter of factly.

“Fuck off Granger.”

“Resorted to that again, have you?”

“Stop being such a snarky bitch,” Draco said irritably, “I came over here to apologise for running off, alright?”

Hermione was actually shocked by that, “You did?”

“Yes, but you got me in a battle of bloody insults and wits before I could,” Draco said and despite the irritation in his voice, Hermione could tell he was amused.

“You enjoy it really Malfoy,” Hermione said with a smile.

“I’ll never admit that,” Draco said, a smile also coming to his lips.

“You just did,” Hermione pointed out.

“No I didn’t,” Draco said.

“But you just did, just there,” Hermione said in amusement.

“Oh come on, let’s not argue again,” Draco said with a roll of his eyes.

“This isn’t an argument, it’s just a contradiction,” Hermione said simply.

“What?” Draco asked with a frown.

Hermione shook her head, “It’s a reference, from a muggle show.”

“Would you stop doing that? You, Potter and Lilly, it’s bloody annoying,” Draco said, “I mean if I started making references about wizarding culture how would you like it?”

“I’d know them, and I’d understand them,” Hermione said.

Draco scoffed, “You would not.”

“Try me then,” Hermione challenged him.

“Volkschov Rule,” Draco smirked.

“A rule in Quidditch wherein a chaser cannot carry the quaffle from their own goalposts directly to the opposing team’s goalposts and score, without the quaffle being passed at least once first,” Hermione said.

“Are you a walking textbook?” Draco asked slightly nastily.

Hermione shrugged, “I have a photographic memory.”

Draco rolled his eyes, “Alright then, do you know what Wizarding Hour is?”

“It’s a radio show on the WWN where from what I’ve heard, men get tips on how to polish their broomsticks as efficiently as possible,” Hermione said with a smirk.

“It’s more than that, and quit the innuendos. Look it’s easier for you to know about wizarding things, you’ve been here and in the muggle world,” Draco said in exasperation.

“Hey it’s not my fault you don’t know anything about muggle culture,” Hermione said as she picked up her books, “So if you were just here to apologise, and you’ve done that then I’m going back to the Gryffindor common room.”

Draco rolled his eyes, “Whatever, see you around Granger.”

“See you around, Malfoy,” Hermione said with a slight smile as she walked away from him.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

That evening, after his meeting with Dumbledore, Harry walked into the Room of Requirement where Lilly and Hermione were already waiting. Today it was sort of like an office, with a comfortable sofa, and a large desk. Lilly was sitting behind it, with parchment, ink and a quill ready. Hermione was sitting on the sofa, it was clear they had stopped talking when he walked in.

“What did I miss?”

“Hermione was just venting slightly about Draco,” Lilly said with a smile, “Do you prefer to sit while you talk or pace?”

“Pace,” Harry said in amusement, “And do you plan to write all of this down?”

Lilly nodded, “I’ll keep it in that safe though,” she said, looking to the small safe in the corner of the room, “In this room, so that nobody else can find it.”

“Good idea,” Harry said thoughtfully.

“What did Dumbledore tell you tonight then?” Hermione asked curiously.

“Well he told me the same thing McGonagall did, to watch who I was hanging around. And I just said I was sure Malfoy was up to something which was why I was around him,” Harry said.

“And? What did he say to that?” Hermione asked, almost urgently.

Harry shook his head in irritation, “The usual, don’t let it concern you, he’s not up to anything. Blah, blah, blah.”

Lilly chuckled, “Well that’s hardly surprising. Did you find out anything about Voldemort?”

Harry nodded and paused in the middle of the room, “Yeah, but maybe we should go over what Dumbledore’s already told me. I mean, Hermione knows, but you don’t so it might make things a bit clearer.”

“If you’re happy enough to share that with me, go ahead,” Lilly said diplomatically.

Harry nodded, “Alright then. The first memory he showed me was Bob Ogdens. He was in the DMLE and he went to summon Morfin Gaunt to a hearing for using magic on a muggle.”

“Gaunt, as in the Pureblood family?” Lilly asked with a frown.

Hermione nodded, “They are generally believed to have died out.”

“Believed?” Lilly asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah,” Harry said darkly, “They lived in a dirty old shack, and Marvolo, the Father abused his daughter Merope. Long story short was Merope was in love with Tom Riddle, a muggle who lived nearby. That was pretty much all I got from the memory, but Dumbledore filled me in that the Ministry arrested Morfin, that was the son, and Marvolo after that, and they went to Azkaban.”

“So what happened to Merope?” Lilly asked slowly, “She’s got to be Voldemort’s Mother, right?”

Hermione nodded, and Harry continued, “And the muggle, Tom Riddle was his Father. He’s a half-blood.”

“Seriously?” Lilly asked in disbelief.

Harry nodded grimly, and Hermione chipped in, “Hard to believe, I know.”

“How did that happen?”

“Merope used a love potion to seduce Riddle, but she loved him too much to keep using him, so she stopped slipping it to him. He left her and she was pregnant at the time, with Voldemort.”

Lilly puffed out a breath, “Jesus Christ, talk about a tragic back story.”

“Yes but it explains a lot,” Hermione said, “He was conceived under the effects of a love potion. That must have consequences.”

“Oh yeah,” Lilly agreed, she had been scribbling throughout their entire conversation, “Like not being able to love, for a start.”

“That would explain a lot,” Harry agreed.

“So what happened next then?” Lilly asked, dipping her quill in the ink, “Was he raised by his Mother?”

“No, she gave birth to him and left him at an orphanage,” Harry said with a strange glazed over look, “And then she died.”

Lilly frowned, but she didn’t say anything as Harry went on, “Dumbledore went to the orphanage to tell him he was a wizard, and he found out that he’d been stealing things, and that the other kids there were scared of him. Dumbledore found out then that he could talk to snakes.”

“Which is something only the heir of Slytherin can do,” Lilly said softly, “and you of course, Harry,” she added, looking up at him.

“I’m not related to Slytherin,” Harry said firmly.

“Oh no, I wasn’t-”

Hermione shook her head and glanced at Lilly, “It’s a touchy subject,” she said quietly.

Lilly looked a little guilty, but she didn’t say anymore on the subject and Harry continued with the story of Voldemort.

“That was what I learned in past lessons. Tonight, he showed me two memories, the first one was Morfin’s, from after he got out of Azkaban. Dumbledore said Riddle was really clever at school, and all the teachers liked him. He had a group of friends but the things they did were never traced back to them. Sound familiar?”

“Death Eaters,” Hermione and Lilly said in unison.

Harry nodded, “Well anyway, he was 16 and he went to the Gaunt shack and found Morfin who thought he was his Muggle Father, so they spoke in Parseltongue to prove that he wasn’t. He found out from Morfin that Marvoo was dead, and he learned about how he had been conceived. The memory blacked out, and apparently it was because Morfin didn’t remember the rest, he just woke up without his ring, which had the crest of the Gaunt family on it.”

“Why would Voldemort steal the ring?” Lilly asked.

Harry shrugged, “I don’t know. But I do know that after that Riddle went to the house where his Father lived and killed him and his Grandparents. Then he put a false memory charm on Morfin and left. The Ministry knew Morfin was a muggle-hater and when they found him he confessed. Riddle had used Morfin’s wand. When they checked it they found the killing curse and they put him in Azkaban where he died.”

“So how did Dumbledore find all of this out?” Hermione asked.

“He visited him in Azkaban before he died and used Legilimency on him,” Harry explained, “The bit I couldn’t work out was how the Ministry couldn’t tell it was Voldemort, every time I used under-age magic I got a warning letter from the Ministry.”

“It’s not tied to a person, just the house,” Lilly said, “So if you try and use magic in a muggle home they’ll know it was you. But if you use it in a wizarding house the Ministry won’t know.”

“Dumbledore explained that,” Harry said, “He said it was down to the parents to ensure their children didn’t use underage magic.”

“Which explains why we wouldn’t have known,” Hermione said, “The only wizarding house we’ve spent time in is Ron’s, and you know how strict Mrs. Weasley is.”

Harry chuckled, “I thought something similar when I found out.”

Hermione was still smiling a little when she said, “So is that it then? Or did you find out anything more?”

“I saw another memory, but this one’s a little more complicated, and I don’t want it to go any further than this room. I’m already breaking the rules, Dumbledore made me promise not to tell anyone else what he was teaching me, apart from Ron and Hermione,” Harry said anxiously.

“I promise, it will stay between us,” Lilly said, and Harry believed her because he had no reason not to.

“It was Slughorn’s memory, only it wasn’t quite right. Riddle was at a Slug Club meeting, like the ones he’s been having this year. He was talking to Slughorn then this fog came down and Slughorn said Riddle would go wrong, then he dismissed the students. Riddle stayed behind and asked Slughorn what he knew about horcruxes and the fog came back again and Slughorn said he didn’t know anything about them and he wouldn’t tell him if he did.”

“Well that’s not right, the fog means the memory has been changed…covered up,” Hermione said with a frown.

“I know,” Harry said, “Dumbledore said Slughorn tampered with his own memory.”

“Why would he do that?” Lilly asked.

“Because hes ashamed of what really happened,” Harry replied, “But that’s not the worst bit. He asked me to get the real memory from Slughorn. He said veritaserum won’t work because Slughorn probably carries an antidote to it, and he’s skilled at Occlumency too apparently.”

“Well so is Snape, and Hermione managed to not only remove his memory, but falsify it,” Lilly said with a proud sort of look at Hermione.

She nodded slowly, “Slughorn can’t be better than Snape, can he?”

“I doubt it,” Harry said, “But we can hardly just knock him out and take it, that would look suspicious. Dumbledore told me to persuade Slughorn to give it to me.”

Lilly scoffed, “What’s the point in wasting your time?”

“He won’t just hand it over, no matter how much he likes you,” Hermione agreed, “I mean he clearly went to great lengths to conceal it from Dumbledore who he has known for years.”

Harry sighed, “Well knocking him out is going to look suspicious to Dumbledore, isn’t it?”

“We could really do with sharing this with the others,” Hermione said irritably, “I mean I’ve never even heard of a horcrux. Have you Lilly?”

Lilly shook her head, “No, but if Slughorn wanted to change the memory so much it can’t be good.”

“It has to be some form of dark magic, knowing Voldemort,” Harry agreed, “But we can’t tell the others. I was only supposed to tell you and Ron, Hermione. Lilly already knows, the more people I tell the more chance there is of Dumbledore realising something is wrong.”

“I know,” Hermione said, “But there’s a good chance Draco or Daphne would know what a horcrux is, and with more brains on the subject we could work out a way to get the real memory from Slughorn.”

“I still stand by knocking him out and taking it,” Lilly shrugged.

“He would know Hermione had helped, Dumbledore that is, he knows how crap I am at Legilimency and Occlumency.”

“Well he said you could tell them,” Lilly reasoned.

“But he said I had to get the memory from Slughorn,” Harry added.

“Okay, I see the fault in this plan now,” Lilly admitted sheepishly, “Are you sure we can’t tell the others? I mean who are they going to tell, really?”

“Lilly does have a point, we don’t have to give them Voldemort’s entire history,” Hermione said thoughtfully, “Just the parts we need their help on.”

“So you’re saying we need to be selective with the truth?” Harry asked, sighing heavily.

“I hate to say it, but yes,” Hermione answered.

“Alright,” Harry said after a long silence, “I’ll tell them after the first DA meeting, if you see any of them before then warn them to hang back.”

Hermione and Lilly both nodded.

“When is the first DA meeting anyway?” Hermione asked, crouching down by the fireplace, “Set a date and I’ll burn it into the galleons.”

“A week today,” Harry said after a moment of consideration, “And after that I think we’ll keep it as a monthly thing.”

Hermione nodded, “Alright,” she said simply as she held the galleon above the fire and mumbled a charm, “It’s done.”

“Perfect,” Lilly said, putting the notes she had taken in the safe in the corner of the room and locking it, “Well I’ll see you next week then.”

Hermione and Harry said goodbye to her, and once she was gone Hermione flung her bag over her shoulder, “So, you and Lilly?”

Harry rolled his eyes as they left the room together and headed towards Gryffindor tower, “I thought we agreed that you wouldn’t get involved in my love life?”

“We agreed no such thing,” Hermione said in amusement, “So are you together or not?”

“Not,” Harry replied, “It’s complicated. I mean don’t get me wrong, I like her, and she says she likes me. But this war is on its way…she knows I don’t want her to get hurt.”

“So it’s a casual sort of thing then?”

Harry nodded, he had a vacant sort of look in his eyes, “I guess so.”

“You know that it could easily end with one or both of you getting hurt, don’t you?” Hermione asked.

Harry nodded again and turned to look his best friend in the eye, “Yeah, but emotional pain is a damn sight better than physical pain.”

“I do understand,” Hermione said, grabbing his hand and squeezing it.

Harry smiled weakly, “But anyway, what about you? Has he spoken to you yet?”

Hermione nodded, “He was flirting with me in the library earlier,” she rolled her eyes, “But his moods are so weird. He’ll be ignoring me again by tomorrow.”

“Well it’s probably for the best,” Harry said, “We don’t want the teachers suspecting anything.”

Hermione knew Harry was right, the more Draco distanced himself the better it looked. Especially to Snape and Dumbledore, it looked like Harry had dropped the issue so that everything could go on as they had planned it. Despite all of that though, Hermione found it difficult to be ignored by Draco in Potions for the rest of the week. She thought it sucked when he walked past her and didn’t say a word in the library or the study hall. She was actually beginning to miss Draco’s company, and Harry could tell. As the week wore on things with Ron began to return to normal. He and Harry were talking as they had before, and things were gradually getting less awkward between him and Hermione.

When it came to the day of the first DA meeting things were almost normal again, it was almost like the entire Draco incident had never happened, and that did make Hermione feel a little sad. She still spoke to Lilly regularly in the library because they had been friends before this all kicked off, but as well as having to distance herself from Draco, she also had to be careful not to be seen with her other friends too often, Daphne in particular. 

“You okay Hermione?” Harry asked as they walked to the Room of Requirement with Ron and Neville in tow.

“Yeah,” Hermione lied, “Just a little nervous about this.”

“I’m the leader, I should be the nervous one,” Harry joked.

“I’m the Deputy, does that mean I get to be nervous too?” Neville chuckled.

Harry laughed, “You’ll be fine, Nev,” he said.

As he began pacing with his eyes shut to make the door appear Hermione and Neville saw the irritated look that flitted across Ron’s face. He hadn’t said anything explicitly but it was clear he thought he should be Harry’s Deputy. Harry however, had not budged, he maintained that Neville was the right guy for the job.

The door to the new DA room appeared and they all walked through, it was the first time that Ron had seen the new room. 

“This is pretty cool,” he said as he sat down in one of the chairs in the meeting room section of the large hall.

Hermione nodded absentmindedly, and Neville said, “Personally I’m glad you got rid of the mirrors Harry, they irritated the hell out of me.”

Harry chuckled, and Ron asked, “So is the DA just the same as it was last year?”

Harry and Hermione shared a slightly awkward look, Ron wasn’t particularly happy with Slytherin co-operation. So far they had kept things so that Ron didn’t have to interact with Draco, but they weren’t sure how he would react to hearing that there were some Slytherins in the DA.

“Uh, there are some new members,” Harry said evasively.

Ron was going to push, he was going to make Harry tell him who these new members were. But Harry was saved by the door opening and the first people appearing. The Ravenclaws and Gryffindor’s trickled in first because their common rooms were the closest. 

The Patil twins were first, with a slightly hesitant Lavender in tow. She glanced woefully at Ron when she saw him and he looked away guiltily. Hermione and Harry still had no idea what had happened between them at Christmas. On that note, Ginny entered with Dean and Seamus, and Hermione made a mental note to pick her brains about what had gone on when she next got a chance. The Creevey brothers arrived next, looking eager and excited, Hermione couldn’t help but notice the anxious look that passed across Harry’s face when he saw them, she knew he thought Dennis was too young to be involved in all of this.

After that the Ravenclaws arrived in packs. Michael, Terry and Anthony were all together, and seconds after they had arrived Mandy and Lisa entered the room. Which just left Luna and Lilly who arrived separately not long after. Everyone was milling around, only Lilly walked directly up to Harry, Hermione, Ron and Neville.

“Hey,” she said brightly, “Are we taking meeting notes?”

“Uh yeah,” Harry said, “But that’s normally Hermione’s job.’

“Oh sorry, I didn’t mean to step on your toes,” Lilly said.

Hermione shook her head, “Don’t worry about it, I’ll happily let you take over. I did it all last year.”

“Are you sure you don’t mind?” Lilly asked as Cormac McLaggen slipped into the room.

Hermione nodded and handed her the parchment and ink she was holding, “I’m sure, here you go.”

Lilly smiled and set herself up at the meeting table. Harry had been watching her in a sort of daydream but as she looked up at him he tore his eyes away, feeling incredibly embarrassed.

“We’re just waiting for the other houses now,” Hermione said with a glance at her list.

Ron narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth, Hermione suspected it was to say that there better not be any Slytherins on the list. Whatever he was going to say he didn’t have the chance because the door to the room opened once more and the Hufflepuffs arrived. Susan, Hannah, Megan and Leanne were all together, and not far behind them were Oliver, Wayne, Zacharias, Justin and Ernie.’

“Right,” Ron said, pushing himself to his feet, “Is that everyone then?”

“Not quite,” Hermione said sheepishly, glancing towards the door.

“Hermione-”

“Ah here are the others,” Hermione said quickly to avoid Ron’s questioning. The door had opened for a final time and the four Slytherin members of the group walked in, Daphne, Sophie, Tracey and Theo.

“Hermione!” Ron hissed.

“Stop being such a prejudiced git Ron,” Hermione muttered under her breath, “Daphne’s parents are neutral, Sophie’s a half-blood and Tracey’s parents were killed by Voldemort’s followers!”

“And Nott? His Father is a Death Eater, Hermione!”

Neville shook his head and whispered, “And so is Draco’s and he’s helping us.”

Ron opened his mouth again, but before he could shout about anything Harry said quietly, “Ron, you’re lucky enough to not know what it’s like to be scared of your own parents. Not everyone is that lucky.”

With Harry’s poignant words Ron shut his mouth and his ears went red, Hermione tried not to snigger. She saw Harry hide a smirk as he jumped up onto the table and said loudly, “Can I have everyone’s attention please?”

The room fell silent instantly, Harry just commanded respect, it was why he was such a good leader. Hermione smiled proudly as he addressed the room.

“Hi everyone, now I know not all of you know why I’ve asked you all here tonight. We, well it was mostly Hermione’s idea actually, decided to start the DA again but we’ve changed the name to ‘Defence Association’ because as you can see there are now members from every house in the school and not all of the houses are particularly keen on Dumbledore.”

There was a knowing sort of look sent towards the Slytherins. It was a lie of course, but they had agreed that they couldn’t risk telling the DA the truth.

“You all must know by now that Voldemort and his followers have been gaining strength. The attacks even managed to slip into the prophet this summer, even if it was subtly.”

There was much vigorous nodding.

“This is not going to blow over, there will be a war and we have got to be ready when it comes. So I am going to help train you all to fight properly, and to defend yourselves. We’ll meet once a month and go over some tactics, just like last year. Are there are any questions?”

Cormac raised his hand, “Why are there Slytherins?”

“Because if we’re to fight back we have to put on a united front. How can we be united against Voldemort when we aren’t even united within our own school?” Harry said simply.

Cormac shrugged, but still didn’t look very happy about this arrangement.

“But we don’t know if we can trust them!” Seamus exclaimed.

“You can trust them as much as you can trust everyone else Seamus,” Harry said calmly, “You all signed the same piece of parchment and you were all warned that it was jinxed with a very dark curse. Anyone who betrays us is going to suffer, regardless of their house. Now, are there any questions that aren’t about the Slytherins?”

There was silence, so Harry smiled, “Fantastic! Let’s get to work then!”

TBC :)


	15. The Beginning of the End

The first DA meeting was a resounding success. Once it was over Harry let people out in pairs, as he had always done, to make sure things didn’t look too suspicious. He just happened to make sure that everyone else left before the people that he really needed to speak to. 

When the final pair trickled out so that the only people remaining in the room were himself, Hermione, Ron, Neville, Lilly, Susan and Daphne, Harry took a breath and said, “Right then, let’s get down to business.”

“What about Draco?” Hermione asked.

“He isn’t coming,” Daphne said, “It’s nothing personal, he just thought it was a bit risky because anyone coming out of the meeting could have seen him.”

Hermione nodded, she understood but she was still disappointed, “Well I guess you might just have to pass this onto him then Daphne.”

“Don’t worry I will,” Daphne said simply.

Harry sat down at the table and asked, “Does anybody here know what a horcrux is?”

There was silence, and a lot of blank faces.

“Should we?” Susan asked.

“I don’t know,” Harry said, “It’s some kind of dark magic, I think. Something Voldemort is involved with.”

Daphne was frowning, “It sounds familiar, but I don’t know what it is. There might be some books on it in the manor, but I won’t be there until Easter.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Harry said with a shake of his head, “I just thought it was worth asking in case somebody knew.”

“Was that all you needed to ask?” Susan asked.

Harry shook his head, “No, there is something else. I can’t divulge the details right now, but Dumbledore asked me to get a memory from Slughorn. He gave Dumbledore the memory I need but it had been tampered with, and I need the original.”

“Well, just knock him out and get Hermione to do what she did with Snape,” Daphne said, “Sorry to state the obvious.”

“No, Lilly suggested the same thing earlier,” Harry said, “And it’s not that simple. Dumbledore asked me to do it, alone. If I have help he’ll get suspicious, and he knows I don’t know how to do that kind of magic.”

Daphne sighed, and Ron shrugged, “I still think you should just ask him, he thinks you’re the best thing since sliced bread.”

“That doesn’t mean he’ll just hand over information like that,” Hermione snapped, “Slughorn wouldn’t give the memory to Dumbledore, one of his oldest and closest friends, Ron. He isn’t going to just tell Harry because he likes him.”

Ron’s ears burned red and he muttered, “You don’t have to be a bitch about it.”

“Stop it you two,” Harry said irritably, “Look, I need new ideas.”

“Well, Slughorn likes a drink,” Susan suggested, “Get him drunk and then try and get it out of him.”

“You probably would have a better chance, but it’s still a longshot,” Lilly said logically, “Does he have a weakness? Something you can use against him?”

“I don’t think so,” Harry said, letting his head drop into his hands.

“Yes he does,” Hermione said slowly, in the way she often did when she had a light-bulb idea.

“Enlighten us then Hermione,” Neville said in amusement.

“Your Mother,” Hermione said to Harry, “He said she was his favourite student, and he was really sad about her death.”

“So?”

“So that gives you emotional blackmail Potter,” Daphne realised, “We don’t know what a horcrux is…but we can assume it’s dark magic. If Slughorn gave Voldemort information about them he basically helped make him more powerful, he helped him kill your parents.”

Harry’s face was tight, and didn’t give away any emotion, Lilly and Hermione watched him carefully.

“You think he’d feel guilty and give me the memory?” Harry asked quietly.

“I think Daphne is right,” Lilly voiced gently.

“So do I Harry,” Hermione said, “I think the combination of guilt and alcohol might break him.”

Harry cleared his throat, “So how do we do this then?”

“That much I hadn’t worked out,” Daphne admitted.

Lilly sighed, “He must be suspicious, because Dumbledore’s asked him for the false memory.”

“It won’t be easy to draw him into a trap,” Susan said.

Ron groaned, “If only we had luck on our side for once.”

Harry froze momentarily and then he looked Hermione in the eye, “Luck…that’s exactly what we need.”

“Harry, it might not work-”

“It’s perfect!” Harry exclaimed.

“Uh, Potter. What are you on about?” Daphne asked, raising an eyebrow at the Gryffindor.

“I have a vial of Felix Felicis, enough for one lucky day,” Harry said, glancing around them all, “and that’s exactly what I need to get Slughorn in the right place at the right time.”

There was a moment of silence, and then Daphne spoke, “That might just work.”

Lilly and Susan both nodded, looking distinctly impressed. 

Ron frowned, “Did I just help solve this?”

Harry laughed, “Yeah Ron, you totally did. Thanks mate,” he said, clapping him on the back and standing up, “I’ll do it on Saturday,” he decided.

“Alright,” Hermione said cautiously, “Are we adjourning this meeting then?”

Harry nodded, “Until next month. If you need to call an emergency meeting, you know what to do. Oh, and Daphne, fill Malfoy in.”

“Sure,” Daphne said simply.

Harry looked quite pleased with himself as he grabbed the door handle and said with a smirk, “Well until then, good luck everyone!”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“You don’t think this is a good idea, do you?”

Hermione bit her lip, “I’m just not entirely sure it will work. You can’t pick what kind of luck you get.”

“I know, but it’s worth a shot,” Harry said.

They were sitting on his bed, Harry was holding the Felix Felicis but he hadn’t opened it yet. The week had dragged by very slowly and Harry had been getting anxious the closer they got to Saturday. Hermione was feeling a little down, and she knew that her friends had noticed. Her life seemed rather ordinary again, no more parties, she barely saw her friends, and she saw Draco all of the time but she never got to talk to him. It had been two weeks since their last conversation in the library.

“Well go on then,” Hermione said anxiously, “You better take it if you want luck for the whole day.”

Harry nodded and uncorked the bottle, “Here goes nothing,” he said, downing the liquid inside.

Hermione watched him carefully, as if she was expecting him to grow wings, “How do you feel?”

“Fine…I think,” Harry said.

“Great!” Ron piped up from his own bed, “Do you feel lucky yet?”

“Not really,” Harry said as he pushed himself to his feet, “I just feel like…hungry, do you want to go get breakfast?”

“I always want breakfast mate,” Ron said and just like that he and Harry left, chuckling about something or other.

Hermione pushed herself to her feet with a sigh and followed them down the stairs and out of the common room. Everyone was on their way to breakfast and the stairs were crowded so she lost Harry and Ron in the midst of it. When she got the landing of the 5th floor Hermione found herself waiting for the stairs to come back around so she could continue on her way down them. That was when a hand came out of nowhere and pulled her swiftly into a secret passage behind a tapestry. 

She nearly shouted out in fear but then she realised that the person who had grabbed her was Malfoy.

“Jesus, Malfoy,” Hermione breathed, “You scared the life out of me.”

“You didn’t scream,” Draco said, “You couldn’t have been that scared.”

“Well I have gotten used to you pulling me into passageways,” Hermione said pointedly as they walked a little way down the narrow steps so that they couldn’t be heard by people on the 5th floor landing.

“What do you want?”

“Why do you think I want anything Granger?” Draco asked when they stopped.

“Because you haven’t spoken to me in two weeks,” Hermione said, “So I don’t see why you would break that rule unless you wanted something.”

Draco sighed and took his gaze away from the floor, he locked his eyes on hers and said, “Did it occur to you that maybe I miss you, Granger?”

Hermione smiled slightly, “Will you ever call me Hermione?”

“Sorry,” Draco said, “Force of habit.”

“And to be honest, it didn’t occur to me,” Hermione admitted, not taking her eyes away from his entrancing grey ones, “I mean, I’ll be honest I have been missing you a little but I didn’t think you would be missing me.”

Draco frowned very slightly, “Do you ever just wish things could be different? Less complicated?”

“Sometimes,” Hermione admitted, “Sometimes I wish I’d just been born into a pure-blood family, but everything has happened the way it has for a reason.”

“Well that better be a damn good reason,” Draco said irritably, “Because I’m finding it harder and harder not to sit down and talk to you every time I see you in the library or the study hall.”

“Me too,” Hermione said softly.

Draco opened his mouth to say something, but then he shut it again and made to turn around and walk down the stairs. Hermione frowned at his odd behaviour, but before he could start walking away he turned around and muttered, “Oh fuck it,” as his lips crashed down onto hers.

Hermione was fairly used to this now, so she didn’t hesitate to kiss him back as he gently pressed her against one of the cold, concrete walls of the passageway. Her hands instinctively went to his hair, and his cupped her face as he deepened the kiss. Hermione was just beginning to feel breathless when the bell sounded loudly and made them jump apart. The particular passageway that they were in happened to be between the 4th and 5th floor, and the wall next to them was fairly thick but connected this part of the school to the clock tower where the bells were around 5th floor level. As a result the bell had been incredibly loud, and it signified the end of breakfast, which meant Hermione now had 5 minutes to try and get to Charms.

“Shit, I’ve just made you miss breakfast, haven’t I?”

Hermione laughed, “I was running late anyway. Speaking of running, are you planning on doing any of it? You did just kiss me after all.”

Draco smiled slightly, “Not this time, although this doesn’t mean we’re together or anything Granger-”

“I know Malfoy,” Hermione cut him off, “Don’t worry about it. Back to pretending we hate each other now, yeah?”

“This has to be convincing, I’m sorry,” Draco said guiltily.

Hermione shook her head and slipped past him, “I understand,” she said honestly, “I’ve got to run, or I’ll be late for Charms.”

She didn’t say anything else as she hurried down the passageway, fixing her hair as she went. She did understand that things had to be this way, but that didn’t mean she didn’t wish things could be different. However, for now this was enough. When everything was as hectic as it was stolen kisses in secret passageways were fine by her.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Has anything lucky happened yet?” Hermione whispered to Harry in Charms.

“Well, Lilly did ask if I wanted to go with her next Hogsmeade weekend,” Harry smirked, “But never mind me, you’ve clearly had a bit of luck.”

Hermione’s eyes widened, “What?”

“Your hair is a bit frizzier than normal this morning,” Harry whispered.

Hermione cursed under her breath and did a quick spell to bring her hair under control. She glared at Harry as he chuckled, and she also spotted Daphne smirking on the other side of the room. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

The door opened and Hermione tried to act natural as Draco walked in, there was a small tuft of his hair which was sticking up at an odd angle and Hermione cursed her inability to stop herself touching his hair.

“Ah Mr. Malfoy, finally,” Professor Flitwick said, “Do you have a reason for being late?”

“I slept in Professor,” Draco lied, not looking anywhere near Hermione.

Hermione heard Lilly chuckling at the desk behind her and she had to suppress that urge to roll her eyes again.

“Indeed, well 20 points from Slytherin must be deducted I am afraid Mr. Malfoy.”

Draco just nodded and slipped into his seat next to Theo and in front of Daphne whose smirk was even broader now.

This time Hermione really did roll her eyes and buried herself in her Charms work to avoid the amused glances from her so-called friends.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Nothing particularly lucky happened for the rest of the day. But after dinner Harry had a sudden urge to go and visit Professor Slughorn in his office. 

“Where are you going?” Hermione asked when Harry stood up very quickly from his perch by the window.

“Slughorn’s office,” Harry said matter of factly.

“Why?” Hermione asked curiously.

“I just feel like Slughorn’s office is the place to be, right now, do you know what I mean?” Harry asked brightly.

“No…” Hermione said, looking at Harry as if he was deranged, “But I’m coming with you.”

“Nah, I feel like I should go alone. I’ll be okay Hermione,” Harry said, he patted her on the shoulder and walked out of the common room, leaving Hermione watching after him in bemusement.

Harry whistled as he walked down to Slughorn’s office on the 1st floor, Snape had kept his old quarters in the dungeon and Slughorn apparently preferred the quarters he had originally stayed in on the 1st floor. He was still quite cheerful as he knocked on the door to Slughorn’s office and walked in when the Professor called “Enter”.

“Oh hello Harry my boy,” Slughorn said brightly, “What brings you to my office tonight?”

Something clicked in Harry’s brain then, about the date and so he said, “Well it would have been my Mother’s birthday today.”

Slughorn reeled slightly, “Goodness, of course. How correct you are, she was my favourite student you know.”

Harry nodded sincerely, “Yes, you told me Sir,” he said politely.

Slughorn sighed, “Such a tragedy, such a loss.”

Harry nodded again and looked down at this feet.

“Hmm,” Slughorn hummed, “Well I had been planning to give this to Dumbledore for his birthday,” he said, picking up a bottle of mead, “But I think perhaps now is the time to open it. How about a toast to your Mother, eh?”

Harry nodded, “That would be nice Sir,” he said simply.

Slughorn nodded at his idea and poured out two glasses, he handed one to Harry and he held his out, “To your Mother, the best student I ever had the pleasure of teaching.”

Harry smiled and raised the glass to his lips, he paused before he took a sip because he smelled something a little odd. He frowned, “Professor-”

There was a gagging sound and Harry looked up abruptly to see Slughorn falling to the ground with foam coming out of his mouth. He panicked and looked around the room desperately, then he saw it, sitting on Slughorn’s desk, a bezoar. Harry grabbed it and shoved it in Slughorn’s mouth as fast as he could. The older man stopped shaking and his eyes shut, Harry felt for a pulse and was relieved when he felt a weak, but steady one there. 

He rushed from the room and saw Filch in the corridor outside. The caretaker had heard the commotion and was already making his way towards the office, “The Professor was poisoned!”

“Well what are you waiting for boy?” Filch barked, “Get Pomfrey,”

Harry nodded and jogged along the corridor to the hospital wing, still reeling from what had just happened.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When Slughorn woke it was late at night, and Harry was sitting by his bed. 

“Harry, my boy,” Slughorn said quietly.

“Oh don’t try and speak too much,” Harry said as he handed Slughorn a glass of water.

Slughorn sipped from it gratefully and then sighed softly, “You saved my life Harry, with that bezoar of yours. Very fast thinking, very fast indeed.”

“Thank you sir,” Harry said.

“If there is anything I can do in return…” Slughorn offered.

“Anything?” Harry asked thoughtfully.

“Anything,” Slughorn promised.

“Well there is one thing,” Harry said, leaning forward, “I want to avenge my Mother sir. I can’t do that unless I know everything about how Voldemort got as powerful as he did. I need your memory sir, the memory of you telling Voldemort about horcruxes.”

“Dumbledore put you up to this then,” Slughorn sighed.

“He asked me to get the memory,” Harry agreed, “But the reasons I gave you are true.”

Slughorn nodded weakly, he grabbed his wand from his bedside table and removed a phial from his jacket pocket, which was lying on a chair by his hospital bed. Harry watched silently as Slughorn shut his eyes and removed the memory, placing it into the phial.

He opened his eyes and handed it to Harry, a little shakily, “Do not think less of me, Harry my boy,” he said tearfully.

“I won’t,” Harry promised, “You should get some sleep sir.”

Slughorn nodded and leant back against his pillows with another sigh, he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“I have the memory.”

“Seriously?” Hermione asked in disbelief.

“Great!” Ron exclaimed in the empty common room, “Give it straight to Dumbledore!”

Hermione shook her head, “No…don’t. Let’s have a look at it ourselves first.”

“Why?” Ron asked hotly.

Harry glanced to his bushy haired friend, “I’m not siding with anyone at the moment, but I agree with Ron’s question. Why?”

Hermione chewed her lip anxiously, “Because Dumbledore is always at least a step ahead of us. We have a piece of information that he doesn’t have, do you think we should immediately give him that information or investigate it first?”

“As Slytherin an idea is that, I think you might be right,” Harry admitted, a little reluctantly.

Hermione chewed her lip harder, she had actually drawn a little blood, “Permission to call an emergency meeting for tomorrow night?”

“You think we should tell them everything?” Harry asked curiously.

Hermione sighed, “If we’re going to betray Dumbledore anyway, then yes, we might as well.”

“Merlin Hermione,” Ron muttered, “Sometimes I don’t know what the hell has happened to you.”

“The burdens of a war change you Ron,” Harry said defensively, “You’ve been lucky enough not to experience that. I doubt that will last forever.”

Ron frowned in confusion, not entirely understanding what they meant but assuming that they were insulting him in some way.

Harry turned to Hermione, “Alright, call the meeting but make sure it’s for after curfew and make sure everybody comes alone.”

Hermione nodded and walked towards the fire, leaving only Harry and Ron.

“Harry, I don’t think this is a good idea, I think we should place our trust in Dumbledore-”

“We’ve tried placing our trust in Dumbledore and we’ve nearly died almost every single year,” Harry said sharply, “We’re trying this a different way this year Ron.”

“But-”

“If you can’t do this, if you can’t trust them then that’s up to you,” Harry said calmly, “But this is what we have to do. If you can’t be a part of it, I understand. But just promise me that you won’t tell Dumbledore?”

“Look, I won’t tell anybody what you’re doing,” Ron promised, “But I can’t help you do this. I’m sorry Harry.”

Harry watched Ron silently as he got up and walked away, leaving the common room for the boys dorm.

“I can’t believe he actually did that,” Hermione said quietly from where she now sat cross-legged on the floor in front of the fire.

Harry turned to her, “Really? You know the Weasley’s, they think Dumbledore is the most recent incarnation of Merlin or something.”

“But I thought we meant more to him,” Hermione practically whispered.

“His first priority will always be his family Hermione,” Harry said, placing his hand gently on hers.

Hermione looked down at her hands tearfully, “Draco has more courage than Ron ever will,” she said angrily, but her anger was softened by the tears that were spilling out of her eyes, “He would betray his family for you, his enemy.”

“He’s not betraying his family for me,” Harry said gently, taking Hermione’s hands and forcing her to look in his eyes, “he’s doing it for you, Hermione.”

At these words Hermione burst into tears and let Harry hug her, “Why can’t I ever have feelings for normal guys Harry? Not idiots, or pure-bloods with insane families?”

“Because you’re friends with me,” Harry joked, “Nothing about your life will ever be normal.”

Hermione laughed tearfully and said, “You know I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m with you till the end on this, I promise.”

Harry smiled at her and wiped her tear-stained cheeks, “I know Hermione, I’ve always known and that is why you are my best friend.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Ron spent the following day avoiding Harry and Hermione which suited Hermione perfectly fine. As far as she was concerned she was done with Ronald Weasley, and she knew Harry pretty much viewed him as a lost cause now too.

The day sped by and finally it came to the end of curfew. The common room was empty as Harry and Hermione slipped underneath the cloak and studied the map. They would have to be incredibly careful tonight because Filch and Mrs Norris were both on the 7th floor, and Snape was just below on the 6th floor. They used masking and silencing charms and they walked slightly faster than they would normally have done. When the door to the Room of Requirement appeared Hermione had never been more relieved to slip inside and shut it behind her.

“You’re on edge today,” Harry noticed as he sat down on a beanbag, it was once more a comfortable, brightly coloured room. Hermione had a feeling they would need it.

“I just have a bad feeling,” Hermione admitted, “I haven’t been able to shake it all day.”

“I’m sure everything will be fine,” Harry said as the door opened and Lilly slipped in silently.

“Phew, that was close. It’s pretty crowded out there tonight,” she said.

“I know,” Hermione said darkly, “It’s almost like they know we’re meeting.”

Lilly’s eyes widened, “You don’t think…”

Harry frowned and looked at the map, “No, according to this Malfoy’s on his way up here, he’s fine.”

“But what if Snape stole the galleon and figured it out?” Hermione asked anxiously.

“I’m sure he hasn’t, he doesn’t suspect a thing,” Lilly said calmly, “You seem a bit on edge. Did you sleep last night?”

“Not much,” Hermione admitted, “My head is all over the place at the moment.”

“Does that have anything to do with Draco?” Lilly asked.

“I think it has more to do with Ron,” Harry admitted.

“I noticed he wasn’t here, did something happen?”

“He can’t hack it, working with Malfoy, betraying Dumbledore,” Harry said slowly, “He wanted out.”

Lilly sighed, “Will he tell anyone?”

“He swore he wouldn’t, and I believe him. He owes me and Hermione that much,” Harry said with a heavy sigh.

“And what about Neville? Where’s he?” Lilly asked.

“He’s coming, he just had to come separately from us. We can only fit two under the cloak and we wanted to all arrive separately to avoid raising suspicion,” Harry explained as the door opened and the person in question walked in.

“Sorry,” Neville said breathily, “I nearly got caught by Mrs Norris twice.”

“Yeah, I had trouble avoiding them too,” Lilly said as Hermione’s sense of anxiety increased.

Susan arrived not long after, and she hadn’t had a problem getting in. That of course meant that they were just waiting for Daphne and Draco who, if they had received the message properly, would arrive separately.

Daphne arrived before Draco, she was out of breath as she snapped the door shut behind her, “Merlin, do they know we’re here or something?”

“I’m beginning to wonder,” Hermione said anxiously, “Where’s Draco?”

“We agreed to leave separately so we wouldn’t get caught, so he shouldn’t be far behind me,” Daphne said, flopping down onto a beanbag, “And do you really think they know?”

Harry shook his head, “They can’t know, if they knew then they would be able to get in. Like Umbridge did last year. At worst, they can suspect.”

“They were here before we even left Gryffindor tower,” Hermione said quietly, “So they couldn’t have followed anyone. Let me see the map Harry.”

Harry handed it over wordlessly, he knew there was no use arguing with a worried Hermione Granger.

She scanned the map and found Draco’s dot moving slowly upwards in a secret passage from the 6th to 7th floor. She bit down on her lip which was marked from where she had chewed it open the previous night.

“Hermione, he’ll be-”

“No, he won’t be,” Hermione said, grabbing the cloak from where Harry had left it on one of the beanbags, “Look at where he’s going to come out of that passage, Harry! Snape is coming up those stairs, and Mrs Norris and Filch are in this corridor. He’ll be cornered.”

“Hermione, you can’t just go running after him!” Harry exclaimed.

But Harry wasn’t quick enough, Hermione had flung the cloak on and darted out into the 7th floor corridor. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Although Draco would never admit it, especially not to Harry Potter, he did actually quite enjoy the sneaking around, and the secret meetings that came with his new friends, or acquaintances as he preferred to think of them. He was also looking forward to seeing Hermione, because he hadn’t spoken to her since the encounter in the secret passageway that had left them both looking disheveled in Charms.

It was odd, because just as he was thinking about Hermione he collided with something that smelled oddly like her. He frowned but he didn’t shout out because he couldn’t, the invisible force put its hand over his mouth and then pulled him underneath a cloak.

Draco was incredibly confused as he looked around at the inside of an invisibility cloak. He was under it with Hermione who held her finger to his lips. He merely nodded, he could tell that something was wrong outside of the passageway.

“Any sign of peculiar behaviour Filch?”

Hermione used wordless magic to cast a masking and silencing on charm on herself and Draco under the cloak.

“Nothing, just Peeves banging about downstairs Professor Snape,” Filch grunted.

“I had rather thought Potter was up to something in this area,” Snape said, sounding irritated, “But I may have been wrong. All the same, stay here a few hours longer, just in case.”

“Yes Professor Snape, course.”

Hermione panicked and looked at Draco with wide eyes when the tapestry leading to this passageway they were standing in was opened by none other than Snape. The blonde Slytherin took control of the situation and pulled Hermione as tightly against himself as he could so that Snape wouldn’t brush past them. 

Hermione held her breath, even though she knew Snape couldn’t hear them, and she also found the heat of Draco’s body to be incredibly startling and distracting. Her face was buried in his neck, and all she could smell was that damn cologne of his. His breathing was controlled and steady, and his hand was pressed firmly on the small of her back, holding Hermione against him.

Snape billowed down the stairs, and the back of his cloak caused the bottom of the invisibility cloak to sway and show their feet. But they were in luck, he was looking ahead, not behind and he carried on down the passageway with no further thought.

They didn’t move, they listened to Snape’s footsteps and when they could finally hear them no more Hermione looked Draco in the eye, aware they were both slightly pink in the cheeks and still pressed very tightly together.

“Uh Malfoy, you’re still...”

“Oh, sorry,” Draco whispered, his hand dropped from Hermione’s back, and he actually looked a little flustered.

Hermione let out a breath, “That was close.”

Draco nodded, and Hermione straightened out the map, partly to check on what was happening outside, but mostly as a distraction from the intensity of the moment. 

“Can we get past Filch?”

Hermione nodded, “But it will have to be a quick dart along the corridor.”

“Alright, I’m ready,” Draco said.

“Let’s go,” Hermione whispered as they slipped out of the passageway and sped towards the Room of Requirement as fast as they could. Once it was open and they were inside Hermione pulled the cloak off and leant against the door to catch her breath.

“You two are fairly pink in the face,” Susan commented.

“We just jogged along that corridor,” Draco said breathlessly.

Daphne raised an eyebrow at them, “Uh-huh?”

Hermione sighed, “Merlin, I knew I had a bad feeling about today,’ she said, dropping onto the last seat, the double beanbag.”

“Note to self, trust Grangers bad feelings,” Draco said, still out of breath as he dropped down next to her with ease.

“Alright then, let’s get started,” Harry said, standing up and clapping his hands together.

“What, no Weasel tonight?” Draco asked scornfully.

Hermione shook her head and smiled properly at the boy next to her, “No, he was too scared to do the right thing. I guess not all Gryffindors are brave, and not all Slytherins are cowards.’

“Merlin’s balls, get a room!” Lilly joked.

Hermione blushed, and Draco glanced across at her, he smiled very slightly and placed his hand on the small of her back as Harry began to tell the others why they were here. He told them everything, about the meetings with Dumbledore, and about all of the memories he had seen relating to Voldemort. He finished by saying that he had gotten this memory from Slughorn which was apparently very important but he had not looked at it yet. They then noticed that the centre of the table had a glass cover, and underneath that cover was a pensieve. Throughout Harry’s lengthy explanation Draco had been silent, and his hand had not left the small of Hermione’s back, not until Harry looked around for questions, or answers.

“Well,” Draco said, wringing his hands together, “I can’t tell you exactly what a horcrux is but I can give you an idea. I’m fairly certain it’s part of a branch of dark magic called soul magic.”

“Soul magic?” Susan asked.

Draco nodded, “It’s the type of magic that Dementors are made from. You know the theory about Dementors don’t you?”

Everyone nodded, apart from Harry and Susan who just looked confused. 

“Well, it’s generally believed that Dementors were made by a Dark wizard a long time ago and just slowly developed to become sentient. They seem to be the manifestation of a type of magic called soul magic, it’s pretty gruesome actually…”

“It’s powerful magic because it draws on the souls of dead witches and wizards,” Hermione finished, sensing that Draco was having trouble.

Draco nodded, “So the Dementors, in theory, are made up of the souls of the dead and that is why they have this need to consume the human soul.”

Susan shivered, “That’s creepy.”

“And horcruxes are in the same branch of magic?” Lilly asked cautiously.

“I’m fairly certain they are, yes,” Draco replied.

“Well, we were right about one thing then,” Daphne said darkly, “Whatever horcruxes are, they are very bad.”

Harry sighed, “Safe to say that’s a good assumption,” he said, pouring the memory into the pensive, “But I guess I’ll find out in a minute. Hermione, do you want to come with me on this trip?” he asked.

Hermione looked at his outstretched hand and nodded, she got to her feet and took it, and together they took a trip into the pensive.

The memory played out, and Harry and Hermione were silent. There was no fog, just the true memory, and it did reveal everything that they needed to know about a horcrux. When the memory was over, and Harry and Hermione found themselves back in the Room of Requirement they looked at each other in horror.

“So what’s a horcrux?” Daphne asked, breaking the silence.

“An object that a person can conceal part of their soul in,” Hermione said weakly, “That you can only create by…by…”

“By ripping your soul apart by committing murder, and then hiding the piece of soul in an object,” Harry finished for Hermione.

Draco gently pulled her back onto the beanbag and kept his hand on her shoulder, “And does Vol…does he have one?”

“I think so,” Harry said quietly, “Why else would he ask how to make one?”

Lilly was the first to speak after that, “So what happens if someone kills Voldemort and he has a horcrux?”

“He could come back, because a part of his soul still existed,” Hermione said quietly, “And it’s already happened. He should have been killed when the killing curse rebounded on him that night in Godric’s Hollow, Harry.”

“I know,” Harry practically whispered as he sat down shakily on one of the sturdier beanbags, “And he came back, in 1st year. That was why he was so ghost-like, that was why he needed somebody else’s body.”

“And in 2nd year,” Hermione said, “The diary that possessed Ginny, it made a hallucination of Voldemort, didn’t it?”

Harry nodded.

“It was a horcrux.”

“But it was destroyed, by the Basilisk fang,” Harry said.

“So that’s it then? His horcrux is destroyed so when he dies he really dies?” Susan asked, hope slipping into her voice.

Harry shook his head, and the others noticed that Hermione had paled significantly. 

“There’s more to this,” Neville said quietly.

“What is it Hermione?” Draco asked gently, using her first name was a rare occurrence and it often snapped her out of things, but even that couldn’t do it tonight.

Hermione just shook her head wordlessly. 

“He asked Slughorn if you could only split the soul once, or if it could be split into seven,” Harry said quietly.

There was a general intake of breath.

“Seven,” Draco breathed, “The most magically powerful number.”

Harry nodded.

“What does that mean?” Lilly asked fearfully.

“It means his soul has been split into seven pieces. He didn’t make one horcrux, he made six,” Harry said darkly. Leaving a morbid silence hanging over the small room and its occupants.

TBC :)


	16. The Clock Tower

PREVIOUSLY

“He didn’t make one horcrux, he made six.’

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Well we know he killed six people, a hell of a lot more than that actually,” Susan said darkly.

“Not all of them personally,” Harry pointed out, “But that’s not the point at the moment. If he had six horcruxes then one of them was almost certainly destroyed.”

“His diary,” Neville said.

“So best case scenario he only has five?” Daphne asked in disbelief.

“Pretty much,” Harry sighed, “Look, if anyone wants out of this, get out now. This is getting bad, if you can’t hack it then now is the time to say so.”

There was silence, and when Harry looked up he only saw expectant faces.

“Hey you’re stuck with us now Potter,” Daphne remarked, “But a plan of action would be nice.”

“We can’t have one, not yet,” Hermione said, “We have no idea how many horcruxes he actually managed to make. We don’t know where they are, or what objects they are attached to.”

“You have a point,” Draco said, “He might have only made two or three, I mean how many times can a soul be ripped apart and remain intact?”

“Nobody knows because nobody has ever been stupid or crazy enough to try and make more than one, I expect,” Lilly said, clearly deep in thought.

“He isn’t human anymore, he doesn’t even look human,” Harry said, “He must have made more, at least three I would say.”

Lilly nodded, “If his humanity is stripped away each time he creates one I would agree with you.”

“Merlin, this is so fucked up,” Susan muttered, “I mean what do we do now?”

“Hermione’s right, nothing for now,” Draco said, “We have to get on with fixing the vanishing cabinet and keep things looking normal. We can’t do anything now, we don’t have enough information.”

“Which is why Dumbledore is teaching me,” Harry said thoughtfully, “He wants me to destroy them, doesn’t he? The horcruxes?”

“That’s why he’s training you on Voldemort’s life, so you can figure out where they are and what objects they are in,” Neville realised.

“So for now all I can do is take this memory to Dumbledore and play dumb while he shows me the rest of the memories,” Harry said slowly, “Call it gathering intel, if you will.”

There was a general round of nods, because Draco was right. There wasn’t anything else they could do.

“Alright,” Harry said eventually, after a very long silence, “Then I suppose this meeting is adjourned. As much of a shock as this is, Malfoy is right, we can’t do anything about it now, so we just have to try and put it out of our minds and get on with the task at hand.”

Susan sighed, “Well, I suppose I signed myself up for a crazy year when I befriended you Harry.”

Lilly smiled, “Comes with the package, I guess. Right?”

Neville snorted in amusement and said, “Oh yeah, trust me.”

Harry smiled weakly, the bombshell had hit him hard, regardless of what he had told the others, “Let’s get back to our common rooms, I’ll see you in a few weeks for the next DA meeting.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Harry, are you going to be okay?”

They were sitting by the fire in the Gryffindor common room, neither of them had been tired when they got back from the meeting.

“I have to do this alone Hermione,” Harry said quietly, “If Dumbledore asks me to do this…I can’t risk taking anyone else with me, I can’t risk hurting anyone else.”

“Harry, do you really think you would be able to find them all on your own?” Hermione asked softly, “You need help, you need someone by your side.”

“I couldn’t forgive myself if you died because of me Hermione,” Harry admitted, looking to Hermione with panic in his eyes.

“Harry, I could have died any year at this school,” Hermione said, her hand slipping into his, “Frankly, I don’t think there’s any safer place than next to you.”

Harry smiled weakly, “Really?”

“Really,” Hermione promised, “I know it’s a shock, finding out about this. But for now you have to try and put it out of your mind. Take the memory to Dumbledore, and focus on training the DA, that’s what matters at the moment.”

Harry nodded and squeezed Hermione’s hand, “You’re right Hermione, of course you are.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Harry took the memory to Dumbledore who was very grateful, and not at all suspicious. Dumbledore had told Harry about the mead that had poisoned Slughorn, about how it had been meant for him. He thanked Harry but said he wasn’t worried about it, and it was during the meeting that Harry had a brainwave. Dumbledore filed the memory away for a later lesson and politely dismissed Harry who, although he had seen the memory, played the act of being a little annoyed he’d gone to such lengths to retrieve it when he couldn’t even watch it yet.

After the meeting he scurried back to Gryffindor tower and pulled Hermione away from her homework to a quiet corner of the common room.

“Harry!” Hermione hissed, “What is going on?”

“I didn’t realise until I spoke to Dumbledore. The mead that poisoned Slughorn, he was giving it to Dumbledore, it was meant to poison Dumbledore!”

Hermione’s eyes widened, “You think Malfoy is still trying to kill him? Even though we agreed to let things play out?”

Harry nodded, “He had access to Slughorn’s office, it must have been him Hermione.”

“We can’t just run around accusing him, we need to ask him,” Hermione whispered, “Go get the map and the cloak, if we’re lucky he won’t be in his common room.”

Harry nodded and darted up the stairs, returning moments later with the cloak and the map shoved inside his robes. They left the common room and only paused to look at the map when they were sheltered in an alcove at the bottom of the stairs to Gryffindor tower. Curfew was in 5 minutes, so Hermione had a feeling they would need the cloak.

“I solemnly swear that I am up to good,” Harry whispered, and the map came to life.

They searched it for Draco’s dot and found no trace of him in the Slytherin common room or the dungeons. He wasn’t in the library either, or the study hall. But then they saw him, lurking around in the Clock Tower.

“Come on,” Harry muttered, he threw the cloak over them both and they walked through the quiet school to the 5th floor corridor where the main school joined up with the Clock Tower. They ran into no trouble on their way and they saw Draco the moment they walked into the old, wooden building. He was sitting inside the clock, watching the world outside pass by.

“We need a word, Malfoy,” Harry said firmly from beneath the cloak.

Draco jumped and nearly slipped, he steadied himself and glared out into what appeared to be an empty space, “Do you have to be invisible Potter or is that just for extra suspense?”

“It’s because it’s just gone curfew,” Hermione said from beneath the cloak.

“Ah, you’re here too Granger. To what do I owe this pleasure?” Draco asked sarcastically.

“You betrayed us Malfoy,” Harry said hotly, throwing the cloak off to confront the Slytherin face to face, “The mead that poisoned Slughorn, it was supposed to be a gift for Dumbledore. Now who do we know who would want to poison the Headmaster?”

Draco’s face had paled, “I…I forgot,” he said weakly.

“You forgot?” Hermione asked in disbelief, as she now appeared from beneath the cloak.

“I put it there at the start of term, as a backup plan in case the necklace didn’t work!” Draco exclaimed, “I swear, I forgot it was there.”

“You nearly killed me Malfoy!”

“I didn’t mean to try and kill you,” Draco said, “Ironically after all of these years I actually don’t want you dead at the moment.”

Hermione couldn’t help but snigger, “Harry, he’s telling the truth,” she said, “He put it there before he knew what we were trying to do. He didn’t betray us.”

“You can’t know that Hermione, he’s a good liar,” Harry said, narrowing his eyes at the Slytherin.

“Yes well, not to me,” Hermione said honestly, “Trust me Harry, he’s not lying.”

Harry turned to his friend, “You’re certain?”

“Positive,” Hermione said firmly.

Harry sighed and shot one last glance towards Malfoy, “You’re in luck this time Malfoy, but you better not think about betraying us.”

Draco raised his hands in a mock surrender, and Harry threw the cloak over himself, “Come on Hermione.”

“No, you go on,” Hermione said, “I’ll find my way back alright if you leave me with the map, I know the secret passages.”

She couldn’t even see Harry’s face but she knew that he disapproved. There was a sigh from underneath the cloak, and then, “Fine, but I’ll come looking for you if you’re not back within an hour.”

Hermione rolled her eyes, “Don’t worry, I won’t be long,” she said, walking over to Draco and climbing up onto the clock face to sit with him.

“How do you know he’s not just standing there watching?” Draco asked, with a disdainful look at the spot where Harry had been standing.

“Well if he is he’ll leave because he won’t want to watch this,” Hermione said, leaning forward slightly and kissing Draco lightly on the lips. There was a scoff of disgust and the sound of footsteps walking away. Draco couldn’t stop himself from chuckling as Hermione grinned in amusement and leant back.

“This is a nice hiding spot.”

“I like to think up here,” Draco admitted as he looked out of the window, “It’s beautiful, especially at night.”

Hermione looked out of the window silently. She couldn’t help but think about Ron, about how he had abandoned them.

“Have you ever been in love, Malfoy?”

“What?”

Hermione looked at the blonde boy, “You had three girlfriends last year, did you love any of them?”

Draco frowned, “I don’t think so. I had feelings for them but love…” he trailed off.

Hermione sighed softly.

“Did you love Weasley?”

“I don’t know,” Hermione replied honestly, “As a friend, yes. As more than that? I don’t know.”

“Who even knows what love is,” Draco sighed.

“My Mum used to always say that love is friendship that has caught fire. It is quiet understanding, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving…loyalty in good and bad times. It settles for less than perfection and makes allowances for human weaknesses.”

Draco was silent as he contemplated that thought. Hermione didn’t know if he was thinking along the same lines as her, but she couldn’t get the thought out of her head. She and Draco had mutual confidence, they understood each other, sometimes without words. They forgave each other for things that had happened in the past, and through the worst time in Draco’s life Hermione had been there, she was still here. He wasn’t perfect, and she knew that but it had never bothered her, just like she let his flaws slide, because they didn’t seem important.

“That’s pretty profound stuff,” Draco said, after clearing his throat.

Hermione nodded, reeling from the thought process going on in her head.

“So by that criteria, do you love Weasley?”

“No,” Hermione replied simply, “Did you love Daphne, Susan or Lilly?”

“Not like that,” Draco admitted, “Not that burning sort of…need. That was never there.”

“No,” Hermione agreed, thinking about Ron.

“You should go Granger, before Potter sends out a search party.”

His voice was cooler than usual, and Hermione sensed she had made him uncomfortable. She jumped down from the clock and looked at the map, “Be careful on your way back Malfoy, Filch is patrolling the dungeons.”

Draco gave her a stiff nod, “See you around Granger.”

“See you around Malfoy,” Hermione said simply, turning her back on him and leaving the Clock Tower.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

January quickly faded into February, and the situation didn’t change. Hermione hadn’t seen Draco since that night in the Clock Tower, and Susan had reported no breakthrough in the vanishing cabinet situation. As Draco had said, it was like a radio, there were thousands of frequencies and he had to test each one to find the correct one. There was no skill in it, but eventually one of the frequencies would turn out to be the right one and the cabinet would be tuned, as it were. 

In the meantime Hermione had been getting on with school regardless. In February they had their first apparition lesson, and even Hermione found it difficult. The month wore on, and brought Valentine’s Day, a day which made Hermione feel nauseous. She had never had a Valentine’s Day card, or gift, in her life and saw no reason to celebrate such a ridiculous day. 

So naturally when she woke up on the 14th of February she sighed heavily. The thought of going down into the great hall which would be decorated with petals and other ridiculous things made her want to roll her eyes until they fell out. She actually contemplated skipping breakfast until she heard a shriek outside of her four-poster that sounded very Lavender-esque.

Hermione pushed back the curtains in irritation and said, “Do you have to scream about whatever gift won-won gave you?”

Lavender glared at Hermione, “He didn’t give me anything because we have broken up!” she said, “You’re the one with a gift.”

Hermione was surprised to see that she had a gift, for the first time ever. Sitting at the end of her bed was a cuddly toy, a white teddy bear. There was a single, real rose in its paws and a little note next to it.

Hermione snatched the note up and glared at Lavender, “Did you read this?”

Lavender turned her nose up, “Maybe…it better not be from Ron!”

Hermione scoffed, one look at the handwriting told her it wasn’t from Ron, “Honestly Lavender, look at this writing, it’s not Ron’s.”

“Well who’s sending you a Valentine’s then Hermione?” Parvati asked curiously, her head poking out from behind the curtains of her four-poster.

“That is none of your business,” Hermione said, grabbing the bear and pulling her curtains shut once more. She drowned out the sound of Parvati and Lavender gossiping and read the note. It simply said, “Happy Valentine’s Day,” but Hermione knew who it was from anyway, and she couldn’t stop a smile from coming to her face.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The great hall was indeed covered in pink petals and other hideous Valentine’s Day memorabilia, but for once Hermione didn’t actually mind. She didn’t head immediately for the Gryffindor table when she walked in, instead she detoured between the Slytherin and Ravenclaw tables and when she walked past Draco she whispered, “Thanks for the gift Malfoy,” and tried to contain her smirk.

She stopped briefly by Lilly and whispered, “Morning, sorry, but I totally just used talking to you as an excuse to walk by Draco.”

Lilly laughed and said, “I’m not offended, Happy Valentine’s Day.”

Hermione rolled her eyes, “Valentine’s Day…I wish there was less pink.”

Lilly smirked, “Well for someone who doesn’t seem to like today, you’re in a pretty good mood.”

Hermione wanted to talk to Lilly properly but she noticed Snape watching her suspiciously. She shrugged, hoping Lilly had noticed too, “Maybe I’m turning a new leaf, I’ll see you later in study hall?”

“Sure,” Lilly said, waving half-heartedly to Hermione as she crossed the hall and sat down next to Harry at the Gryffindor table.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“How did she know it was from me?” Draco hissed.

Daphne frowned, “What was you?” she asked from her spot next to him.

“I gave her a gift,” Draco said with a wave of his hand, “But I didn’t sign it, how could she know it was from me?”

Daphne raised an eyebrow at him, “Did you use your own handwriting?”

“Well…yeah, but she’s never seen it,” Draco whispered.

“Draco,” Daphne said in disbelief, “Who else does she know who writes in calligraphy?”

“Shit!”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Good morning, Harry!”

Harry narrowed his eyes at his best friend, “Good morning?”

Hermione smiled at him and grabbed a slice of toast.

“Why are you so happy?” Harry asked, “You hate Valentine’s Day.”

Hermione shrugged, “Well I got a gift this morning.”

“Ah, that explains it,” Harry smirked, ‘from Malfoy?”

“The note was written in calligraphy, so I am assuming so,” Hermione said, unable to keep a smile from her face.

“What did he get you?” Harry chuckled.

“A teddy bear with a rose in its hand,” Hermione replied.

Harry’s face fell, and Hermione frowned, “What is it?”

“That bastard!” He exclaimed.

“What are you talking about?”

“That’s what I gave Lilly this morning, anonymously obviously,” Harry said quietly as he stood up and glared across the hall at Draco.

The Slytherin frowned and looked away, and Harry looked positively fuming, “I swear to God, I am going to kill Malfoy one of these days!” he exclaimed as he stomped from the hall.

“What the hell,” Hermione muttered under her breath, glancing across the table to Ginny who looked equally bemused.

“What was that?” The redhead asked.

“I think Harry gave someone a Valentines gift, and I got the same thing from Malfoy,” Hermione said in an undertone, “So he’s pissed that Malfoy stole his idea.”

“Oh,” Ginny said, her frown deepened, “Who did he give a gift to?”

“I don’t know,” Hermione lied, she didn’t want to make Ginny feel any worse.

Ginny didn’t say anything, but she looked quite crestfallen. Hermione sighed, “Oh, Ginny. I meant to ask, why did Ron and Lavender break up at Christmas?”

This seemed to cheer Ginny up, she snorted in amusement, “Because Mum had a go at Lavender, and she burst into tears and spent the night sleeping in the shed.”

Hermione frowned, “That seems a bit mean, for your Mum.”

“Well she hates lav-lav more than phlegm,” Ginny said matter of factly as she got to her feet, “See you later Hermione.”

“See you later,” Hermione said.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

After lunch Hermione had a free period, and she knew Lilly did too. Something had been bugging her all morning so she was looking forward to being able to discuss her thoughts with the girl who had become one of her closest friends.

When Hermione walked into the study hall it was fairly busy but Lilly had saved her a seat so she slipped in next to her at the far end of the hall.

“Hey,” Lilly whispered.

Sometimes the hall was left alone, but at other times teachers patrolled to keep an eye on things. Today was one of those days and Professor Aurora Sinistra was the designated teacher. She was okay though, she was the youngest teacher among the staff and she was very fair.

“Hi,” Hermione said, “Did you get a gift this morning?”

Lilly nodded, “A black teddy bear, with a rose,” she said, unable to stop herself from smiling, “From a certain chosen one.”

“Did he sign it?” Hermione asked in surprise.

“No, but I recognised his hand-writing,” Lilly chuckled, “The only thing I can’t work out is how he got into the Ravenclaw common room!”

“Is it a password like Gryffindor and Slytherin?” Hermione asked curiously.

“No, it’s a door with a knocker that tells you a riddle,” Lilly replied, “It won’t open until you get the riddle right.”

“Would it work if Harry just answered the riddle?” Hermione asked.

Lilly shook her head, “I don’t think so, it would have to recognise a Ravenclaw.”

“What if he wore a Ravenclaw uniform?”

Lilly shook her head again, “No, it wouldn’t fall for that.”

Hermione hummed thoughtfully, “Well what if a Ravenclaw let him in?”

Lilly’s eyes widened, “Yeah, that would work…but who would have let him in? I mean him and Cho aren’t exactly on great terms, are they?”

“No,” Hermione said with an amused smile, “But I think I know who helped him.”

Lilly followed Hermione’s line of sight to the table across from them.

“Luna!” Hermione called in a hushed whisper.

Luna turned around and smiled at Hermione who waved her over.

“Oh hello Hermione,” Luna said brightly as she sat down opposite Hermione and Lilly, “I didn’t know you and Lilly were friends.”

“Oh yeah, fellow library lurkers,” Lilly chuckled.

Luna smiled, “What were you going to ask me Hermione?”

Hermione was still a little unnerved by the way Luna seemed to know exactly what she was thinking, “We were just trying to work out how Harry got into the Ravenclaw tower to give Lilly a Valentine’s gift. Did you help him get in?”

“He did ask me to keep that a secret,” Luna said thoughtfully, “How long did it take you to work out the gift was from Harry?”

“Less than a minute,” Lilly admitted, “I recognised his handwriting.”

Hermione laughed, “Harry really can be so clueless,” she said.

Luna smiled and got up, “He’s very clever too though,” she said somewhat cryptically as she wandered back over to her own table.

“She’s always unnerved me,” Hermione admitted.

“Yeah, I think she’s part seer,” Lilly said as she watched Luna go.

“But do you know something weird,” Hermione said, whispering once more as Sinistra got closer to their table, “Harry and Draco made the same error, using their own handwriting.”

“Draco got you a gift?” Lilly asked with a raised eyebrow.

Hermione nodded, “A bear, with a rose. Harry was so angry when he found out, he thinks Draco stole his idea.”

“Stole his idea?” Lilly asked with a raised eyebrow.

Hermione rolled her eyes, “I don’t know if they’ll ever be friends. Everything is a competition between them.”

“Well I loved the gift all the same, I might tell him so at dinner,” Lilly said cheekily.

Hermione chuckled, “But I’ve been thinking the same thing as you. How the hell did Malfoy get into Gryffindor tower? It’s password protected.”

“And it’s not like another Gryffindor would have helped him,” Lilly added.

“Exactly, and hes never been in there so he can’t know the password,” Hermione said, a frown forming on her forehead.

“Ladies, less talk of Valentine’s gifts and more talk of study,” Sinistra said quietly as she paused behind them.

Hermione blushed, “Sorry Professor Sinistra.”

Sinistra smiled and continued walking down the study hall.

“So how could he have gotten in?” Lilly asked, the moment Sinistra was out of hearing range.

“I have no idea, I mean I suppose he could have heard the password being said if he followed someone,” Hermione mused, “But the fat lady would know he wasn’t a Gryffindor. She only let Sirius Black in because he threatened her.”

“So he couldn’t have used the main entrance…” Lilly said, “Does your dorm have windows, like the ones in Ravenclaw tower?”

Hermione frowned, “Yeah…but they’re pretty small.”

“Draco’s pretty lithe, he would be able to slip in if the windows opened all the way…I think he might have flown up,” Lilly said, a mischievous sparkle in her eye, “How romantic is that!”

“Ladies,” Sinistra voiced again, “If I have to warn you again I’m afraid you will have to leave the study hall.”

“Sorry Professor”, Lilly said with a sheepish grin at Hermione.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Potions was the last class of the day, which happened to be quite convenient for Hermione.

“So,” she said under her breath as they chopped up newt’s tails, “I think I worked out how you got to Gryffindor tower. You flew, didn’t you?”

Draco didn’t even glance at her as he said, “I’ve no idea what you are talking about Granger.”

“Yes you do, I know it was from you, Malfoy,” Hermione whispered, “No one is listening, admit it.”

The class was quite loud today so they could talk comfortably which was a nice change.

“Even if I had I wouldn’t admit it,” Draco said evasively, which in his own weird way was his way of saying that she was right.

Hermione smiled very slightly, “Are you going to Hogsmeade tomorrow?”

“Probably not,” Draco drawled.

“Well Harry’s going with Lilly, so I’ve been well and truly abandoned. I might just stay at the castle,” Hermione said conversationally.

“As charming as your small talk is I have to focus on this potion, Granger,” Draco said coldly, and loud enough for his fellow Slytherins to hear.

Hermione rolled her eyes, “Whatever Malfoy”.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“I’ve never not gone to Hogsmeade,” Hermione said miserably.

“Why can’t you just go along with Harry and Lilly?” Neville asked.

“Because it’s not a friend thing, it’s a date thing,” Hermione explained, “They’ve kissed a few times, so they are kind of an item but also not an item because of Harry’s hero complex.”

Neville snorted, “Sounds complicated.”

“It is,” Hermione assured him.

“Well you could always come with Susan and me,” Neville said, “We’re not going on a date thing, we’re going on a friend thing.”

“Are you sure I wouldn’t be a third wheel?” Hermione asked, she knew Neville quite liked Susan.

“Yeah, I’m sure. I reckon Susan knows I like her, but apparently Hannah likes me and she doesn’t want to upset her friend so…” Neville trailed off.

“That’s an awkward situation,” Hermione agreed.

Neville shrugged, “I didn’t even realise, Hannah and I have been friends forever. It would be like you dating Harry.”

“I can’t imagine that,” Hermione admitted, “I mean he’s great but he’s just…”

“Not Draco Malfoy,” Neville said in amusement.

Hermione shot her friend an amused look, “Oh leave it Nev. I know it’s complicated, but there’s not another way it can be at the moment.”

“It’s always going to be complicated Hermione,” Neville said, “There are so many things going against you. He’s a pure-blood, you’re a muggle-born. He’s a Death Eater, you’re best friends with the chosen one. He’s a Slytherin, you’re a Gryffindor.”

Hermione sighed, “I know, and I know it won’t work out and we’ll both just end up hurt but that doesn’t change the way I feel. I can’t put a stop to this.”

“I get it,” Neville said, “But I’m just worried that when it all explodes it’s going to be Harry and me left picking up the pieces.”

“You’re a good friend Neville,” Hermione said, kissing him on the cheek as she pushed herself to her feet, “But I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Hermione was left feeling like a third wheel the following day at Hogsmeade. Regardless of the fact that Neville and Susan were worried about Hannah’s feelings it was clear that there was some kind of spark between them. After half an hour of sitting between their flirty comments in the Three Broomsticks Hermione got to her feet, “I’m going to head back to the castle, I’ve got some homework to do.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay Hermione?” Neville asked, he was clearly still worried about her.

“I’m sure,” Hermione said, “You two have fun.”

Susan smiled gratefully at Hermione, “I think Draco’s still up at the castle, I saw him before I left.”

“I might see him around then,” Hermione said with a smile, “See you guys later.”

“Bye Hermione,” They said in unison, waving her out of the door.

Hermione shivered and pulled her cloak tighter around herself. It was February, so it was still cold and there was still a light dusting of snow on the ground. She made her way back to the castle and hoped she might bump into Draco. Harry had the map in his dorm so she could easily find him anyway. Now was the best time to talk, the school was empty, all of the teachers were at the Three Broomsticks too.

As it was Hermione didn’t need the map to find Draco, she found him in the first place that she looked. She decided to head up to Gryffindor tower via the Clock Tower on the odd chance she might find him there and it had been a good gamble because he was sitting on a bench in the Clock Tower courtyard wearing his fur cloak, the one that smelled so strongly of his cologne.

“Fancy seeing you here,” Hermione said, dropping down next to him.

“I thought I saw you head out to Hogsmeade.”

“I came back,” Hermione admitted, “Neville said I could go with him and Susan, but it was turning into a date, talk about awkward.”

Draco scoffed, “Susan is into Longbottom?”

“Are you jealous?” Hermione asked, a little hurt by the idea.

“No, I just thought Susan had taste,” Draco said dryly.

“Hey, Neville’s a lovely guy. He’s sweet, and caring, and protective. I think she has wonderful taste,” Hermione said, defending her friend.

Draco raised an eyebrow, “Should I be the jealous one now?”

Hermione smiled, “Are you actually admitting you like me Malfoy?” 

Draco scoffed, “You always do get ahead of yourself Granger.”

Hermione shook her head in exasperation, “I don’t think I will ever know where I stand with you.”

“The feeling is mutual.”

“Hey, you are the complicated one here,” Hermione said, “Not me.”

“Really? You’re not the complicated one? I’m not the one who’s helping her best friends Slytherin arch-enemy try and murder the Headmaster.”

“Keep your voice down,” Hermione whispered, even though they were clearly alone.

Draco raised an eyebrow at her.

“I’m not helping you murder him, I’m just letting things play out like Voldemort wants,” Hermione said quietly.

“And I still haven’t worked out what you and Potter get out of this arrangement,” Draco added.

“Well, nothing,” Hermione said, “We could have told Dumbledore and he would probably just have brushed us off. We could have done something to stop you, none of it would have made a difference to Harry or I.”

“So why are you doing this then, Granger?” Draco asked after a long silence.

“For you Malfoy,” Hermione said honestly, “I’m doing this to save your life.”

“After everything I’ve done to you, you’d go to such lengths just to save me?” Draco asked in disbelief.

“Just because you can’t believe it doesn’t mean it’s not true,” Hermione said, resting her hand on top of his, “I see a good person underneath your incredibly thick concrete, steel bloody enforced walls. It’s that person I’m doing this for.”

As usual Draco’s defence mechanism came into play, he scoffed, “Sometimes I think you can only speak in metaphors.”

Hermione smiled, “Stop insulting me to change the subject,” she said knowingly.

Draco shot her the smallest of smiles, but Hermione saw it clearly enough. She didn’t move her hand from where it was still resting on top of his, and for a moment she managed to convince herself that maybe, just maybe, if they survived all of this they could be something more than complicated.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“So where do you want to go?” Harry asked Lilly somewhat awkwardly as they walked through Hogsmeade on their ‘date’. They had agreed to do this while Harry was using his luck potion, so he did feel slightly like he was using the Ravenclaw.

“Well not to Madam Puddifoots,” Lilly said with a roll of her eyes, “How about we grab some coffee and go for a walk up by the shrieking shack?”

“Sounds perfect,” Harry said honestly. 

They got coffee and they set off, sipping from their cardboard cups. Harry wanted to hold her hand, but he held back, things were still pretty complicated because neither of them knew where they stood with the other.

“Do you think it’s haunted then?” Harry asked conversationally as they drew nearer to the old shack which was rising out of the mid-morning mist.

“Nah,” Lilly said with a shake of her head, “People said they heard screams in there, but they never found any sign of a ghoul…maybe it’s a werewolf hideout,” she joked.

Harry laughed awkwardly, and Lilly raised an eyebrow at him, “Holy shit, am I right? I was totally kidding when I said that!”

“Keep your voice down,” Harry whispered, slightly amused, “You’re not supposed to know that, I’m not even supposed to know that.”

Lilly grinned, “You know a lot of things you aren’t supposed to know. Don’t you, Harry Potter?”

Harry laughed, “Occupational hazard.”

“What’s your occupation, being the chosen git?” Lilly joked.

Harry chortled, “You sounded like Daphne just then.”

Lilly smiled thoughtfully, “I have to be honest on that subject. I never thought you were interested in me, I thought you liked Daphne.”

Harry fingered the edge of his coffee cup awkwardly, “I…well, at first…I did,” he admitted.

“Then you realised how much of a cold bitch she is?” Lilly guessed.

“Aren’t you her friend?” Harry asked in surprise.

Lilly nodded, “Oh, don’t get me wrong I am. But she’s a difficult person to get a grasp on, and it takes forever for her to trust you. I still don’t think she trusts me, to be honest.”

“Is there anyone she does trust?” Harry asked curiously as they reached the crest of the hill.

“Susan,” Lilly replied, “Being friends with those two was actually quite lonely until Hermione got involved in things. They’re so close, they have secrets that only the other knows, and they whisper together in corners.”

“They’ve been friends since they were little though, haven’t they?” Harry said.

“Oh yeah,” Lilly said, “But you weren’t there when they found out they’d both been dating Draco Malfoy. He told them both to keep it a secret, so they knew the other was dating someone but they didn’t know who. I swear to God, I thought Susan was going to murder Daphne.”

“And what did Daphne do?” Harry chuckled.

“Didn’t speak to Susan or even look her way for weeks,” Lilly replied, “They don’t call her the ice queen for nothing, she’s the queen of silent treatment too.”

“I’m quite glad I didn’t get involved then,” Harry said honestly.

Lilly laughed, “So what drew you to me then? And if you say it’s because I remind you of Hermione I swear I will hex you where the sun doesn’t shine.”

“You do kind of remind me of her-”

“Oh Jesus Christ!” Lilly exclaimed, “I’m not just some replacement Hermione-”

“No, Lilly listen! There was a but-”

“I don’t want to hear the but!”

“Why do you women never listen to the but?” Harry muttered irritably.

Lilly was positively fuming now, “So it’s us women now?”

“Oh for god’s sake,” Harry said, pulling his wand out and silencing her, “Right, will you listen now?”

Lilly’s face had reddened and she was shouting wordlessly, and stomping her feet.

“Are you aware you look like a five year old child right now?” Harry asked, unable to stop himself smirking.

Lilly violently, but wordlessly, shouted something that look distinctly like “Fuck you”.

“As I was saying,” Harry said with a grin, “You do remind me of Hermione a little but the thing that drew me to you was just you. It was your personality, you’re funny, smart and confident. I was just drawn to you, and I love being around you. You’re also a very good kisser.”

Lilly glared at him and pointed to her mouth.

“Oh right, sorry,” Harry said, removing the silencing charm.

“As sweet as what you just said was you can’t just silence someone when they aren’t listening to you,” Lilly said irritably.

“I can do whatever I want, I’m the chosen-one,” Harry said smugly.

“Wow, you are an arrogant prick. You really need someone to keep that ego of yours in control,” Lilly said with a raised eyebrow.

“Are you volunteering for the position?” Harry grinned.

“No way,” Lilly said with a shake of her head, she mounted the fence and jumped over it as if heading towards the shrieking shack. She turned around to see if he was following her and said, “I asked you to Hogsmeade, if you want to go out with me you’re going to have to ask me out, chosen one.”

Harry jumped the fence and caught up with her, “Alright then. Do you want to secretly date me and meet me in secret passageways, and snog me in the Room of Requirement?”

Lilly laughed, “You make it sound so appealing.”

“I’m not going to lie to you, dating me would not be easy,” Harry said honestly, “My life is complicated, there are so many people who are after me and anyone I care about. I’m trying to minimize the damage control.”

“Which I think is very noble, for the record,” Lilly said as they reached the shack with its door hanging off its hinges, “and I happen to quite like sneaking around in secret passageways, so yes, I will go out with you Harry.”

Harry grinned and leant down to kiss her, before his lips touched hers he whispered, “You know, I forgot something in that spiel about why I like you. You’re shorter than me.”

Lilly laughed out loud and closed the gap between their lips.

TBC :)


	17. The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same

When Lilly walked back into Hogwarts before dinner she happened to bump into Susan in the main courtyard.

“Why do you have a stupid grin on your face?” Susan smirked.

“Why do you?” Lilly combatted.

“I may have been on a date, what’s your excuse?”

“I got asked out,” Lilly grinned.

“By who?” Susan asked eagerly.

Lilly bit her lip, “I can’t tell you.”

Susan narrowed her eyes, “Why?”

“I just can’t,” Lilly said awkwardly, “He asked me to keep it quiet.”

“Uh-uh,” Susan shook her head, “No way Lilly. The last time we both had boyfriends they were the same guy. No more secrets, you tell me who asked you out, and I’ll tell you who I went on a date with.”

Lilly glanced around the empty courtyard and whispered, “Harry.”

Susan breathed a sigh of relief, “Phew, I was with Neville.”

At first they were both relieved and then they turned to each other with wide eyes.

“You went on a date with Neville?”

“Harry asked you out?”

They laughed at the fact they had asked each other the questions simultaneously.

“You go first,” Lilly said in amusement.

“Well it was supposed to be a friend’s thing,” Susan admitted, “But there was flirting, and he did try to kiss me but I didn’t let him. Hannah has the biggest crush on him, and she’s one of my best friends. I mean what am I supposed to do?”

“Why don’t you try talking to Hannah about it?” Lilly suggested.

“I think I’m going to have to,” Susan sighed, “But anyway, enough about me. How did Harry ask you out? I thought he was going with his whole, ‘I can’t date because people die’ hero complex thing?”

“He is,” Lilly assured the redhead, “So naturally it all has to be kept very secret like Hermione and, you know.”

“Are they dating then?”

“No,” Lilly replied, “He won’t put her in danger, and I don’t blame him. But there’s definitely something going on there.”

Susan hummed thoughtfully, “Well don’t worry, my lips are sealed,” she said as she pretended to zip her lips shut.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When Harry walked into the great hall whistling Hermione pulled him onto the bench next to her suspiciously.

“How was your date?”

“Fine,” Harry said evasively.

Hermione smirked, “Did you kiss her?”

“Maybe.”

“Did you ask her out?”

“Jesus Hermione, can you read my mind?” Harry asked in disbelief.

Hermione grinned, “Yes, you are an open book Harry. If you are intending to keep this new relationship of yours secret you might need my help.”

“Your help?” Harry asked in amusement.

“Well believe it or not I’m pretty good at sneaking around.”

“Please tell me you aren’t saying what I think you’re saying,” Harry muttered, “I mean, I know you’re friends, but you’re not dating him are you?”

“I’m not,” Hermione said irritably, “But what would be the problem if I was?”

“Are you serious?” Harry asked in an angry undertone, “He’s a Death Eater, Hermione. Regardless of anything else, and we don’t know if we can trust him yet.”

“I trust him, Harry.”

“Well I don’t,” Harry whispered.

“I don’t need your approval!” Hermione hissed as she got to her feet irritably.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

As February drew to a close Hermione and Harry made up, and the second DA meeting was held. It was successful, Harry and Hermione were stunned by how much the members had come on in the past month and it left them feeling distinctly hopeful after a dreary month.

With March came more rain, but the snow ceased to fall, and the sun began to shine through the clouds. The days were still cold, but they were brighter at the very least. The 1st of March was Ron’s birthday, and although they weren’t as close as they had always been Harry and Hermione were still on talking terms with the redhead.

“Happy birthday Ron!” Harry said, as Ron opened his presents in the dormitory that morning. He handed his friend a square parcel.

Ron frowned, “Is that for me?”

“Of course it is mate,” Harry said, slightly bemused, “We’re still friends, aren’t we?”

“I wasn’t sure,” Ron said sheepishly, “Don’t get me wrong, I miss hanging around you and Hermione. But I can’t change my mind on this.”

Harry shook his head, “You don’t have to. Friends don’t agree on everything, you’re still in the DA, and I still sit next to you in practically every class.”

“So you’ll still come to Bill and Fleur’s wedding then?” Ron asked.

“Course I will,” Harry replied honestly.

Ron grinned, “Well, I better write to Mum. She was hoping you and Hermione would still come to the Burrow in summer, and stay for the wedding.”

Harry smiled, “I’ll look forward to it, I could use some normalcy right now.”

“How is your quest coming along?”

Harry shrugged, “Nothing has really happened. That’s the thing, it’s not a quest, not really. Dumbledore is dying, we can’t stop that.”

“I know,” Ron said, “But that’s not my issue with it. You’re training the DA for a battle that will happen when Malfoy lets the Death Eaters in. But you could stop that, you could stop them coming in.”

“But if we do that Voldemort would be tipped off, and he’ll kill Malfoy’s parents,” Harry said.

“It’s not a hard choice is it? A Death Eater and his wife or a bunch of innocent kids,” Ron said.

“What would you do if it was your parents?” Harry asked simply, “If it was your Mum and Dad being killed, for the sake of other people living?”

“That’s different, my parents are good people-”

“Lucius Malfoy is a Death Eater, but do you know anything about Narcissa? How do you know she isn’t a good person, roped into marrying Lucius by her pure-blood parents?” Harry interjected, “You don’t know enough about them to make that choice. We can’t play God here Ron, we don’t get to decide who lives and who dies. If we let the Death Eaters come in and we’re as prepared as we should be then everyone will live.”

“If there’s a battle you can’t guarantee that everyone will live,” Ron said firmly.

“Ron, where do you want to fight a battle? Somewhere you don’t know, or in a place where you know every single passage?” Harry said quietly, “We know this school like the back of our hands, and we’ve decided to tip off McGonagall when it all starts to kick off. The common rooms will be locked, the kids will be safe. The only people risking their lives will be the DA, those who know what they are up against and choose to do it anyway.”

Ron sighed, “I understand Harry, and I’ll be there fighting when that battle comes, trust me. But this is just too weird, helping Malfoy…”

“I get it,” Harry said, patting Ron on the shoulder as he got to his feet, “And I’m not angry at you for it, honestly.”

Ron nodded, “Thanks Harry.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Harry and Hermione spent the rest of the day with Ron since it was his birthday. In Harry’s case, he was being beaten at wizard chess, and Hermione spent most of her time correcting his essays. Not long before dinner Ron disappeared upstairs and Hermione smiled at Harry, “Things seem better.”

“I had a chat with him this morning,” Harry admitted, “Told him we were still friends you know? We’re still going to the burrow this summer, aren’t we?”

“I don’t see any reason why not,” Hermione said thoughtfully, “But I don’t know what’s going to happen this summer. I mean, Draco’s going to be on the run, Voldemort’s going to be looking for him isn’t he?”

Harry nodded, “He’ll have two choices, grovel back to Voldemort or go on the run.”

Hermione sighed, “So what do we do? Just leave him and go to the Burrow?”

“We’ll work it out,” Harry promised, “But I can tell you one thing, I’m not coming back to Hogwarts next year.”

“I figured,” Hermione said, “And I’ll come with you, wherever you go. You know that.”

“I know,” Harry said, “Anyway, I think we should go to the Burrow, and to the wedding.”

“I do love weddings,” Hermione said with a smile as Ron re-emerged from the dorm.

He had a stupid grin on his face and Harry frowned at him, “Uh, you okay Ron?”

“It’s driving me mad Harry,” Ron said dreamily.

“What is?” Hermione asked with a confused glance to Harry.

“Not being able to see her, I just need to see her.”

“Didn’t you two break up?” Harry snorted, “She’s probably just having dinner mate.”

“Is she?” Ron asked a little breathlessly, “Do you think she knows who I am?”

“I’d assume so since you spent the best part of the last few months snogging her,” Hermione said matter of factly.

Ron frowned, “Who are you talking about?”

“Who are you talking about?” Harry and Hermione asked in unison.

“Romilda Vane of course, I’m in love with her!” Ron exclaimed.

“Romilda Vane?” Hermione mouthed at Harry.

Harry hit himself in the head, “Shit! Ron, did you eat the chocolate cauldrons in the dorm?”

Ron nodded absentmindedly, “They were a birthday present from Romilda.”

“I got them on Valentine’s Day,” Harry muttered to Hermione.

“So Daphne was right, they were trying to slip you a love potion,” Hermione whispered.

“Do you know the antidote to a love potion?” Harry asked.

Hermione nodded, “Yeah, but I can’t make one here. I don’t have the right ingredients.”

“I want to see her Harry,” Ron said louder, “I’m in love with her!”

“Alright,” Harry said irritably, “You’re in love with her, have you ever actually met her?”

Ron frowned, “No…can you introduce me?”

“Of course we will Ron, come on,” Hermione said brightly, “I think she’s down in the dungeons.”

“What’s she doing down there?” Ron asked as he followed Hermione out of the portrait hole.

“Remedial potions,” Hermione compromised.

Harry followed them out and fell in step with Hermione, “Good thinking”

Hermione shot him an amused smile, “Is it bad that part of me wants to keep him like that for a little longer?”

Harry sniggered, “He’d be pissing himself laughing if it was either of us. That love potion Romilda Vane slipped me must be pretty strong though.”

“Love potions strengthen over time,” Hermione explained, “So if Romilda gave you the chocolates a couple of weeks ago they will have been sitting there stewing. But then again, you should know that, didn’t your prince’s book tell you that?”

Harry rolled his eyes, “Look, I know you disapprove but I’ve hardly thought about that recently. I’ve been thinking about other things, and I learned some great spells from that book.”

“Untested home invented spells,” Hermione said, “You have no idea how dangerous they could be!”

“They aren’t though, so what’s the problem?”

Hermione groaned, and Harry glared at her.

“And for the record you haven’t forgotten about the book because you are still getting praised in every single Potions class. Even Draco’s noticed it, he asked me how you had suddenly got so good at potions,” Hermione said irritably.

“Oh come on Hermione, you’re just jealous that you aren’t Slughorn’s favourite anymore,” Harry pointed out.

Hermione glared at him, “I am not!”

“Yes you are.”

“Well if that’s what you think why don’t you make the antidote for Ron?” Hermione asked, she had gone from irritated to full-blown pissed off in seconds.

“Look Hermione, I’ve never been the best at anything,” Harry said quickly, “It’s my least favourite subject and for once I don’t have to work at it!”

Hermione sighed, “I’m sorry Harry, I just have a bad feeling about that book.”

“It’ll be fine Hermione,” Harry assured her. 

They reached the dungeons and Hermione managed to make the antidote in under 10 minutes, “Here Ron, have a drink while we wait for Romilda,” she said as she handed him the antidote in a plastic cup.

“Bottoms up!” Ron said, and he downed the potion immediately.

Hermione and Harry watched him carefully as his smile turned into a frown and he looked around himself.

“Uh, why are we in the potions classroom?”

“You need to stop eating other people’s food mate,” Harry grinned, “Those chocolate cauldrons were given to me by Romilda Vane on Valentine’s Day. They were full of love potion.”

“Oh Merlin,” Ron muttered, “Did I do anything embarrassing?”

Hermione grinned in amusement, “Does talking about how much you love Romilda Vane count?”

Ron’s ears had gone bright red, and Harry barked out a laugh, “Come on, let’s go get some dinner lover boy.”

“Please don’t tell Ginny about this, she’ll tell everyone and I can’t handle Fred and George finding out,” Ron mumbled as the trio left the potions classroom together, laughing at Ron’s not so pleasant birthday surprise.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

On Monday morning Harry found himself in potions, next to Daphne. They did talk often enough in class, but Harry was wary of her after what Lilly had told him.

“So, you and Lilly are together,” Daphne whispered that Monday morning as they worked side by side.

“What?” Harry muttered, “How did you know about that? It’s supposed to be a secret!”

It had been a few weeks now, since he and Lilly started officially dating, and Harry thought he had being doing a good job of keeping it a secret. He barely got to saw Lilly, twice a week if he was lucky he could grab a moment with her.

“It’s not a very well-kept secret then,” Daphne said, “I saw you two snogging in the secret passage between the 1st floor and the upper dungeons yesterday.”

Harry’s cheeks burned slightly red, “And you didn’t say anything?”

Daphne smirked, “I didn’t want to intrude on your moment.”

“Don’t tell anyone,” Harry whispered, “I don’t want to put her in danger, I don’t want her to get hurt because of this.”

“Don’t worry Potter, I won’t tell anyone,” Daphne promised, “But you need to be more careful. Next time it could be Snape who catches you.”

“Well thanks for the warning,” Harry said under his breath.

“Don’t mention it,” Daphne said, flashing him a smile.

“Sure.”

“Seriously, don’t mention it,” Daphne said, “I’ve kind of got a reputation to keep up here.”

Harry frowned, “What are you talking about?”

“They’re not going to keep calling me the ice queen if they knew I tipped off Gryffindors about girls trying to slip them love potions, and getting caught snogging their girlfriends in secret passageways, are they?” Daphne muttered.

“Wait, are you saying that’s all an act?” Harry asked in disbelief.

“It’s not all an act,” Daphne whispered, “But it’s not all the truth either. As a Slytherin sometimes it can be a lot easier to have a façade to hide behind.”

“I see your point,” Harry said quietly. But that had his head spinning, everything Lilly had said about the ice queen façade, the bitchiness, it could all be part of the act. His stomach churned with guilt at the thought that ran through his mind then. The thought that he wouldn’t mind getting to know the real Daphne Greengrass, the one underneath the façade.

“Potter, stop dreaming about your girlfriend and put your frogs eyes into your potion before it curdled,” Daphne hissed in his ear.

“Shit, thanks,” Harry said, being pulled out of his reverie.

“I’m starting to think you like your girls smart by the way, two girlfriends, both Ravenclaws?” Daphne said with a raised eyebrow.

“I hadn’t noticed that,” Harry said honestly, “It wasn’t an intentional thing. I mean I don’t think I have a type.”

“I don’t thing Chang is anything like Lilly,” Daphne said, “Lilly’s confident, and strong, I get the impression Chang’s a bit of cry baby.”

“Oh come on, her boyfriend died. You’d cry too,” Harry said, sticking up for his ex, “Don’t get me wrong, she was a nightmare to go out with but I feel her pain.”

“So you and Cedric then?” Daphne teased.

“Not you too,” Harry muttered, “Lilly thought that too, did you know that? She thought I was gay.”

“A large proportion of the school thought that when they saw you sobbing over Cedric’s body,” Daphne said quietly.

“Yeah well they were guilty tears, not gay tears,” Harry said hastily, and he noticed that Daphne couldn’t help but chuckle at that.

Their conversation had to come to a stop there though, because Slughorn began making his way around the class and as usual he stopped for a rather lengthy chat with Harry.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Draco had thought things were going well as the first week of March progressed. He felt like he was finally starting to get somewhere with the vanishing cabinet, and he was certain he had the teachers convinced that everything was normal. 

That was until Snape grabbed him on his way back to the common room one night and dragged him into a disused potions classroom that had the distinctive smell of rotten eggs about it.

“What do you want?” Draco asked irritably as he shook Snape’s hand off of his arm.

“I don’t think you are taking this mission seriously Draco,” Snape hissed.

“I am,” Draco said, glaring at the old potions master.

“Then why are you so calm, and complacent? You don’t look at all anxious, which means you are not doing your job right!” Snape said in an angry whisper.

“Am I not supposed to look normal so people don’t suspect anything?” Draco drawled, “Doesn’t this mean I’m doing a good job?”

“It means you are not working hard enough,” Snape said, “And if you do not start to look like the pressure is getting to you soon then I will have to inform the Dark Lord that you are not up to the task!”

“I am up to the task, I can do this!”

“Then prove it!” Snape hissed, “Work harder!”

Before Draco could bite back Snape pushed him one last time and billowed out of the room. Draco blew out a breath when he heard the footsteps fade away. The pressure hadn’t been getting to him, because he didn’t feel alone. He had people helping him, and supporting him, and Snape could not know about that. He couldn’t put them in danger, any of them, not Susan, Daphne or Lilly and especially not Hermione. As he stood, frozen to the spot in that empty classroom he realised with a sickening jolt what he had to do. The only way to keep Hermione away, was to hurt her badly enough to make her not want to help him anymore, and as painful as it was, that was what he needed to do, to protect her.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Morning Malfoy,” Hermione said politely when she walked past the Slytherin in the great hall.

Draco glared at her, “Don’t talk to me Granger,” he practically spat.

“Alright, I was just being polite,” Hermione frowned.

“Well I don’t want your politeness, you filthy little mudblood!” Draco hissed, stalking past her out of the hall.

Hermione reeled a little and sat down at the Gryffindor table, feeling almost numb. 

“What was that?” Harry muttered angrily.

Hermione shrugged, and looked down at her empty plate. She didn’t feel like eating much after that. Hearing him call her a mudblood again hit her where she was weak. She sighed, “That was Malfoy being Malfoy,” she said bitterly.

She had hoped it was just a one off thing, that maybe he was just in a bad mood. But he started to completely ignore Hermione after that, and she found herself praying to bump into him one on one, to see if this was just something that was happening in public. A couple of days later she did, she saw him walking towards her in the same secret passage she was heading down. When he saw her he turned around but she caught him up and grabbed his arm tightly.

“Malfoy, what’s going on? Why have you been acting like this?” She asked breathlessly.

“Because I’ve been an idiot to fraternise with the likes of you, Granger,” Draco said disdainfully.

“No,” Hermione frowned, “This isn’t right. Who put you up to this? Was it Snape?”

“Nobody put me up to it, I’m just restoring balance to the world,” Draco drawled, “Now can you get your filthy hands off of me?”

Hermione dropped his arm weakly, “Draco, I don’t understand. I thought we…I thought you…”

“You thought I cared about you?” Draco sneered, “How naïve are you Granger? You’re so desperate for love that you look for it in the stupidest places. Even Weasel doesn’t want you.”

Tears fell from Hermione’s eyes, she was helpless to stop them falling, “Screw you Malfoy!” she choked out, “No wonder everybody hates you, you’re a selfless bastard and you don’t care about anyone apart from yourself!”

Draco clapped, “Well done Granger, took you long enough to work it out.”

Hermione pushed past him angrily, wiping tears from her cheeks as she hurried away from him as fast as she possibly could. She told Harry what had happened later that day, and he swore he would curse Draco the next time he saw him. She wouldn’t tell anyone, but Hermione was incredibly hurt by what had happened, and by what Draco had said. She felt a fool for trusting him in the first place when everybody had advised her not to.

“I promised I’d be here to pick up the pieces, and I meant it,” Neville said the night after it had happened, he held out his hand to her and said, “Fancy a trip to the kitchens for some ice cream?”

Hermione smiled weakly at him and nodded, linking her arm through his. They snuck down to the kitchens with no map and no cloak, and it had been fun, which was what Hermione needed to cheer her up. They sat with the house elves and ate ice cream, and then Neville dragged her to Hufflepuff for a chat with Susan and Hannah to cheer her up.

As it was a Saturday night there happened to be a party going on which Neville had sworn he didn’t know about, but Hermione wasn’t sure how much she believed him on that front. 

Susan smiled at Hermione when she saw her, “Oh hey Hermione, I didn’t think you’d come…I heard about…”

“Malfoy being the dick that he is?” Hermione asked coolly, grabbing a butterbeer from the table, “It shouldn’t be a surprise really, everybody warned me about it and I didn’t listen.”

Susan sighed, “It’s still odd, he’s been the same to me. I tried to talk to him yesterday and he said something along the lines of fuck off Bones, I split up with you for a reason I don’t want to listen to your shit anymore.”

“So, he’s reverted to the arse he always was,” Neville said, grabbing a butterbeer.

“It doesn’t make any sense though,” Lilly said, leaning on the back of Hermione’s chair, “Hes been the same with me. But why the sudden change?”

“I don’t know,” Susan said.

“Maybe he just got fed up of playing nice,” Hermione said bitterly.

“Maybe,” Lilly said thoughtfully, “Where’s Harry?”

“Oh he didn’t know there was a party,” Hermione said, “We only came by because Neville was trying to comfort me with ice cream.”

“Hey it worked,” Neville said with a smile, flopping down next to her, “I keep my promises Hermione, and I promised I’d pick up the pieces when Malfoy inevitably screwed you over.”

“You’re a rare breed Neville, a true gentleman,” Susan said fondly as Hannah joined the group.

“Hey Hermione! Hey Neville,” She said brightly, “I didn’t know you guys were coming.”

“Yeah, we sort of ended up here by chance,” Neville said, a little awkwardly.

“I heard about Malfoy, sorry Hermione,” Hannah said sympathetically.

Hermione just shrugged, and Daphne, who had been sitting quietly across from Hermione and Neville said, “Something must have happened to make him change.”

“I don’t care what happened, you didn’t hear the things he said to me,” Hermione said, tears burning in her eyes just at the memory “It would take a hell of a lot to forgive him for that.”

“Try and forget about him for a night Hermione,” Susan said gently, “Just have fun with us, your friends. Who needs Draco Malfoy, right?”

Hermione nodded, although she didn’t quite believe it herself yet. But she was trying to convince herself, and that started by at least pretending she wasn’t totally cut up by what had happened.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

As March wore on Draco’s silent treatment continued and Hermione didn’t try and speak to him alone again. Other problems arose when she, Harry and Ron found out that Aragog was sick and Hagrid was incredibly upset about this. Ron had been terribly insensitive about the whole issue, and Hermione had scolded him and gone for tea with Hagrid who had cried on her for half an hour. Things were quickly returning to the way they had been before Draco Malfoy got involved in her life which made her feel pretty miserable. But a welcome distraction came in the form of a Quidditch match. Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff.

“Have you forgotten that you are the captain of the Quidditch team?” Lilly whispered a few days before the match as they hid in one of the passages to Hogsmeade that had caved in.

“How can I forget? I’ve barely seen you because of Quidditch practices,” Harry said irritably, “Why did we both have to be on Quidditch teams?”

“Because we both like Quidditch?” Lilly suggested.

Harry smirked, “Don’t be a smart arse.”

“You’ve got to thrash Hufflepuff on Saturday, I’ve got a bet on with Suse,” Lilly said, pulling Harry in for another kiss.

When they broke apart Harry grinned, “Be prepared for a good game Lil.”

“Pressure’s on Harry,” Lilly said with a competitive glint in her eyes, “If you lose, the stakes are higher for your game against me.”

Lilly was short, and thin, like Harry. So, like Harry she was a seeker and she was also a very good one, on a par with Ginny Weasley.

“You wish Lillian,” Harry teased.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Harry was feeling good about the game, until a spanner was well and truly thrown in the works on Friday afternoon. Harry had given Ron a loan of his potions book, and Ron had attempted to use one of the prince’s tips and had gotten it wrong. The cauldron had exploded, and Ron was confined to the hospital wing.

“Is he going to be alright?” Hermione asked anxiously when Madam Pomfrey emerged from the hospital wing. She and Harry had been waiting outside for news.

“Mr. Weasley will be fine, but he has some burns, so I will have to keep him here for a day or so until they heal,” Pomfrey informed them.

Harry groaned, “McLaggen is going to have to play Keeper tomorrow!”

“Don’t be so insensitive Harry!” Hermione said hotly, “Your best friend could have been killed!”

Pomfrey watched the exchange with hidden amusement, “You can see him briefly if you like.”

Hermione nodded and stalked away from Harry into the hospital wing, where Ron was lying bandaged up a little. 

“Hey Hermione,” he said weakly.

“Pomfrey says you’re going to be okay after a day or so,” Hermione said, sitting down on the edge of his bed.

“Is Harry pissed that I’ll miss the game?” Ron asked.

Hermione shook her head, “No, he’s just not looking forward to dealing with McLaggen.”

“Well he is a prick,” Ron said, and Hermione snorted in amusement.

Ron grinned, “Were you worried about me?”

Alarm bells rang in Hermione’s head, she frowned and looked at Ron, “Yeah, you’re my best friend Ron.”

She had put emphasis on the word ‘friend’, and she hoped Ron had noticed as Harry joined them by his bedside.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The following morning brought rain, and mist. Harry complained about the conditions all the way down to the pitch, and he was still muttering about it when Hermione left him to find a good spot in the stands. 

She spotted Lilly on her way in and called her over.

“Are students allowed in stands apart from their own?” Hermione asked.

Lilly nodded, “Yeah, unless their involved in the match.”

“Well since Ravenclaw isn’t involved do you want to keep me company?” Hermione asked, “Harry and Ginny play on the team and Ron’s in the hospital wing. I hate watching Quidditch alone, I always worry something will happen to Harry.”

“Well you aren’t the only one with that worry today,” Lilly said as she made her way up the wooden stairs of one of the Gryffindor stands with Hermione.

“He’s normally okay,” Hermione said with a smile, “But he is quite reckless.”

“I’d noticed,” Lilly laughed, “Playing against him in May could be fun.”

Hermione chuckled as they found a spot at the front of the stand and looked across at the commentary stand, “Oh Merlin, is that Luna?”

Lilly laughed loudly, “Wow, this could be interesting,” she grinned.

Hermione agreed, and they turned out to be right. When the game began Luna got the names of several players wrong and kept pointing out things like interesting shaped clouds. Hufflepuff scored first, and Harry spent a fair amount of time at the beginning of the match shouting at McLaggen. It was all going okay, Gryffindor were scoring, Hufflepuff were scoring, and then things took a turn for the worse.

“What the hell is McLaggen doing?” Hermione despaired.

Lilly frowned, “It looks like he’s taken a bat off of one of the beaters.”

“He better not try and hit that bludger,” Hermione said as her eyes widened.

Seconds after Hermione had spoken Cormac did just that and they watched as the bludger soared at Harry at high speed and smacked him in the head with a sickening thud.

Hermione screamed, and Lilly grabbed her friends hand, gripping it tightly.

“Harry!”

Hermione was frozen, and Lilly tugged at her, “Come on Hermione!” she snapped.

This snapped Hermione out of her panic induced state and still gripping each other’s hands they rushed down the rickety old steps to the edge of the pitch as Madam Pomfrey, who was always on standby at Quidditch games, put Harry on a stretcher. There was a lot of blood pouring down the side of his face, and he was unconscious.

Pomfrey shot them a wary look and sighed, “I suppose you better come with me to the hospital wing then Miss. Granger, and…”

“Lilly Moon,” Lilly said, “I’m his…friend.”

Pomfrey smiled slightly, and nodded, “Come on then,” she said as she levitated the stretcher and headed towards the school. Hermione and Lilly followed silently, they didn’t speak until they reached the hospital wing where they were asked to wait outside.

“He’ll be okay Lilly,” Hermione said, although she was very pale in the face, “He always is.”

“Did you see how much blood there was?” Lilly asked weakly, “God, I hate this. I just want a normal boyfriend who doesn’t nearly die every 5 minutes.”

“No chance of that dating Harry Potter,” Susan said as she walked into the waiting area and sat down against one of the walls, “Is he going to be alright?”

“We don’t know, she shut the doors on us and hasn’t told us anything,” Lilly said anxiously.

“Madam Pomfrey has fixed worse things than a bludger to the head Lil, he’ll be fine,” Susan said, patting the ground next to her, “Sit down.”

“She won’t,” Another voice said as Daphne joined them, “She’ll start thinking about the worst case scenario if she stops pacing, right Lil?”

Lilly nodded, and Daphne sat down on the floor next to Susan, “But Suse is right, he’s Harry Potter. A bludger to the head is one of the better injuries he’s had.”

Hermione smiled and said, “And think how smug he’ll be when he found out he had four girls anxiously waiting outside the hospital wing to see how he was.”

“Too smug,” A fifth voice said as Neville joined them, “Hs ego is already inflated enough.”

Hermione smiled and said, “It’s a Potter family trait from what Sirius told me before he died.”

Neville shook his head in amusement and leant against another of the walls, “How long has it been since Pomfrey took him in there?”

“About an hour,” Hermione replied, casting her eyes once more to the black doors just as they were pushed open.

Madam Pomfrey looked close to rolling her eyes at the small crowd outside of the hospital wing, “Mr. Potter will be fine, he had a cracked skull which was fixed easily enough but he does need his rest so he can only have one visitor, and only for a moment.”

Everyone looked at Lilly, who frowned, “Are you sure? Hermione, you’re his best friend-”

“You were the most worried Lilly, you go,” Hermione said with a smile.

Lilly smiled weakly at her, “Thanks,” she said, hurrying into the hospital wing and to Harry’s bedside.

He was awake, but he looked like he was dopey on pain potions.

“Lil?”

“Hey Harry,” Lilly whispered, “You had me worried sick today.”

“Told you dating me wouldn’t be easy,” Harry mumbled sleepily.

“You didn’t half mean it,” Lilly said fondly as she pushed his sweaty hair away from his eyes.

“D’you want out?”

“No,” Lilly said softly, “I’m sticking with you now Harry.”

Harry smiled and squeezed her hand, he mumbled something unintelligible and drifted off to sleep. Lilly breathed a sigh of relief and was then promptly thrown out by Madam Pomfrey.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“You never told me you had a girlfriend.”

“Huh?”

Harry had awoken in the middle of the night in the hospital wing, and Ron’s bed was next to his.

“That girl earlier,” Ron said, looking at Harry in amusement.

“Oh, Lilly,” Harry said weakly, “I was keeping it secret, I don’t want anyone to find out and tell Voldemort.”

“You don’t want her to get hurt.”

“Yeah.”

“Isn’t it weird, that she has the same name as your Mum?” Ron asked.

Harry shrugged, “Not really, at first it was a bit weird but I don’t really think about it.”

“Well,” Ron said awkwardly, “Have you and her…you know?”

“No,” Harry said frowning, this conversation was getting far too awkward for his liking, “Why, did you and Lavender…”

Ron’s ears went red and he nodded then brought the subject back around to Harry, “But I mean that will be awkward when you get to that point…won’t it?”

“I dunno,” Harry said, silently cursing Ron for bringing up the subject at all.

TBC :)


	18. The Threat of Betrayal

The following morning Harry was finally well enough to be ‘briefed’ on his injuries by Madam Pomfrey.

“You had a cracked skull Mr. Potter, it was easily fixed but I would like to keep you in the hospital wing for another night, just to be certain,” Pomfrey said.

Harry groaned, and let his head fall back against the pillow as Ginny walked over to his bed.

“We lost, didn’t we?”

Ginny nodded, “Only by 20 points, but yeah,” she admitted.

Harry groaned in frustration, “God, I am going to kill McLaggen!” he said as he attempted to get out of bed and was wrestled back into it by Pomfrey.

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll kill him first if I see him,” Ginny said irritably, “And I reckon the rest of the team feel the same.”

Ron nodded, “I heard the commentary from here, sounded like a funny match. Luna should always do it from now on.”

Ginny laughed and Harry shook his head in amusement. Visiting hours ended, and he was left making small talk with Ron and silently cursing McLaggen. Around midday the doors to the hospital wing opened and a stretcher was brought in. Harry being Harry was very nosy and so he craned his neck to see who was on the stretcher. He could have whooped for joy when he realised it was McLaggen who appeared to have been the victim of a very nasty hex. 

McGonagall followed the stretcher in and Harry tried to stop himself from grinning when he noticed her looking his way.

“It seems someone got your revenge for you Mr. Potter,” McGonagall said as she paused by the end of his bed.

“Who did it Professor?” Harry asked curiously.

“A certain Ravenclaw by the name of Miss. Moon,” McGonagall said with a knowing look. Harry found he didn’t mind McGonagall knowing about his relationship with Lilly. He wasn’t worried about her conveying that information to Voldemort. He didn’t trust Dumbledore at the moment, but he did know that he was definitely not in cohorts with Voldemort.

Harry grinned, “I hope you didn’t punish her too badly Professor.” 

The smallest of smiles cracked at McGonagall’s lips, “As I saw nothing I was not at liberty to give out a detention or take any points away,” she said simply.

Harry’s grin widened, “Of course,” he said as McGonagall left McLaggen in Pomfrey’s hands and left the hospital wing.

Ron grinned from next to him, “Sounds like a good girlfriend. I wish Lavender had hexed people for me.”

Harry laughed, “She’s hotheaded, but she got away with it.”

Ron sniggered, “Because McGonagall was grateful to her, I bet she would have given her points if she could have.”

Harry grinned at his best friend, “I wouldn’t be surprised if she did give her points.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

As March wore on and the third DA meeting got closer Harry cornered Hermione in the library one night.

“Hermione, we need to discuss the possibility that-”

“That Malfoy is going to betray us, I know,” Hermione finished.

Harry glanced at her warily, “The way he’s been acting…I can’t think of another reason for it. I know your charmed parchment would have activated if he had, but what if it’s only a matter of time?”

Hermione sighed, “I’ve been thinking the same thing.”

“Then you know what we have to do, don’t you?” Harry whispered.

“What we have to do?” Hermione asked coolly as she gathered her books and got to her feet, “You aren’t the one who has to obliviate someone you…” she trailed off.

“I’d do it if I could, but I’m not good enough at it,” Harry said honestly, “If I knew anybody else as good as you I would ask them but I don’t.”

Hermione was silent as she slung her bag over her shoulder.

“So will you do it?” Harry asked quietly, “I have another meeting with Dumbledore tonight, and I don’t want to tell Malfoy anymore if he’s feeding what we’re doing to Snape, or worse…”

“I’ll do it,” Hermione said, slipping her wand into her pocket and fixing Harry with a steely look, “Where is he?”

“In an alcove somewhere in the dungeons,” Harry replied, “Hermione I’m sorry-”

Hermione shook her head, “I told you, my loyalty is with you before anyone else Harry. It has to be done,” she said firmly.

Harry opened his mouth, but Hermione never found out what he was going to say because she left the library as quickly as she could and ducked into a secret passageway to the dungeons. Her heart was beating so loudly that she could hear blood pumping in her ears. Her breathing was a little erratic, and she was trying desperately to hold it together. But she only made it halfway down the stairs when it all became too much. She slid down onto one of the steps and leant against the cold wall as her chest hurt with the pain of holding back the sobs. 

Hermione knew it had to be done, but she felt so betrayed and so angry with Malfoy. She didn’t want to make him forget her, but she had no choice. Harry was always going to be her first priority, he had to be, so she had no choice, she had to do this.

She angrily wiped her tears away and pushed herself to her feet. She took a deep breath to steady herself and continued on her way. The dungeons were fairly empty, but Snape could be nearby, so when Hermione slipped behind a tapestry into a small square alcove and saw Draco sitting on the floor, she knew she didn’t have much time.

“What do you want Granger?” he hissed.

“I’m sorry Malfoy,” Hermione said weakly as she used a spell that bound his hands and legs together so that he couldn’t reach his wand, “But Harry thinks you’re going to betray us to Snape, or Voldemort and-” her voice cracked, “-with the way you’ve been acting I can’t see any reason not to believe him.”

“Hermione, no, I haven’t-”

“I have to do this Malfoy,” Hermione cut in, her wand shaking in her hand as she pointed it at him. She managed to choke out the words, “I have no choice.”

“You are the person who told me that we always have a choice Hermione,” Draco said, “You don’t have to do this, please don’t do this.”

“Harry said it was the only way, and he’s right,” Hermione said, ignoring the tears spilling down her cheeks, “You can’t remember anything that we told you. It’s too much of a risk.”

Draco stared at her desperately, “If you have to make me forget about horcruxes then do it. But please don’t make me forget about you,” he begged.

“I’m so sorry Draco,” Hermione said, her voice breaking as she tried desperately to hold her wand steady.

“No, no, Hermione, don’t do this!”

“Obliviate,” Hermione whispered. Keeping her wand steady as she pushed the memories to the back of Draco’s mind was one of the hardest things she had ever had to do. When she had finished with the first part of the spell she dropped to her knees in front of him and looked into his vacant grey eyes.

“You will not remember any of this. You will forget about horcruxes. You will forget about the DA,” Hermione choked out, she had to keep her eyes open to finish the spell but the tears were spilling down her cheeks and dripping onto her t-shirt now, “You will forget about…us. All you will remember is how hard you were trying to fix the vanishing cabinet.”

His eyes lost their glazed over look, and Hermione knew she had about 5 minutes to get out before he came to his senses. She stood up and ran from the room, leaving the tapestry swaying behind her from the force she had pushed through it. Her chest wracked with sobs as she rushed up a passageway to the upper dungeons, she held it in as best she could and was grateful that the corridors were quiet tonight. When Hermione tapped out the rhythm to gain entrance to the Hufflepuff common room the tears began to spill from her eyes once more, and the moment she walked in Susan knew something was very wrong.

“Come with me,” She whispered, showing Hermione into the tunnel that led to the dormitories. They went past the dorms and kept crawling until eventually the tunnel got narrower and started to slope downwards.

“Down here,” Susan said, lying on her back and sliding down the tunnel. Hermione followed her and landed with a soft bump at the bottom. She looked around and was amazed, this seemed to be the source of an underground spring. It was encased in stone, and it looked like a very old swimming pool, or a very large bath.

“Helga Hufflepuff must have done this,” Susan said, “When she built the Hufflepuff common room here. You can put your feet in it, it’s lovely and warm.”

Hermione watched her silently as she kicked off her shoes and sat on the stone wall, letting the lower half of her legs sit in the pool.

“Are you joining me or not?” Susan asked with a small smile.

Hermione nodded and kicked off her own shoes and socks. She jumped onto the wall and put her feet into the soothing, warm water. They were silent for a while, Hermione didn’t think she could bring herself to speak without bursting into tears.

“What’s happened Hermione?” Susan eventually asked gently.

“Malfoy,” Hermione choked out weakly.

“What did he do?”

“Harry thinks he’s going to betray us,” Hermione whispered.

Susan bit her lip, “We all think so too Hermione, I mean he has been acting odd recently.”

“I know,” Hermione said, “Harry was right, Malfoy knew too much.”

“Knew?” Susan asked weakly, “Oh Merlin, Hermione, Harry didn’t ask you to…”

Hermione nodded, wiping away her tears and groaning in frustration at the fact they wouldn’t stop, “It’s done, he doesn’t remember any of it. He doesn’t remember…”

“You?” Susan asked softly, at some point in this conversation she had taken Hermione’s hand but Hermione wasn’t quite sure when that had happened.

Hermione could only nod again, her throat felt so constricted. She knew if she tried to speak she would end up sobbing and she couldn’t let that happen. Draco Malfoy wasn’t going to make her that weak. She didn’t want a repeat of that night on the stairs after Ron had kissed Lavender. She had never wanted to go through that again, and this had been so much worse.

“Bet you wish you’d taken our advice and not gotten attached, right?” Susan joked in an effort to lift Hermione’s mood.

The sentence however, did the opposite. Hermione promptly burst into tears and said, “Please don’t say I told you so Susan.”

“Oh Hermione,” Susan said gently, putting her arm around the Gryffindor, “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“I just feel such a fool Susan, for letting myself believe… I mean he’s Draco Malfoy! He’s the biggest prick out there!”

Susan nodded, “But you wanted to help him Hermione, and that’s very noble of you.”

“I’m sick of being noble, and I am so fed up of crying!” Hermione said irritably.

“I have a suggestion but I don’t think you’re going to like it,” Susan admitted, “I know I’m a Hufflepuff and I’m supposed to be loyal. But from now on do what you think is right, not what Harry says. Did you want to obliviate Draco?”

“No, but Harry was right, he was becoming a threat,” Hermione said weakly.

“What would you have done, if he hadn’t asked you to obliviate him?” Susan asked pointedly.

“Veritaserum,” Hermione said quietly.

“So why didn’t you?”

“I’m scared for Harry, he was so certain that Malfoy was going to betray us. If I hadn’t done it, and he had put Harry’s life in danger…I would never be able to forgive myself,” Hermione whispered, “Harry’s done so much for me, he’s saved my life so many times.”

“Oh…shit…”

“What?” Hermione asked sharply.

Susan swung her legs out of the water and performed a drying charm, “Come on, I have an idea.”

Hermione frowned as she dried her legs and slipped her socks and shoes back on, “Susan, what’s going on?”

Susan shook her head and dragged Hermione out of a door at the side of the room, they emerged in the lower dungeons, the door Susan had opened was disguised to look like a wall full of potions ingredients. They were in a store cupboard close to the main potions classroom.

“I have an idea, but I don’t want to say yet, in case I’m wrong,” Susan said as they walked along the main dungeon corridor, “I need to find Lilly.”

“I don’t know where she is, without the map,” Hermione said, still sniveling a little.

“It’s okay, I can use a locator charm and-”

Hermione looked ahead with a frown when Susan abruptly stopped speaking and her heart sank when she saw Draco walking towards them. They were expecting an insult but he just walked past them without even acknowledging their presence.

Hermione sighed, and Susan busied herself with the locator charm she had just mentioned as they went up a flight of stairs and emerged in the entrance hall.

“She’s in the library,” Susan said in amusement, “No surprises there.”

Hermione smiled weakly and nodded as she and Susan began to climb the marble stairs to the 1st floor, “I wish you would tell me what’s going on, I hate being left in the dark.”

“I might be wrong and I don’t want to worry…well, I don’t want to tell you because if I’m wrong then it’s pointless,” Susan said evasively as she began to walk a little faster.

Hermione tried her best to keep pace with Susan, but it wasn’t exactly easy. Her chest hurt from the crying, and she just wanted to curl up in a ball and sleep for weeks. The library was very quiet when they got there, and they spotted Lilly sitting at a table close to the restricted section.

“Hermione, are you okay?” Lilly asked in an undertone when she spotted them.

“I’m fine,” Hermione lied, dropping down heavily onto the seat next to her, “Now, what is this idea Susan?”

Susan shot a meaningful look at Lilly, “You know a lot about life debts, don’t you Lil?”

Lilly frowned, but nodded, “Yeah, I did a project for History of Magic last year, and the subject I was given was life debts. Why?”

Susan bit her lip, “Normally they just sit idle don’t they, and kick in when they need to?”

“Uh, yes,” Lilly said slowly, “In a normal circumstance somebody saves a person’s life and a life debt is activated. If the person who did the saving is in danger and the person who owes the life debt is nearby the debt activates and they step in to help.”

“What about in abnormal circumstances?” Susan asked.

Hermione frowned, “Susan, where are you going with this?”

“Just tell me Lilly,” Susan said quickly.

Lilly’s frown deepened, “There have been abnormal circumstances. If the bond between the two people is very strong, if the moment when the saving happens is emotionally charged, or one person saves another’s life multiple times a…connection…can occur.”

“That’s what I thought,” Susan muttered, “A connection, as in a constant need to protect the other person?”

“Yes,” Lilly replied, “And the inability to disobey that person if the consequences of disobeying could cause their death.”

Hermione had paled significantly, “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

“Yes, Hermione…I think that’s why you do everything that Harry asks you to do,” Susan said quietly.

“Wait, what?” Lilly asked sharply, “What’s going on?”

Susan glanced around to make sure nobody was nearby, “Even if Hermione doesn’t feel that what Harry asks her to do is the right thing by her, she does it. Something struck me as odd about that, and I remembered proof-reading your final draft for that project on life debts.”

“And you think Hermione has a life debt connection to Harry?” Lilly asked in disbelief, “Because…I didn’t come across a single of those special cases where the people weren’t…involved, in some shape or form. It was most common among a husband saving a wife, or a mother saving a child.”

“What about a brother saving a sister?” Hermione asked weakly.

Lilly frowned, “There were a couple of cases.”

“Then there is your connection, there is nothing romantic between Harry and I,” Hermione said.

Lilly blew out a breath, “Jesus, this is bad. How did you work this out?”

Susan glanced awkwardly at Hermione, “He asked Hermione to obliviate Draco, and she did it. He doesn’t remember anything from the last few months.”

Hermione looked close to tears, so Lilly decided not to push the subject, “Did he betray us?”

“No, but Harry thought he was going to,” Susan whispered, “And he wasn’t alone, we all thought that. We just wouldn’t say so.”

Lilly sighed, “I know. But there were easier ways, like veritaserum. We could easily have stolen some from the locked potions lab.”

“I know, but that’s not what’s important now,” Susan said honestly, “If we’re right about Harry and Hermione’s connection we have to break it. It’s going against her free will.”

“Well, we need to work out what kind of connection it is first. How long have you been doing what Harry says like this Hermione? When did this sense of loyalty start?” Lilly whispered.

“At the start of 6th year,” Hermione answered, after wracking her brains to work that out herself.

“You went to the Ministry at the end of 5th year…did Harry save your life?” Susan asked.

There had been a moment at the Ministry, after the Order had arrived. Harry had grabbed her hand and pulled her to the ground and seconds later a flash of green light had soared towards the spot where she had been standing. 

“Yes.”

“So, it’s not the multiple thing then,” Susan muttered, “Because the sense of loyalty would have been a building thing, it wouldn’t have just come on, right?”

“Right,” Lilly said, “And you said there wasn’t anything romantic between you and Harry. So, was the moment emotionally charged? In the eyes of the saver that is.”

“Well, Harry’s Godfather had just died,” Hermione whispered, “He was terrified of losing someone else.”

“That’s a yes then,” Lilly said in an undertone, “And it explains the nature of the bond. He was scared of losing somebody, and now you do what he says because you are scared of losing him.”

Hermione groaned, “Could this day get any worse?” she muttered.

Susan and Lilly shared a glance as Hermione’s head dropped onto the table with a dull thump.

“What now?” Susan mouthed.

Lilly bit her lip, “The bad news is that breaking a bond like this is hard.”

Hermione made a sound that sounded rather like a cat hissing.

“But the good news is that there might be an easy fix. If Harry tells you that you don’t owe him anything, then the debt is deactivated and you are free from the hold it has over you,” Lilly continued, “But I can’t guarantee that it will work.”

“I’ll try anything,” Hermione said weakly as she looked up. Her eyes were still bloodshot, “I do not want to be connected to Harry right now…not after…”

Lilly nodded, and said, “I understand, but it wasn’t Harry’s fault. He didn’t know about the debt-”

“Of course you would take his side,” Hermione said a little too loudly as she got to her feet, “I’ll get him out of the common room, meet us in the study hall across from Gryffindor tower.”

Before Lilly or Susan could say anymore Hermione had stalked out of the library.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Harry, I need to talk to you now.”

Harry looked up at Hermione as she stood over the desk he was working at in the common room, “Hermione, what-”

“Now, Harry,” Hermione said firmly.

Harry frowned and got up, “Upstairs or outside?”

“Outside,” Hermione said, dragging him in the direction of the portrait hole.

Harry didn’t say anything until they had gone down the stairs and Hermione had shut the door to the study hall behind them.

“What the hell is going on?”

“Do you know what a life debt is?” Hermione asked coolly.

“Uh, not really. I mean, I’ve heard of them,” Harry answered, looking thoroughly confused.

“Well they can have complications. When you saved my life last year at the Ministry you were upset about Sirius dying, which formed a connection between us in the form of a life debt,” Hermione said, pacing the length of the room.

“A connection?” Harry asked.

Hermione nodded, “Haven’t you noticed that I’ve done everything you have asked of me since we got back to school this year?”

Harry frowned as he tried to think back on this.

“You asked me to obliviate Draco and I did, even though I thought veritaserum was a better option,” Hermione said, somewhat bitterly, “When I told Susan she said it reminded her of life debts, and we talked to Lilly who did a project on them last year. She’s certain there’s a life debt connection between you and I which makes me do what you say.”

Harry gaped, “Please tell me it’s breakable.”

Before Hermione could say anything more the door opened and Lilly and Susan walked in.

“I think it’s breakable,” Lilly said, shutting the door behind them, “If you feel strongly about not wanting to have a hold on Hermione you should be able to release her from the debt.”

“How do I do that?” Harry asked.

“Just look her in the eye and say you don’t want her to owe you anything, and that’s she’s free from the debt,” Lilly said.

“How will we know if it’s worked?” Harry asked.

Lilly and Susan shared a look.

“You’ll know, trust me,” Susan said simply.

Harry frowned and turned to Hermione, “Alright,” he said, clearing his throat and making sure he looked directly into her hazel eyes, “You don’t owe me anything Hermione. I don’t want you to owe me a single thing. I don’t want you to do what I say, I want you to be free to make your own choices. I’m releasing you from the life debt.”

Hermione didn’t say anything, and Harry was certain it hadn’t worked. 

“Wait, there’s sometimes a delay,” Lilly said, watching Hermione carefully.

Harry jumped out of his skin when Hermione’s eyes went entirely white, “Jesus Christ! Lilly, is that supposed to happen?”

Lilly couldn’t stop herself from laughing at the look on his face, “Yes, it means it worked. Her eyes will go back to normal in a minute, and she’s going to be really pissed off.”

“Why?” Harry asked, frowning at his girlfriend.

“Uh, how about because you forced her to make the guy she’s in love forget about her?” Susan suggested with a raised eyebrow.

“What? She’s in love with him?” Harry asked in disbelief.

“God Harry, you really are clueless,” Lilly said, almost fondly.

“She can’t be in love with him, he’s Draco Malfoy!” Harry exclaimed.

“People can’t control who they fall in love with Harry!” Lilly said in disbelief.

“But he’s Draco Malfoy!” Harry said hotly.

“Harry James Potter.”

The way Hermione had slowly said his name, in a murderous tone of voice made Harry freeze. He was too scared to even turn around and look at her.

“Hermione-” he began as he slowly turned to face her.

She looked like she might actually kill him.

“You complete and utter arse! Just because I obliviated Snape does not mean it’s the automatic go-to for every situation we find ourselves in! There are better ways to find things out, to extract information from people! If you thought Ron was going to go to Dumbledore would you have had me obliviate him?” Hermione shrieked.

“No-”

“Exactly!” Hermione shouted, “Because you care about him! Did it cross your mind for one second how it made me feel having to make Draco forget me?”

“Look, I’m sorry, I only just found out that you’re in love with him-”

“What?” Hermione snapped, “In love with him? I don’t know where you get your information from but you are sorely misinformed Harry! I am not in love with him, he’s Draco Malfoy! How could I be in love with him? I don’t know why you think that!’”

“Hermione-” Lilly tried to interject.

“No! You two stay out of this! This is between me and him!” Hermione said hotly.

“Oh come on, just duel me then if you’re that pissed,” Harry said irritably.

Hermione whipped out her wand and aimed it at Harry’s chest.

“Hermione! I wasn’t being - ow - serious - argh!”

“You are my best friend Harry, but I hate you right now!” Hermione shouted as she tried to control her tears, “So stay away from me for a while, for your own good!”

“Hermione-”

“I mean it!” Hermione exclaimed, leaving the room and slamming the door shut behind her.

Harry stared after her for a moment, “That went well…”

“You should probably leave her alone for a while,” Susan said, “She’s really upset about what happened with Draco.”

“He was going to betray us.”

“You don’t know that,” Lilly said, “We could have questioned him under veritaserum. If he was innocent then everything would have been fine, and if he was guilty we could have taken further action.”

“I didn’t think of that,” Harry admitted.

“And now Hermione is suffering, and her anger is justified,” Lilly said firmly.

“Oh come on, you’re pissed off with me too?” Harry asked in disbelief.

“You should have called a meeting before you made any decisions. You shouldn’t have just taken it upon yourself to make such a big decision,” Lilly said a little irritably.

“Can’t she just undo it?” Harry asked with a frown.

“Undo it?” Susan asked in disbelief, “Harry, she’s removed his memories. She didn’t take them out and put them in a pensieve, she literally destroyed them. There is no way we can get them back. So we better really hope we don’t need him now!”

“Daphne is going to kill you when she finds out about this,” Lilly added, “You shouldn’t have been so rash Harry!”

“What is this, pick on Harry day?” Harry asked irritably.

Lilly glared at him, “You can’t just make decisions about other people’s lives and not expect them to have consequences! You’re the one who says that we can’t play God! Think about that before you start whining!”

“Lilly-”

Lilly shook her head and left, slamming the door behind her, just as Hermione had done.

“Are you going to shout at me and slam the door too?” Harry asked Susan sarcastically.

“No,” Susan replied, “But be prepared for worse from Daphne. She won’t shout at you, she’ll jinx you…or slap you…or both.”

“Well thank you for the warning,” Harry said irritably.

“You’re welcome,” Susan said, reaching out for the door handle, “And if you want another piece of advice, give it a couple of days before you talk to Lilly. It will take her a while to cool down.”

“Great,” Harry muttered as Susan left him alone in the empty study hall.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The following day was the date of Harry’s next meeting with Dumbledore. It would be happening at 8pm, and the DA meeting was the following night. He intended to hold the others back as he had the last time, so that they could discuss whatever he found out from Dumbledore.

Thankfully, they didn’t have potions that day so Harry was hoping to avoid Daphne. Hermione on the other hand was actively looking for the Slytherin girl. She was in luck, because Ancient Runes was their last class before lunch so Hermione managed to corner her after class.

“Daphne, I need a word.”

“I know you do,” Daphne said, glaring at Hermione as they ducked into an empty classroom, “What were you thinking? You obliviated Draco! I noticed the moment he came into the common room.”

“It’s a long story involving a life debt connection,” Hermione muttered.

“What?” Daphne asked in disbelief.

“I had a life debt connection to Harry,” Hermione said, “Because he saved my life last year at the ministry. It meant that I did everything he asked, so when he asked me to obliviate Draco I just did it.”

“How did you work this out?” Daphne asked quietly.

“Susan and Lilly figured it out after I obliviated Draco, they thought something wasn’t right,” Hermione explained.

“Well what the hell do we do now? You can’t undo a bloody memory charm!” Daphne said hotly.

“I know!” Hermione exclaimed, “Do you honestly think I don’t know that? I made him forget me, if I could just click my fingers and undo it I would, in a second.”

Daphne raised an eyebrow at the brunette, “Oh Merlin…you’re in love with him! You’re actually in love with the bastard.”

“What?” Hermione asked sharply, “No! Why does everyone keep saying that?”

“Maybe because it’s true?” Daphne suggested, “You’ve been miserable recently, and you look like you’ve been crying all night.”

“That doesn’t mean I’m in love with him,” Hermione said hotly, “It just means I miss him, as a friend!”

“Yeah well you’re going to miss him for a long time because he’s not going to remember you,” Daphne said irritably.

“He might,” Hermione said, “But I need your help.”

Daphne frowned, “What do you mean he might?”

“I sort of put a failsafe into the memory charm,” Hermione admitted, “I mean I had to do it because Harry had told me to, but I didn’t want Draco to forget me so I didn’t erase his memories. I locked them away instead.”

“And I’m guessing it’s not just as easy as unlocking them,” Daphne said.

“Not exactly, no,” Hermione said sheepishly, “I need someone who is good at Legilimency to bring them to the forefront of his mind and then I’ll say the code word which should unlock the memories. It’s like hypnotism.”

“What’s hypnotism?”

Hermione shook her head, “It’s a muggle thing, it’s not important. But will you help me? I need to get Draco back to normal before the meeting tomorrow night.”

“Because you want to use veritaserum on him in front of Harry to prove he isn’t going to betray us,” Daphne realised.

“Exactly,” Hermione replied.

“Alright,” Daphne sighed, “I’ll help you. When do you want to do this?”

“Tonight?” Hermione suggested.

Daphne nodded, “We’ll need to make sure we go somewhere we won’t be caught…I’m almost certain the Room of Requirement is being watched after curfew.”

“So am I,” Hermione agreed, “How about the girls’ bathroom on the second floor?”

“Myrtle’s always flooding it, so it’s never used,” Daphne said with a nod, “After curfew, say 9?”

Hermione nodded as a second bell sounded, signifying the start of lunch, “We better go, before anyone catches us together.”

“I’ll see you tonight Granger,” Daphne said, grabbing the door handle as Hermione walked towards one of the portraits which she knew had a secret passage behind it.

“Be careful not to get caught, I’m sure Snape suspects something. Security is tight at the moment,” Hermione said, pulling the portrait forward and stepping into the passageway.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Harry left for Dumbledore’s office at 7.50pm, and Hermione hoped that it was going to be a long meeting. It would be easier to slip away to meet Daphne and Draco if Harry wasn’t around keeping a watchful eye on her. However, Harry had the map and the cloak, so Hermione was going to have to try and get to the second floor blindly.

The minutes ticked by, and Hermione couldn’t stop glancing at the clock. The common room gradually began to empty. Hermione got up to leave at 8.40pm, she wanted to give herself plenty of time to get there in case anything went wrong. She slipped out of the common room easily enough, and she was sure nobody thought anything suspicious.

But, Hermione was wrong. She got to the bottom of the stairs and then Neville appeared from a tapestry with an amused look on his face, “Where we going then?”

“Neville!” Hermione exclaimed, jumping into the air at the shock he had given her.

“You can’t sneak off on your own without Harry’s fancy map, and cloak,” Neville said simply, “So is it the room of requirement, or the dungeons?”

“Neither,” Hermione said, “And you are not my personal body guard by the way.”

“No, I’m your friend and I’m not going to let you sneak around on your own 15 minutes before curfew,” Neville said pointedly, “So where are we going?”

Hermione groaned, “Neville, you can’t tell Harry about this, it’s-”

“Hermione, I’m not Ron,” Neville cut in, “I’m not going to run and tell Harry everything I deem remotely important. I was your friend before I was Harry’s, so one last time, where are we going?”

Hermione rolled her eyes, “Merlin Neville, you don’t give up!” she said a little irritably. She lowered her voice, “We’re going to the second floor girl’s bathroom.”

“You’re aware there’s one across the hall, right?” Neville joked.

“Yes, but I’m meeting someone there,” Hermione said in an undertone, “And Myrtle always floods the place so nobody will look there.”

“Right, if this is a snogging session with Malfoy maybe I shouldn’t go,” Neville teased.

Hermione couldn’t help it, she cracked a small smile, “No, it’s not. I know you heard about what happened with his memories. I put a failsafe into the charm, and I’m going to try and make him remember.”

“Harry won’t be happy about that,” Neville said as they ducked into a passageway behind a mirror.

“Harry can’t control me anymore,” Hermione said coolly.

“What?” Neville frowned, “Control you? Is that why you two aren’t speaking at the moment?”

“What do you know of life debts, Neville?” Hermione asked.

“Just that they’re a sleeper sort of magic. They activate when they need to,” Neville replied, “Why?”

“Well sometimes they can go wrong and form a connection between the saver and the person who was saved,” Hermione said simply, “And that was what happened when Harry saved me at the ministry last year.”

“So every time he asked you to do something you did it,” Neville said in disbelief.

Hermione nodded, “Including obliviating Draco. So now I’m going to fix the damage, I’m going to bring the memories back and give him veritaserum at tomorrow’s meeting. Then Harry will see that he’s not going to betray us.”

“I can only see one fault with your plan,” Neville admitted, “What if we find out he is going to betray us?”

“Then we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Hermione said darkly as the passage came to an end behind a tapestry outside of the Arithmancy classroom on the 5th floor.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Daphne, why the hell are we in a girls’ bathroom?” Draco asked irritably.

“Because we’re meeting someone,” Daphne explained.

“I don’t have time to meet people, I’m kind of busy this year,” Draco drawled.

“I’ve noticed,” Daphne said coolly, “But you will wait here with me.”

“Or what?” Draco challenged.

“Or I’ll bind you to one of the toilets,” Daphne said wickedly, “So you’ll be forced to stay.”

Draco glared at her, “I don’t know what I ever saw in you. You’re an evil bitch.”

“Maybe that’s what you saw in me,” Daphne smirked.

Draco’s glare softened slightly, “Will you at least tell me who we’re meeting?”

“Sorry, no can do,” Daphne said evasively.

Draco groaned irritably, and shot his friend another glare.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Neville!”

“How was I supposed to know that the stupid thing would bite if I kicked it?”

“Because it’s a cat!” Hermione said in disbelief, “What do you think cats do if you kick them?”

“Run away?” Neville suggested, nursing his hand which was now slightly swollen up.

“Poor Mrs. Norris,” Hermione said.

“Poor Mrs. Norris? Did it escape your notice that she is one evil cat?” Neville asked with a raised eyebrow. They had managed to get past the third floor, but Neville had just kicked Mrs. Norris as she walked back and forth outside of the trophy room. 

They were currently walking down a sloped passageway that would bring them out close to Myrtles bathroom. 

“What do you have against cats?” Hermione asked in exasperation.

“They eat things,” Neville said, with narrowed eyes, “That ugly ginger cat that lurks in our common room ate my toad!”

“Neville, that’s Crookshanks, she’s my cat!” Hermione exclaimed.

“Trevor was my toad! I never even got to bury him, I couldn’t find his body,” Neville said, looking genuinely upset about this.

“Neville, he was a toad!” 

“He was still my toad,” Neville said, “And I miss Trevor…”

Hermione looked at Neville incredulously as they reached the end of the passageway. She stuck her head out and didn’t see any immediate threats in the corridor, so she and Neville darted across the hall to Myrtles bathroom. The door was closed, but there was a large puddle and the usual sign saying that the bathroom was closed due to flooding.

“Come on,” Hermione whispered, opening the door and slipping in with Neville close at her heels.

“Granger?" Draco asked in disbelief, “And Longbottom? What are you doing here?”

TBC :)


	19. The Final Memories

PREVIOUSLY

“Granger?” Draco asked in disbelief, “And Longbottom? What are you doing here?”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“They are the people we are meeting,” Daphne said, “You don’t remember, but you’re friends with them, sort of. Anyway, Hermione had to perform a memory charm on you, but she’s going to undo it-”

“I am not letting that filthy little Mudblood anywhere near my brain!” Draco exclaimed.

“Screw this,” Daphne muttered, “Silencio!”

Draco began to shout wordlessly, and Neville had to suppress his laughter as his face got redder and redder.

Hermione bit her lip, “Sorry Draco, you will understand when we are done,” she said as she used the same spell that she had used before she obliviated him; the spell that bound his hands and legs together. He looked positively outraged.

“Alright,” Hermione said, kneeling down on the wet floor in front of Draco, “I need you to pull the memories forward Daphne.”

Daphne nodded and knelt down next to Hermione.

“Neville, can you keep watch?” Hermione asked as she looked up at her fellow Gryffindor.

Neville nodded, “Course, shout if you need me.”

Hermione smiled, “We will,” she promised.

Neville left to stand outside the door and keep watch, and Hermione glanced at Daphne, “As soon as you have the memories at the forefront of his mind I’ll say the word. Are you sure you’re up to this? He’s going to fight you.”

“I’ll be alright,” Daphne said, “I might just need a shot of firewhiskey afterwards.”

Hermione smiled a little nervously, “I’m sure that could be arranged.”

Daphne took a deep breath, “Okay, let’s do this.”

Hermione nodded, and watched as Daphne began her work. She held Draco’s face with her left hand and looked into his eyes as she held her wand tightly in her right hand.

“Legilimens!”

Draco’s eyes immediately went vacant, and after a few seconds Daphne began to sweat. She blew out a breath and muttered as she searched through his mind.

“He’s fighting all right.”

“They’ll be right at the back of his mind,” Hermione said, “I locked them as far away as I could. They’ll look fuzzy, like the fake memory of Slughorn’s we saw.”

“Okay, okay,” Daphne muttered. She was silent, but her breathing was heavy and her sweat had now soaked her hair. 

“Found them,” She finally said through gritted teeth, “I’m trying to pull them forward but he’s fighting me.”

“He will, but you can do it,” Hermione said, “Just a little more.”

Daphne nodded, still staring into Draco’s grey eyes, “Draco, you bastard,” she hissed.

“Come on Daphne, not much more to go,” Hermione said, encouraging her friend.

After a couple of minutes Daphne gasped and fell back, as if an invisible force had pushed her away from Draco.

“Go, quickly before he pushes them back!” She shouted.

Hermione wasted no time after hearing those words. She grabbed Draco’s face with both of her hands and looked into his eyes, “Horcrux,” she said slowly and clearly.

It worked immediately, Draco gasped and his eyes widened as all of the memories flooded back to him in the space of a few seconds. He was left gasping for air, as if he had been unable to breath, and then his eyes locked on Hermione’s.

“Hermione.”

“Draco,” Hermione whispered, “Do you remember?”

“I remember,” Draco said with a miniscule nod.

“I’m so sorry,” Hermione said, as tears stung behind her eyes.

Draco shook his head and Hermione unbound him. As soon as she had done so he grabbed her and pulled her towards him with quite some force. His lips crashed onto hers, and there was a salty taste that meant one, or both of them was crying. But Hermione found that she didn’t mind much as her hands went to his hair, and his to hers. They held each other tight, as if they thought they would lose each other forever if they ever let go. The kiss was like the first kisses they had shared, it was fast, messy, desperate and yet perfect. When they broke apart, breathing heavily the first thing they heard was Daphne’s voice.

“Well if that’s how you thank Granger I’d love to know how much money you’re going to give me, because I did most of the work.”

Draco pushed himself to his feet, with Hermione’s help to steady him. He looked at Daphne who was standing behind Hermione and looked like she would collapse at any moment. 

“Thank you Daphne,” he said sincerely as he took a few steps forward and grabbed her, hugging her tightly.

“Okay, that’s enough,” Daphne said a little awkwardly, “Been there, done that. Save the emotional stuff for Granger, I want galleons.”

“You’ll get a great birthday present this year, I promise,” Draco said sincerely.

Daphne smiled, “Fantastic. Then my work here is done, I’m going to bed now.”

“Hang on, Daphne,” Hermione said, “We’re not done here yet.”

Daphne rolled her eyes and leant against one of the sinks, “Get on with it then.”

Hermione turned to Draco, “We’re going to have to give you veritaserum at tomorrow’s meeting. It’s at 10pm in the Room of Requirement. Harry thinks you are going to betray us, but if you swear your loyalty under veritaserum he will get off of your case.”

“I’ll do that,” Draco said immediately.

Hermione smiled, “Good, but for now… I need to know, why did you change?”

Draco glanced around the empty bathroom and lowered his voice, “Snape got suspicious, he said I didn’t look like the pressure was getting to me enough. He said if I didn’t start to look like it was soon, he would tell Voldemort I wasn’t capable of the task. I had to cut everybody off to convince him.”

Hermione sighed and said, “Well, how about I just do a glamour charm? I can make you look ill, would that convince him?”

“That might just…how did I not think of that?”

Hermione smiled slightly, “Because you’re not me. Permission to make you look like shit?”

Draco chuckled and nodded, “Permission granted.”

Hermione laughed and performed a few glamour charms. They were easy enough, she used them for going to parties, she had learned the basics of glamour charms for the Yule Ball. When she was done Draco certainly looked ill, his face was gaunt, he had bags under his eyes, and his hair looked flatter than usual.

“Wow,” Daphne said sarcastically, “I didn’t think it was possible to make him look paler.”

Draco glared at her, “Hilarious Daph. How do I look, Granger?”

“Terrible,” Hermione said matter of factly.

Draco turned around and looked in the mirror, he looked horrified, “My hair,” he said, his hands flying to it.

“It’s only temporary,” Hermione said, “And then you’ll be as handsome as ever again.”

“You think I’m handsome?” Draco asked, perking up a little.

Hermione smirked, “Not at the moment.”

Daphne rolled her eyes, “Right if you two lovebirds are done I would like to go to bed.”

Draco shot a guilty look towards her, “Right, sorry. I’ll see you tomorrow Granger, at the meeting.”

Hermione nodded, feeling like a giant heavy weight had been lifted from her chest, “See you tomorrow Malfoy,” she agreed.

He put his arm around Daphne who was very weak after the exertions of the night, and helped her from the room. After they had left Neville slipped back into the bathroom.

“Success?”

“Success,” Hermione said brightly, “We have Draco Malfoy back.”

“Let’s hope we don’t live to regret that,” Neville said, poking his head out into the corridor and signaling that it was clear.

They sprinted across the corridor and entered the first secret passageway back up towards Gryffindor tower.

“We won’t,” Hermione said confidently, “He is completely innocent. I’ll prove it tomorrow.”

“For everyone else’s sake, I hope you’re right Hermione,” Neville said warily.

Hermione smirked at her friend, “Have you ever known me to be wrong Neville?”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Harry returned from his meeting late that night, and Hermione had gone to bed. They saw each other in the common room the next morning, but Hermione ignored Harry. She wasn’t actually that angry at him anymore, but she didn’t want him to know what had happened with Draco and if she talked to him it was more likely that he would work it out.

The day dragged by, as they always did when something significant was happening at night. At dinner Ron whispered about the DA meeting that night, he said he had heard that Snape had suspicions that they had reformed and was watching the Room of Requirement, as they had suspected. They came up with the plan to make the door appear at the other side of the room, where Filch wouldn’t be looking, and they spent the next hour spreading that news around the DA members.

Come 8pm the main members of the DA were waiting in the Room of Requirement as the other members slowly trickled in. The air was tense, and there were unseen divides in the room. They all knew about the situation with Draco now, Hannah having being informed by Susan and Ron by Harry. However, Hermione, Daphne and Neville knew the truth and the others were still in the dark. When the last members had entered the room, the door locked itself and disappeared. It would re-appear when the meeting was adjourned but it would help avoid detection.

Harry jumped onto the table to start the meeting, as he always did. And, as always, silence fell when he called for it.

“I wanted to address a different issue tonight,” Harry admitted, “Everyone has been reading the papers. So you will all know that people have been going missing, the relatives of several Hogwarts students have been among those. Some people in this room have recently lost people that they love. But, by learning to fight you are learning to protect not only yourselves, but your families. We can’t sit back and hope this blows over like the Ministry are suggesting! We are going to have to fight to end this,” Harry said firmly, “I know it is hard when you lose people, but you have to use it as fuel to be better, it can’t bring you down.”

Lilly smiled a little sadly at this as the rest of the DA clapped loudly at Harry’s words. After that the meeting continued as normal, and the members progressed well once more. Harry was sure they were actually practicing in their spare time now that they weren’t so scared of Umbridge constantly breathing down their necks.

Harry adjourned the meeting at 9.30pm, but by the time he had let the DA out in their pairs and trios it was almost 10pm. When the last pair left he sighed and sat down heavily in one of the comfortable chairs at the meeting table.

“Well, I have some interesting stuff to tell you all tonight.”

“Not yet,” Hermione said, glancing at Neville.

“We’re still waiting on our last member,” Neville said, smiling at Hermione. He had meant it when he said he had her back.

Harry looked around in confusion, Ron and Hannah had wanted out of this aspect of the meetings. That left himself, Hermione, Lilly, Daphne, Susan and Neville.

“We’re all here,’” Harry said matter of factly.

“No, we’re not,” Daphne cut in.

“We’re waiting for Draco,” Hermione said firmly.

“What?” Harry asked coolly.

“Harry, you’re notionally in charge because you’re the one with all of the information,” Neville said, “But that doesn’t mean you’re right all of the time.”

“He can’t come back, he doesn’t even remember anything-”

“Yes he does, we restored his memories,” Daphne said, “Hermione put a failsafe into the memory charm.”

“You did?” Harry asked irritably.

Hermione nodded, “I locked his memories away instead of erasing them, and Daphne helped me unlock them.”

“It would have been nice if you’d told us about it,” Susan said irritably.

“It happened quickly, there wasn’t time,” Daphne said offhandedly.

“There wasn’t time to tell your best friend?” Susan asked.

“Look, you were always going to find out tonight. What’s the big deal?” Daphne said.

“The big deal is we agreed no secrets,” Susan hissed.

“It wasn’t a secret, and now you know! Lilly didn’t know either!” Hermione snapped, to avoid another argument.

“Yeah, because you thought I would run to Harry, right?” Lilly bit.

“Well you would have,” Daphne said.

“No, I wouldn’t have!” Lilly exclaimed.

Harry raised his voice, “Oh for Merlin’s sake will you all shut up! This is going to blow up in their faces when Malfoy betrays us, you’ll get your satisfaction then.”

“We’ll find out for good if he’ll betray us or not,” Daphne said, pulling a phial out of her pocket, “He said he’d swear it on veritaserum.”

Harry floundered a little, “He did?”

“I told you we could trust him,” Hermione said.

Harry sighed, “Fine, we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt,” he agreed, his eyes flicking towards the clock as it hit 10pm. He looked at Hermione, “A bit of warning would have been nice.”

“Well it’s not like we’ve been speaking,” Hermione snapped.

“I’ve tried to talk to you enough times,” Harry complained, “You do realise it wasn’t my fault that I didn’t know about the life debt connection right?”

“I know that you didn’t know about it,” Hermione said hotly, “But that doesn’t mean I can just forgive you in the blink of an eye.”

“I didn’t do anything wrong, Hermione!”

“You made me force Draco to forget!” Hermione snapped, “You do not know how hard that was, Harry! I was a wreck, he begged me not to do it and I had to, because of that stupid connection!”

“Well if I’d known you were in love with the bloke-”

“I’m not in love with him!”

“Am I interrupting this lover’s quarrel?”

Hermione froze at the sound of Draco’s drawl behind her. Harry shot a glare at the blonde.

“They were arguing about you actually,” Lilly said matter of factly.

Draco glanced at Hermione, “I figured,” he said.

Daphne sensed the awkwardness of the moment and cleared her throat, “Right then, do you want to take this veritaserum and get questioned now so we can get on with the meeting?”

“Let’s just get it over with,” Draco said, sitting down opposite Hermione and holding his hand out.

Daphne dropped the phial in it, and Draco uncorked it, “All of it?”

“All of it, just to be safe,” Hermione said quietly.

Draco nodded and downed the contents of the bottle, his eyes immediately took on a slightly glazed over look. 

“Go on then Harry,” Neville said, “You’re the most suspicious, ask him your questions.”

Harry got to his feet and walked around the room so he could look at Draco while he talked to him.

“Have you thought about betraying us to Snape, or Voldemort?”

“No,” Draco replied emotionlessly.

“Why did your manner suddenly change a month ago?”

“Snape suspected me. I had to convince him that I was seriously under pressure by isolating everyone.”

“And are you still going to do that?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Hermione put me under a glamour charm so that I look ill and under pressure.”

Harry took a breath and a step back.

“Are you convinced yet?” Hermione asked, almost smugly.

“Not quite, so you can hold in your ‘I told you so’ for 5 more minutes,” Harry said with a half-hearted glare her way.

“Why are you loyal to us, Malfoy?”

“Hermione.”

Harry frowned, “What do you mean?”

“I won’t betray her, so I won’t betray you,” Draco answered in that robotic sort of way.

His answer had thrown Harry so much that he floundered for a moment, “Alright, final question. If you really are on the side of the light, what are you fighting for?”

“Hermione.”

Harry turned to his bushy haired friend in surprise, she looked just as shocked.

“Ask her if he loves her,” Daphne smirked.

“No, don’t,” Hermione said quickly.

Susan frowned, “Why? Don’t you want to know?”

“If he does I’d like to hear it on his own terms,” Hermione said with a stern look at Harry, “And as if he would anyway! Give him the antidote.”

Harry sighed and looked at Daphne, “Antidote, please.”

Daphne handed it over and Harry tipped it down Draco’s throat. He choked for a moment and then his eyes returned to normal and his cheeks tinged pink as he remembered his answers to the questions.

“Well, Potter. Are you convinced?”

Begrudgingly Harry said, “Yes, but if it turns out I’ve misplaced my trust in you Malfoy, I will kill you.”

“Understood,” Draco said warily, looking anywhere except at Hermione.

Harry cleared his throat and sat down again, “Alright then. Now that’s out of the way, let’s get down to business. Dumbledore helped slot a few more pieces into the puzzle tonight. He showed me three memories including Slughorn’s, he didn’t know I’d already seen it obviously. The first memory was from a house elf, it was of Riddle after he’d finished school, he was working at Borgin and Burke’s.”

Lilly snorted, “Go figure, that place always did creep me out.”

Harry smiled a little, “He went to visit a witch called Hepzibah Smith who showed him two of her most prized possessions, Helga Hufflepuff’s cup and Salazar Slytherins locket. She said she’d bought the locket from Burke who had bought it from a ragged looking women who had no idea of its value.”

“Merope Gaunt,” Daphne murmured, “Voldemort’s Mother.”

Harry nodded.

“Why was he working at Borgin and Burke’s anyway?” Susan asked, “Didn’t you say he was really clever, and that everybody expected him to become Minister for Magic?”

“Yeah, but apparently he didn’t want to. He tried to get the Defence Against the Darks Art job at Hogwarts but he was told he was too young. Dumbledore reckons he liked the idea of being able to use it as a recruiting ground to build his army,” Harry replied.

“Makes sense,” Lilly said thoughtfully, “So, why did Dumbledore show you the memory about the cup and locket?”

“Because he thinks they’re horcruxes,” Draco said, “Why else would he show it to you?”

Harry nodded, “Two days after that happened Hepzibah died and the house elf whose memory I saw was convicted of accidentally poisoning her. She had a memory of it, and confessed.”

“Just like Morfin Gaunt,” Hermione said.

“Yes, but not long after her death her family found out that the cup and locket were missing, and Riddle had vanished,” Harry said, “Nobody saw him for ages after that.”

“So when did he next crop up then?” Neville asked.

“He showed up at Hogwarts to try and get the DADA position again, but Dippet had been Headmaster the first time he asked, and Dumbledore had taken over by the time he asked again,” Harry said, “But Dumbledore knew he hadn’t returned to teach because he had Death Eaters waiting for him to return in the Hogs Head. When Dumbledore asked him why he had really come back to the school he left.”

“So he came back, but not to teach,” Hermione mused, “Maybe he just wanted to gage Dumbledore? To see if his opinion towards him had changed?”

“Possibly,” Harry said, “But I don’t think so. I think it has to have something to do with the horcruxes, why else would Dumbledore have shown it to me?”

“So you think he came to get an object to make into a horcrux?” Lilly asked.

“Maybe, I mean, Dumbledore was implying that the cup and the locket were horcruxes,” Harry said, “So maybe he was looking for an item from Gryffindor or Ravenclaw.”

“Well, he wouldn’t have made the sword of Gryffindor into a horcrux, would he?” Hermione asked with a frown.

“No,” Harry said.

“The only significant item to Ravenclaw is her diadem, but it’s been lost for centuries,” Lilly cut in.

“Maybe he thought he’d be able to find it if he was teaching at the school,” Daphne said.

“Well, he failed. Because Dumbledore didn’t give him the job,” Harry said, “And after that a DADA teacher wouldn’t last any longer than a year.”

“He cursed the post?” Lilly asked in disbelief.

“That makes so much sense,” Hermione said with a shake of her head, “How could I not have thought of that? A curse, of course.”

Draco smiled slightly and looked down at the table.

Harry noticed and glared at the blonde, he didn’t want Hermione to be hurt again. So, he changed the subject, “Then I saw the last memory, Slughorn’s. I had to play dumb, but I did get some valuable information from Dumbledore. We were right, the diary was a horcrux and it was destroyed when I stabbed it when the basilisk fang.”

“Well one down,” Daphne said, “I don’t suppose the old man told you how many there were?”

“Not exactly,” Harry admitted, “But there is some good news. Worst case scenario, he had six horcruxes. The seventh part of his soul is inside Voldemort. I destroyed the diary which brings it down to five. Dumbledore has destroyed one, the Gaunt ring that Voldemort stole from Morfin. He found it in the Gaunt shack and it cursed him. That’s why his hand is blackened, which means the worst case scenario is four horcruxes.”

“So he told you he was dying?” Hermione asked quickly.

“No, he said it was just a cursed hand, but I don’t believe him,” Harry said honestly, “Dumbledore also said that Voldemort wouldn’t have made horcruxes out of random objects, he would have picked historical, worthy items. Like his diary, and his families ring.”

“And items that belonged to the founders,” Hermione said.

“So, if he had four and we assume the cup and locket were both horcruxes that would leave two more,” Lilly said.

“And this diadem you mentioned might be one, if he managed to find it,” Hermione said, “What if he knew where it was and came to the school to steal it?”

“That is a possibility,” Harry admitted, “And I think the fourth could be his snake. He keeps it with him all of the time.”

“Did he tell you how to destroy them?” Draco asked quietly.

“Not exactly, but he did say Voldemort’s soul was so detached these days that he wouldn’t feel it when they were destroyed,” Harry replied. 

“So what happens when they are all destroyed?” Susan asked.

“Voldemort can be killed, but apparently that still won’t be easy.”

“Well, he’ll still be a very powerful wizard,” Hermione said, with a pointed look towards Harry. They were the only two people in the room who knew about the prophecy and they decided to keep it that way, at least for the moment.

“There isn’t any point worrying about how to kill him once his horcruxes are destroyed until we can actually destroy those horcruxes,” Lilly pointed out.

“And even if we know what they are, they could be anywhere,” Daphne added.

“There might only be three,” Neville said, “What if he didn’t get around to making the last one? What if he couldn’t find the diadem?”

“That’s the best case scenario,” Harry admitted.

“Well, what do we do now?” Draco asked.

“Research,” Hermione replied, “We find out what we can about the possible horcruxes, and you continue your work on the vanishing cabinet Malfoy.”

“Dumbledore said he’d take me with him if he went to find another horcrux,” Harry said, “So I won’t be kept in the dark for once.”

“That’s an advantage,” Susan said, “But we’re not talking about what’s going to happen. Are we?”

“No,” Harry said, clearing his throat, “I can feel it, we’re reaching a turning point in this war.”

“A turning point for us or for Voldemort?” Daphne asked warily.

“I’m not sure,” Harry said darkly, “But Dumbledore is telling me this because he’s going to die. And when he does, I’ll have to find the horcruxes and destroy them. When Malfoy gets the vanishing cabinet fixed Death Eaters are going to come here to make sure Dumbledore dies, as a back-up plan in case you can’t do it, I assume?”

Draco nodded glumly.

“There will be a battle, and Dumbledore will die. That’s how he’s planning it…after that I don’t know what happens. The Order will take control I suppose, but with Dumbledore out of the way…Voldemort might be able to bring Hogwarts under his control.”

“No way,” Lilly said, “He couldn’t. He doesn’t even have the Ministry under his control!”

“Yet,” Harry said darkly.

“He controlled the Ministry at the height of the last war,” Draco said quietly, “And he already has Death Eaters placed as sleepers in the Ministry. All he has to do is activate them, and the Ministry is his.”

“He’s that close?” Susan asked fearfully.

Draco merely nodded.

“That doesn’t entirely surprise me from everything I’ve read in the prophet. And as for Hogwarts, he could control it if Dumbledore was removed,” Hermione said darkly, “And there’s not any point in us stopping the Death Eaters or Snape from killing him. He’ll only have a few more months anyway, and that won’t make any difference.”

“Only Dumbledore could plan his own death like this,” Harry said.

Hermione sighed, “It’s so complicated.”

“I know,” Harry said, placing his hand on Hermione’s shoulder and squeezing it, “But at least we have some sense of direction now.”

“So, assign us our tasks then,” Lilly said with a small smile.

Harry returned her smile, she seemed to be gradually warming up to him again after their argument.

“Well, Malfoy, keep on with the vanishing cabinet. Susan, I’d say it makes sense that you research Hufflepuff’s cup, try and find out anything you can about it, and trace its owners, if you can,” Harry said.

Susan nodded, and Harry turned to Daphne, “Will you do the same for Slytherins locket?”

“Of course,” Daphne replied.

As Harry turned to Lilly she smirked, “Let me guess, Ravenclaws diadem?”

Harry smiled, “You guessed it.”

“Sure thing.”

“What about us?” Hermione asked, referring to herself and Neville.

“Hermione, keep making copies of the books you think will be useful in the library. I’ve got a feeling you and I won’t be at Hogwarts next year,” Harry said darkly, “And keep up with your general research about horcruxes too.”

Hermione nodded, and Neville looked at Harry expectantly, “There isn’t really that much more we can do about horcruxes Nev. So, do you want to help me try and find out who the half-blood prince is?”

“Why is that relevant?” Daphne asked, “He’s just some guy who put tips in that stupid potions book of yours.”

Lilly rolled her eyes, “I still can’t believe you’re using that to cheat your way through the whole year.”

Harry shook his head in exasperation, “It’s important, I can feel it. If we find out who it is I’ll know why. You in, Nev?”

“Sure, Harry,” Neville replied.

Harry blew out a breath and stood up, “Then I think that’s all there really is to say. We’ve got to be more careful though, especially now Hermione and Malfoy are on better terms again. Snape is suspicious, he must be if he’s watching this room.”

There were nods all around as Harry adjourned the meeting. Hermione took a while to pack up her quill and parchment in the hope that Draco would hang back, but she was left disappointed because he rushed from the room the moment the meeting was adjourned.

“He’s embarrassed.”

Hermione glanced up to Daphne, “Huh?”

“Draco,” Daphne said knowingly, “He remembers what he said under veritaserum, he’s embarrassed. He might avoid you for a while.”

“I’m used to that,” Hermione said with a roll of her eyes, “Do you know why he called me Hermione when he was answering the questions? He almost always calls me Granger.”

“What do you call him when you’re thinking about him?” Daphne asked.

“Draco,” Hermione replied.

“But you almost always call him Malfoy to his face,” Daphne quipped with a smirk.

Hermione chuckled, “Fair point.”

Daphne smiled and glanced towards the door as Harry and Lilly left together.

“Are you jealous?” Hermione asked curiously.

Daphne scoffed, “No, he’s Harry Potter. He’s far too complicated for me.”

“Sometimes you like someone, even if they are complicated and totally wrong for you,” Hermione said knowingly as she swung her back over her shoulder, “Look at me and Draco.”

“You don’t like Draco, you’re head over heels for him,” Daphne countered.

“You’re changing the subject to avoid talking about your feelings for Harry,” Hermione pointed out.

“And you didn’t deny that you’re head over heels for Draco,” Daphne said, quick-witted as always.

Hermione was torn between rolling her eyes and laughing. In the end she chuckled and said, “Fair play,” as she held out her hand to the Slytherin girl.

Daphne took it with a smirk and shook it, “See you in Ancient Runes Hermione.”

“See you Daphne,” Hermione said as the blonde left the room, leaving Hermione standing alone in the wide open space.

She took a deep breath and smiled as she walked towards the door. The world felt back on track again, they had a lot of new information and she felt optimistic. They had Draco back on their side, and things were looking like they might actually go to plan for once. Just this once their plan looked like it might actually work.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

After the meeting March rapidly became April. The showery weather began, and the first flowers of spring began to blossom. Hermione hadn’t seen Draco alone since he had hurriedly left the last meeting, and even Harry was struggling to find time to see Lilly between researching the half-blood prince, horcruxes and revising.

In early April Harry finally told Hermione the piece of information he had been holding back. They hadn’t been alone recently, but on this particular evening they were the last two in the common room because they were both working on a potions project.

“Hermione,” Harry said, after about 10 minutes of silence.

“Mmhmm.”

They were talking as normal again, having made up not long after the meeting.

“I need to talk to you about something.”

Hermione detected the note of sincerity in his voice and looked up, “What’s happened?”

“Nothing, I’ve just been waiting for the right time to tell you…I didn’t tell the others everything that Dumbledore told me,” Harry admitted.

“I thought he might have mentioned the prophecy,” Hermione said.

“He did, but it’s more than that. He explained why I have to kill Voldemort. It’s not just because of the prophecy, it’s because of the whole love thing he’s always going on about,” Harry said.

“Well, it’s a powerful form of magic, like soul magic,” Hermione said, “Your Mother sacrificed herself for you, that’s the strongest sort of love there is.”

“I know, and I know it protects me, but there’s more to it than that,” Harry told her, “When he said that Voldemort would still have to be destroyed by someone with uncommon power or skill I said I didn’t have either.”

“But you do, your ability to love is an uncommon power,” Hermione said.

Harry smiled a little, “That’s exactly what Dumbledore said. The prophecy said that I have power the Dark Lord knows not, and he thinks that power is love.”

“So, it’s your love that will help you kill him in the end then,” Hermione mused, “That’s what Dumbledore told you?”

Harry nodded, “Apparently so. He also said that it wasn’t because of the prophecy that I had to kill Voldemort, it was because I wouldn’t rest until I saw Voldemort finished at my own hands. But because Voldemort decided to act on the prophecy it will come down to me killing him, or him killing me, Dumbledore confirmed that.”

Hermione sighed, “Well, we always assumed that,” she reasoned.

“I think what he was trying to tell me was that I had two options,” Harry said thoughtfully, “I could treat it as though it was all the prophecy’s work, like I was being dragged to my destruction. Or I could walk in with my head held high.”

“Well, you’ll do the latter,” Hermione said confidently, “You won’t die Harry. You’re too good, too pure, you heard what Dumbledore said, it was agony for Voldemort when he tried to possess you.”

Harry nodded, but his mind was elsewhere, “At least I have some idea of where my life is going now. But it still doesn’t feel right…” he trailed off.

“Dating Lilly?” Hermione finished.

“Yeah,” Harry said, looking at Hermione, “There’s a 50/50 chance I’m going to die. Why should she be a part of that?”

“Because she wants to be,” Hermione said gently, “She cares about you Harry. There’s no getting rid of her now, you can break up with her if you want, or if you feel you have to but she’ll still want to come with us when we go to find the horcruxes, you know that.”

“I know,” Harry said heavily, “But she can’t come. It has to just be you and I, we can’t involve anyone else.”

“I don’t think it has to be,” Hermione argued as she got to her feet, “And I don’t think it will be. Our new friends and our old friends are too headstrong to let that happen. You won’t be going anywhere without Neville for a start, he’d have a fit.”

“It’s too dangerous Hermione-”

“Harry, we know the risks of being your friend and we accept them,” Hermione said gently as she stood on the bottom step to the girls dorm, “The people who care will come regardless of whether or not you say they can.”

Harry looked like he wanted to argue further, but Hermione didn’t let him, she just smiled and said, “What will be will be at the end of the day,” and then she disappeared upstairs.

TBC :)


	20. Birthday Surprises

April wore on, and Lilly’s birthday approached, which naturally meant that Harry was panicking about what to get her.

“I mean, Ron got loads of presents and a watch, which is apparently a wizarding thing they do when they come of age,” Harry was saying to Hermione as they walked from Transfiguration to Herbology.

“It’s just a traditional thing, you get a watch on your birthday, sometimes it’s a significant one,” Hermione said, “You would get your fathers if he…”

“Wasn’t dead,” Harry muttered bitterly.

“But it’s not the same for girls, so just get her an ordinary gift,” Hermione said.

“What is an ordinary gift?” Harry asked anxiously, “You’re the only girl I’ve ever bought gifts for, and I just buy you books!”

Hermione rolled her eyes, “Are you honestly telling me you don’t know what she likes? You’ve been dating her for months.”

“She likes reading,” Harry said sheepishly.

“I think I am probably the only girl you know who actually likes getting academic books as presents, Harry,” Hermione said with a raised eyebrow, “So if you must get her a book make sure it’s a fictional one, not the theory of Boggarts or something.”

Harry groaned, “She likes Muggle stuff, because she’s a Muggle-born, but she can’t use it at Hogwarts so what would be the point in that? She was telling me about these bands she liked, Boyzone and Blur-”

Hermione rolled her eyes and muttered, “Take That and Oasis are a damn sight better.”

“What?” Harry asked with a frown.

“Nothing,” Hermione replied, “And I can’t help you too much with this you know. She’s your girlfriend, you’ve got to know what to get her.”

“I hate girls,” Harry said, almost huffily, “If I was buying a present for Ron or Nev I’d know exactly what to get them! Girls are so complicated, apart from you Hermione. If you and him ever do go out all he has to do is buy you books.”

“It might not have crossed your mind but sometimes I do wish people would give me something other than books every birthday and Christmas,” Hermione said matter of factly as they stepped out into the muddy grounds.

“Sorry,” Harry said sheepishly as she cast a bubble charm over them and they hurried towards the greenhouse, out of the rain. Once they were inside they went their separate ways to their Herbology partners.

“Good afternoon Hermione,” Susan said when she saw her friend, “You look positively fed up today.”

Hermione rolled her eyes, “Harry doesn’t know what to get Lilly for her birthday. He’s been pestering me about it all week.”

“Ah,” Susan said in amusement, “They’ve been dating long enough, you’d have thought he would have some idea of what to get her.”

“Yeah, you’d have thought,” Hermione agreed, pulling her gloves on.

“How are you anyway?” Susan asked in an undertone, “Is he still avoiding you?”

Hermione nodded, “Yes, but that’s nothing new. At least he remembers everything that’s happened now.”

“I would say he’s doing it for your own good but I really do think he’s just embarrassed at the moment,” Susan admitted.

“I don’t entirely blame him, I’d be mortified if I said things under veritaserum and had to face them afterwards,” Hermione said thoughtfully, “Maybe I’ll drag him into a secret passage next time I see him and tell him that we can just pretend it never happened.”

“He’d probably not thank you for that,” Susan advised.

Hermione snorted, “He doesn’t thank me for anything Suse.”

Susan smiled slightly and whispered, “The disadvantages of having feelings for a complicated pure-blood arse.”

Hermione laughed and said, “He should come with a handbook.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

As Lilly’s birthday got closer Harry still had no idea what to get her. Hermione and Ron were going into Hogsmeade for extra apparition lessons and Hermione had offered to pick something up for Lilly if Harry told her what he wanted. Hermione and Ron were already 17, and anybody who was going to be 17 on or before the test date of the 21st of April could go along for these additional lessons. That meant that Lilly was going too, but Harry and Neville whose birthdays weren’t until July had to wait, as did Draco with his June birthday. As Harry found out over the course of the week, Daphne and Susan’s birthdays weren’t until May and June, so they couldn’t do the test yet either. 

Harry had finally decided what to get Lilly, and told Hermione so the evening before she had to go to Hogsmeade for her apparition lessons. He knew it was a good idea when even she approved of it. When she returned she slipped Harry a package, and told him that she felt she’d done pretty well and Ron was improving too. It made him jealous, he wished he could do the test with them.

The week wore on after that, and finally the 16th of April, Lilly’s birthday, was upon them. Harry and Lilly were still keeping their relationship fairly secret so Harry had snuck into Ravenclaw tower (again), and left her present and a card by the foot of her bed.

When Lilly woke up on her birthday she was surprised by the pile of gifts by her bed. Normally she only got a couple of presents, her parents never sent her anything. In fact she doubted that they even remembered it was her birthday. 

“Ooh Lil, good haul this year!” Lisa said brightly as she sat down on Lilly’s bed, “Aren’t you going to open them?”

“I think you should open the heart shaped one first, is that from your mystery boyfriend?” Mandy pried.

Lilly rolled her eyes, “If it was I wouldn’t tell you.”

“Oh come on, just a teeny little hint,” Lisa said, “Like is he in our year? We wouldn’t be able to work it out from that!”

Lilly laughed as she picked up a small square box on the top of the pile, “Yes, he is.”

“Oooh,” Mandy said with excitement, “What house is he in?”

“Well I’m not going to tell you that, am I? That would narrow it down to 5 people!” Lilly exclaimed in amusement.

“You shouldn’t have even said that much,” Morag said as she poked her head out of her four-poster, “She’ll start a list eliminating the people that are already dating other people.”

“And then she’ll try and figure out which ones are closer to your type,” Padma teased.

Lilly rolled her eyes, “I don’t have a type.”

“Oh, you do Lil,” Lisa said, “You’re type is tall, dark and handsome!”

Lilly couldn’t help herself, she snorted in amusement, “Well, two out of three ain’t bad.”

“Wait! So he’s short…blonde…or ugly!” 

“Oh my God, you’re not back with Malfoy are you?” Mandy asked.

Lilly scoffed, “No way, I’m not stupid enough to make the same mistake twice. Now can I open my presents without being questioned?”

“Oops,” Lisa said.

Lilly laughed, the first present she had opened was a pair of earrings with a small note saying, “Diamonds for a diamond! Have a great 17th Lil! - Daphne”.

“Oooh, are they from the boyfriend?” Padma asked.

“No, they’re from Daphne,” Lilly said with a smile as she picked up the next present. It was a long thin box, and Lilly knew who it was from before she had even read the note. The present inside was a Ravenclaw themed charm bracelet, there was a raven, a little tiara clearly meant to be Ravenclaws diadem, a book and a little castle. 

“Is that from the boyfriend?” Lisa asked nosily. 

“No,” Lilly replied as she unfolded the note which said, “Be proud of who you are! Happy 17th Lil! Love Suse.”

“Oh come on, open the heart shaped one,” Mandy said eagerly.

“Not yet,” Lilly said with a slight smirk at how eager they were to see her present, “I’m working my way down.”

The next present was clearly a book, and when Lilly opened it she laughed. It was the latest copy of “Hogwarts: A History” which she had wanted since it had been published last year. There was a little note written on the back of the front cover.

“I know you’ve wanted it forever, so happy birthday! (But please let me borrow it once you’ve read it!) Have a fantastic 17th Lilly! - Love, Hermione x.”

“That must be from Granger,” Mandy said, almost irritably.

“What do you have against her anyway?” Lilly asked with a raised eyebrow, “This is a really expensive book, she wants it as badly as I do but she bought it for me instead of herself.”

Mandy’s cheeks reddened slightly, “I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just, she’s a bit…prissy.”

Lilly snorted, “She is not,” she said, grabbing the next of her presents. She had a box of limited edition chocolate frogs from Mandy, and a Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes gift box from Lisa which she thanked them both for. Finally, she had reached the bottom of the pile, and the present that they were all waiting for her to open. 

It was a red heart-shaped box, with a card on top of it. Lilly opened the card first and held it close to her chest so that her nosy friends couldn’t read it over her shoulder.

“Lilly,

Happy 17th birthday. I thought for hours about what to get you, so I hope that I’ve gotten it right. 

I’m not great with words, I’m much better with actions. So, meet me on the Quidditch pitch tonight at 7.00pm?

Love,  
Harry.”

Lilly grinned at the card and was immediately bombarded with questions.

“What did it say?”

“Oh, please tell us who he is!”

Lilly laughed, and told them what it said, but not who it was from. They thought it was impossibly sweet and she hoped they might talk about it so much that she could open the present in peace. But she wasn’t that lucky. The inside of the red box was filled with petals, and a variety of different chocolates, sweets and pranks from Honeydukes and Zonkos. In the centre was a small black box. And as Lilly lifted out there was a squeal from either Mandy or Lisa, or possibly from them both.

“Is it an engagement ring?” Lisa asked hysterically.

“What? No!” Lilly said in exasperation, “Jeez, he’s only 16.”

“He’s 16?” Mandy asked eagerly, “So he’s in our year but he’s not 17 yet! That narrows it down!”

“Oh, just leave it be Mandy,” Lilly said anxiously. She couldn’t risk Mandy working it out, Harry really didn’t want the news out there.

Lisa shot Mandy a warning glance and she simmered down. Lilly bit her lip as she cracked open the box. It contained a necklace, the chain was silver, and a golden snitch hung on it, with silver wings. There was a tiny note in the box with required a lot of unfolding.

“Wow Lil, it’s lovely,” Lisa said as she admired the necklace.

“Is it because you’re a seeker?” Padma asked as she glanced at the necklace.

Lilly grinned at the note, it was so sweet, “We’re both seekers, so I think the snitch is an appropriate present. I’ve caught you now, and I’m holding on tight.”

“What does it say?” Lisa asked.

“None of your business,” Lilly smirked, “Now do you want to help me get this on so we can get some breakfast?”

“I should blackmail you until you tell me who you’re dating,” Lisa joked, but she helped Lilly get the necklace on anyway.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Why are you nervous?”

“She might not like it,” Harry muttered.

“She’ll love it, will you stop tapping your foot? It’s driving me mad!”

Harry glanced away from Hermione to the doors of the great hall for the umpteenth time, “Why do you think she’s not here yet?”

“Uh, probably because she’s opening her presents,” Hermione said matter of factly, “And what you did was very romantic, she’ll have loved it.”

Harry sighed, “How am I supposed to get through classes today? I’m freaking out about tonight.”

Hermione looked at her best friend in amusement, “Harry, you’re acting like you’re proposing to her or something.”

Harry’s cheeks reddened, “Telling someone you love them is kind of a big deal Hermione. Have you ever done it?”

Hermione opened her mouth, “I…well, not…not directly.”

“Not directly?” Harry asked, his surprise had momentarily distracted him from his lookout for Lilly.

Hermione blushed a little, “There was a….moment…with, him.”

“When?” Harry asked in disbelief.

Hermione was grateful to be saved by Lilly walking into the great hall, “She’s here, turn around.”

Harry turned around slowly so as not to arouse suspicion and glanced at Lilly. She looked ordinary, the same as she always did, she wore her Ravenclaw uniform and her black glasses, and her hair was in a bun. But there was something different about her, she was grinning. She shot him a quick grin, and Harry turned back around to Hermione, “She’s wearing it!”

“I told you she’d love it,” Hermione smiled, “Now, stop freaking out about tonight.”

Harry blew out a breath, “I’ll try,” he agreed.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“What are you doing?”

“I’m making that list,” Mandy whispered.

She and Lilly were in Ancient Runes, and Mandy was compiling a list of Lilly’s possible boyfriends.

Lilly was aware of Hermione and Daphne sitting at the table behind them, and she was worried Hermione might hear and tell Harry what was going on.

“Mandy, that’s private.”

“Oh come on, it’s just a boyfriend,” Mandy chuckled, “Why do you want to keep it secret so much?”

“Because he’s a private person, maybe?” Lilly said, “Not everybody wants their love life to be gossiped about!”

Mandy shrugged, “Hey, it’s just a bit of fun. I bet there are loads of guys in our year who aren’t 17 yet-”

Their conversation was cut short there and Lilly was grateful until she heard what Professor Vector had to say.

“I think, the rest of the class would be better spent working in groups of four today. A few of you have told me that you are finding this particular translation quite difficult, so if you’d like to partner up…”

Lilly could have groaned out loud as Daphne and Hermione pushed their table against Lilly and Mandy’s.

“What are you two gossiping about then?” Daphne asked conversationally.

“Nothing,” Lilly said quickly, “Thank you for the earrings Daphne. They’re lovely, and oh my god Hermione, I’ve wanted that book forever!”

Hermione smiled, “I’m glad you liked it, I thought you would.”

“What’s that Mandy?” Daphne asked, glancing to the piece of parchment in front of the Ravenclaw.

“Oh, it’s my way of working out who Lil’s mystery boyfriend is,” Mandy said eagerly, “She said he was in our year, and that he’s 16. So I’ve crossed out everyone who I know is 17, and people who are in relationships.”

Hermione frowned as she looked at the piece of parchment. It was a list of names, organised into houses. It currently read,

Gryffindor  
Harry Potter  
Ron Weasley - NO  
Neville Longbottom  
Seamus Finnigan - NO  
Dean Thomas - NO

Slytherin  
Draco Malfoy  
Blaise Zabini  
Theodore Nott  
Vincent Crabbe - NO  
Gregory Goyle - NO

Ravenclaw  
Terry Boot  
Anthony Goldstein  
Michael Corner - NO   
Kevin Entwhistle - NO  
Steven Cornfoot - NO 

Hufflepuff  
Ernie MacMillan  
Justin Finch-Fletchley  
Zacharias Smith - NO  
Oliver Hopkins - NO  
Wayne Rivers

“So I’ve narrowed it down to 10 people!” Mandy said eagerly, “Well 9 really, because it can’t be Malfoy. You said yourself you wouldn’t go there again.”

Lilly groaned, “Look, Mandy leave it please! It’s private, I don’t want you to find out because you’ll just spread it around school if you do!”

“It’s Lilly’s business who she dates, you shouldn’t pry,” Hermione agreed.

Mandy rolled her eyes, “So you think you know her better than me Granger? We’ve been friends since 1st year! You only started speaking to Lilly last year.”

Daphne cut in, “Come on, it’s Lilly’s birthday let’s just get on with this translation and not argue,” she said diplomatically.

Mandy glared at Hermione who purposefully looked away, Lilly tried to resist the urge to roll her eyes. Harry’s surprise at the Quidditch Pitch was the only thing getting her through this day.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

After Ancient Runes Lilly jogged to catch up with Hermione after breaking free from Mandy’s clutches.

“Hermione,” Lilly said a little breathlessly as she fell into step with her, “Don’t tell Harry about Mandy. I don’t want him to get worried, I’ll tell him myself tonight.”

“My lips are sealed, don’t worry,” Hermione said with a glance behind her, “She’s a bit obsessive though isn’t she?”

“You think Lavender Brown is bad for gossiping?” Lilly muttered with a shake of her head, “She can’t work it out, she doesn’t know enough. I’ll bluff my way through this.”

Hermione smiled, “You’ll be fine, are you looking forward to tonight?”

“I’m nervous, I’ve no idea what he has planned. I don’t even know what to wear,” Lilly admitted sheepishly.

“Well I can help you there,” Hermione admitted, “Wear something warm, but nice.”

“Warm but nice?” Lilly mused, “Sounds…interesting”

Hermione laughed, “I can’t say anymore sorry, he swore me to secrecy.”

Lilly grinned, “I’m looking forward to it, tell him thanks for me, if you see him. His present was so sweet.”

“Sure,” Hermione agreed as they reached the point where they had to go their separate ways, “Enjoy the rest of your birthday Lilly!”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

At 6.50pm Lilly found herself walking through the grounds, which were still light, nervously awaiting Harry’s surprise. She was wearing something warm but nice, as Hermione had suggested, in the form of jeans, heels and a black sparkly top she reserved for special occasions. But that was all covered by her cloak at the moment. Despite it being the middle of April it still wasn’t warm yet, but it had at least been dry today.

Once she got to the main entrance of the pitch Lilly saw the beginnings of Harry’s surprise. There was a path leading towards the centre of the pitch, and it was lit by fireflies in jars on the ground. She grinned as she walked along the path to the centre where Harry had set up a little table.

“Happy Birthday,” He said sheepishly as he stood to meet her.

Lilly was normally quite composed but she couldn’t contain herself. She launched herself at him and held him tight, “This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me,” she whispered.

Harry smiled weakly, “Well, you deserve it,” he said as he pulled out her chair for her.

She sat down, and he sat across from her at the little table, “I had to square this with McGonagall and everything, she swore she’d keep it quiet though.”

“You really didn’t have to go to all of this trouble, Harry,” Lilly said honestly.

“I know, but I wanted to,” Harry said, “I know you had a pretty bad time of it growing up, and you said you’d never been out for dinner before. I wanted to be the first person to take you out for dinner, but there aren’t any restaurants in Hogsmeade, so I thought I’d bring dinner to the Quidditch pitch.”

Lilly smiled tearfully, “And I really appreciate it,” she said shakily.

“Are you crying?” Harry asked nervously, “Oh no, did I do something wrong Lilly?”

Lilly laughed weakly, “No you idiot, you did everything perfectly right. I’m just a little emotional.”

Harry shot her a smile, “Sorry, it’s just…dates don’t normally go well for me, I get nervous when I see tears.”

“I’m just happy,” Lilly assured him, “This is amazing, and the present is perfect, I haven’t taken it off all day.”

Harry grinned, “It took me so long to work out what to get you, then it came to me in a brainwave.”

“Well, it’s perfect,” Lilly said happily, “Just like tonight.”

“Hey, you’ve not tasted the food yet,” Harry joked.

“Did you cook it yourself?” Lilly asked in surprise.

“I wish I could say yes, but that would be a lie,” Harry said with a smile, “I can cook bacon, and eggs and fry ups. But that’s about the extent of it. I got my house elves to help.”

“You have house elves?” Lilly asked in surprise, “Well I mean, of course you do. You’re Harry Potter, you must have a mansion somewhere.”

Harry snorted, “I wish. I was raised in the muggle world remember? I do kind of own an ancestral home, it’s just not my families…”

Lilly raised an eyebrow at him, “You have got to explain that one.”

Harry frowned, “Well, my Godfather died last year, and he had no children. So he left me… well everything, including his house. But before you start thinking it’s cool, it’s not.”

“Any house is a good house,” Lilly pointed out.

“Not this one. My Godfather came from a very dark, very pure-blood family, quite similar to the Malfoy’s,” Harry explained, “Malfoy and my Godfather were related actually. The house is disgusting, it’s dirty, it’s full of dark magic and dangerous objects, and the hallway is lined with the heads of dead house elves.”

“Good luck getting a letting agent to evaluate that,” Lilly joked.

Harry laughed, which was something he didn’t often do when talking about Sirius, “Anyway, if we’re done talking about creepy houses, do you want to eat?”

“Sure,” Lilly said in amusement.

Harry clicked his fingers and two house elves appeared, “Lilly, this is Kreacher my house elf, and Dobby. I freed him, so he’s not actually my house elf but he likes to help me out.”

“Harry Potter freed Dobby,” Dobby said eagerly, “Dobby will do anything Harry Potter orders. Dobby has been cooking for 24 hours Harry Potter.”

“You didn’t have to do that Dobby,” Harry said gently, “I said something simple would be fine.”

“Kreacher hates to obey his master, but he must,” Kreacher muttered as he helped Dobby put food on the table, “Kreacher is disgusted to see the master of the most ancient and noble house of Black on a date with dirty blooded scum.”

“Kreacher,” Harry barked, “That’s enough. I order you to go back to the kitchens, and I order you to tell no one who I am with tonight. That includes writing it down, miming it out, or communicating that piece of knowledge with anyone, in any form.”

Kreacher looked furious at the fact there was no loophole and he disappeared with an angry crack. Dobby on the other hand beamed at Harry, “Is there anything else Dobby can do Harry Potter? Anything at all?”

“No, you’ve done more than enough Dobby, go get some sleep,” Harry said kindly.

Dobby bowed and disappeared.

“Well, that was interesting,” Lilly said.

“Kreacher was left alone for years,” Harry explained, “Hermione thinks he went a bit crazy while the house was unoccupied.”

“Well, it wouldn’t be unheard of,” Lilly admitted, “I’m guessing your Godfather’s family weren’t so keen on muggle-borns?”

“Put it this way, my Godfather was disowned for being sorted into Gryffindor,” Harry said, “Can you imagine what would have happened if he had brought a muggle-born home?”

“Probably the same thing that would have happened if Draco’s parents had found out about me and him,” Lilly said.

“Yeah, it wouldn’t have been pretty,” Harry said, “But let’s avoid creepy, or remotely dark subjects tonight.”

He lifted the lid on one of the platters and offered her some food.

Their dinner went well after that, they made small talk and found out more about each other as they ate. When it was coming to an end Harry still hadn’t done the thing he’d set out to do with this date, and oddly enough it was Lilly who brought them around to the subject.

“So, Mandy is telling everyone my mystery relationship is getting serious,” Lilly joked, “They asked if you’d signed my birthday card with love or not, and apparently because you have we’re now officially serious. She’s also trying to figure out who I’m dating, just a heads up, I don’t think she knows enough to figure it out though.”

Harry laughed nervously, “It’s funny you should say that actually, about the card. I did this for your birthday, but I also had something else I wanted to say-”

“Oh God, you’re not going to propose to me are you?” Lilly asked anxiously.

“What? No!” Harry exclaimed, his cheeks going a little red, “I’m only 16!”

“Thank God,” Lilly laughed, “That’s what I said earlier when they started suggesting that was what was in the box.”

Harry smiled weakly, “The thing I was going to say…well I was going to tell you…that, well. The thing is, the way I feel about you…I’ve never felt like that before and I’m pretty sure that I’m falling in love with you.”

It had tumbled out, very quickly, just like it had when he had asked Cho to the Yule Ball. But Lilly didn’t say she hadn’t caught what he’d said. She just smiled at him for a moment.

Harry cleared his throat, and looked away, trying to focus on anything but her face.

“Harry?”

The softness in her voice made him turn around, and when he saw her smiling at him it made him feel a little less embarrassed.

“I feel the same.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“So, how was your-”

Hermione cut herself off when she saw the grin on Harry’s face.

“She loves me,” He said, flopping down onto the sofa in between Hermione and Ron.

“She told you that?” Ron asked.

“Yep,” Harry said happily.

“And you two haven’t even…done the deed yet?”

“Ron!” Hermione scolded, “You can fall in love with someone without shagging them!”

Ron’s ears turned scarlet, “I didn’t mean…well I wasn’t…never mind!”

Harry sniggered, “She loved the dinner too, and she loved her present.”

“I told you she would,” Hermione chuckled, “You are a closet romantic after all.”

“I’d never have done that for Lavender’s birthday,” Ron mused.

“Probably because you’d rather have shagged her in a broom closet,” Hermione remarked, “Did you love her?”

Ron faltered, “Well she was a great girl-”

Hermione scoffed, “Honestly Ron, she was head over heels for you. The way you led her on was quite cruel.”

“Since when were you on her side?” Ron asked in disbelief.

“Since you started acting like an idiot about it!”

“Guys-”

“Stay out of it Harry,” Hermione said irritably as she got to her feet.

Ron rolled his eyes, “Are you jealous Hermione? Is that it?”

“That’s what you think?” Hermione asked incredulously.

“Well why else were you so against me and Lavender from the start?”

“Ron, I don’t think she’s-” Harry began.

“I’m definitely not jealous,” Hermione cut in, “There are far more interesting people in the world than you Ron!”

Before Ron could hurl more abuse at Hermione she headed upstairs.

“Is she dating someone?” Ron asked Harry.

“I dunno,” Harry said honestly, “Why would she tell me if she was? I’m not a girl, we don’t talk about stuff like that.”

Ron narrowed his eyes, “Well, why else would she have said there were more interesting people?”

“Maybe because she was annoyed with you,” Harry suggested, “Are you jealous”

Ron scoffed, “No.”

Harry got the distinct impression that one of them was jealous, and he was fairly certain that it wasn’t Hermione.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

After Lilly’s birthday Harry was more lovestruck than usual, and with the rate that he was sneaking off to see his girlfriend Hermione barely saw him. She still hadn’t spoken to Draco since he had left the last meeting, and she was starting to think he was seriously avoiding her. She, Ron and Lilly all headed into Hogsmeade together for their apparition tests, and Hermione finally managed to grab Draco alone as they made their way back to the castle afterwards.

Ron was grumbling to Lilly about how he had failed because he had left behind half an eyebrow, and Lilly, who had more patience than Hermione at the moment, was humoring him. 

Hermione spotted Draco sitting on one of the fallen stones in the stone circle and she seized her chance, “You guys go on, I’ll catch you up,” she said, walking as quickly as she dared towards him.

“You’ve been avoiding me Malfoy.”

Draco jumped when she spoke and looked up from what he was doing, which seemed to be sketching a vanishing cabinet in his notebook, “What brings you here Granger?”

“You haven’t spoken to me in weeks,” Hermione said quietly, “Is it because you overheard what I said to Harry? Because it’s not like you and I were ever…officially anything…”

“I’m busy,” Draco said, “I’m finally starting to get somewhere with my project.”

“Oh,” Hermione realised, “Well, I don’t feel quite so ignored then. I just passed my apparition test by the way.”

He smiled slightly, “Of course you did. Have you ever failed anything?”

Hermione opened her mouth to reply, but Draco cut in, “It was a rhetorical question, Granger.”

Hermione rolled her eyes, “Of course it was, Malfoy.”

“I heard about Potter, dating Lilly,” Draco told her, changing the course of the conversation entirely.

“Did you?” Hermione asked curiously, “Who from, Daphne?”

Draco nodded, “I thought he was being careful, in case Voldemort finds out?”

“He was,” Hermione said, “He still is. They’re keeping it quiet, not many people know. It is possible to have a relationship and keep it secret you know Malfoy.”

Something flashed in Draco’s eyes, “Not around here, it won’t last long, trust me.”

“We’ll see,” Hermione said, sitting down next to him, “I miss your company you know.”

“Do you?” Draco asked, a glimmer of hope slipping into his voice.

Hermione nodded, “I do, and up until now I’ve been content with not talking about all of the things that have happened but that last kiss in the bathroom, and then the things you said under veritaserum…I don’t know how long we can not talk about it for.”

Draco looked a little uncomfortable, “We can’t Granger. We can’t talk about it, we can’t act on it. We just can’t, as soon as I fix the vanishing cabinet everything is going to kick off. Then you’ll finally realise how different our worlds are.”

“I realise how different our worlds are, trust me,” Hermione whispered.

“You clearly don’t or we wouldn’t be having this conversation,” Draco muttered, “What do you think is going to happen? Do you think I’ll just be able to run away and live my life without them finding me? I’ve got the mark, that means he can track me wherever I go.”

“What?” Hermione asked in disbelief.

Draco turned to face her, fear clouded his grey eyes, “Wherever I go he’ll find me, so once we’re out of the walls of this castle I can never see you again. I won’t put your life in danger, so whatever you think is going to happen… it isn’t.”

“Draco-”

He had gotten to his feet, and she jogged after him as he headed towards the bridge back to the castle. 

“Draco, there must be a way-”

“There isn’t a way,” Draco muttered angrily, “I can’t cut it off, or burn it off, it protects itself.”

“How do you know that?” Hermione asked quietly.

He shot her a desperate look, “I’ve already tried everything Granger.”

“There must be a way, something you haven’t tried yet,” Hermione said optimistically. 

“There isn’t,” Draco hissed, he glanced behind them to make sure they were alone, “So whatever was going on between us, it’s over.”

“But if he can trace you everywhere you go,” Hermione whispered tearfully, “Then you’ll have to pretend like you’re still one of them. You can’t run away.”

“I know,” Draco said as they came to the end of the tunnel.

“And we’ll be on opposite sides of the war again,” Hermione uttered so quietly that she wasn’t sure Draco had heard her.

“No,” He said, and when she looked up she was surprised at the pain she saw in his face, “I’ll always be on your side. I have two choices when this ends, I go back to them. Or I run, and hope they don’t find me. I’m leaning towards the latter.”

“But then this is a suicide mission Draco,” Hermione whispered, grabbing his wrist so he couldn’t walk away from her, “I won’t let you help us if you’re going to die because of it!”

“Hermione,” Draco hissed, pulling his arm out of her grasp before somebody could see them, “For once I actually have something worth dying for.”

Hermione was so stunned by his words, and so shocked by his revelations that she didn’t stop him from walking away. She just stared after his retreating form wondering what on earth to do with the information she had just received. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Hermione was walking around in a daze when she finally ended up where she needed to be, the dungeons. She found Daphne exactly where she thought she would be, working in the potions lab.

“Oh hey Hermione,” She said, “What brings you down here?”

Hermione shut the door, and the snap echo-ed around the empty lab.

“Did you know?” She asked quietly.

Daphne frowned, “Did I know what?”

“That they could track Draco because of his mark,” Hermione said, locking eyes with the Slytherin girl.

Daphne dropped her knife, “What?”

“He just told me,” Hermione said, sitting down heavily on the bench next to Daphne.

Daphne let out a long breath, “I knew he’d been trying to get rid of it,” she admitted, “He asked me not to tell you. But he’d tried burning it off, and cutting it off. The skin around it was damaged, but the mark just healed it.”

“I don’t think he would be able to get rid of it unless he cut off his arm,” Hermione said miserably.

“Well, it is on his left arm,” Daphne mused, “He’d still be able to use a wand.”

“But he wouldn’t be able to fly a broom,” Hermione said, “And he’s always wanted to be a Quidditch player.”

“If it’s his only option-”

“He won’t go for it, you know that as well as I do,” Hermione said firmly.

“What’s he going to do then? If they can track him, is he just going to go home for summer and pretend none of this happened?” Daphne asked coolly.

“I don’t know, maybe,” Hermione admitted, “I like that option about as much as I like the second one though,” she added darkly.

“What’s the second option?” Daphne asked.

“He takes his chances and goes on the run,” Hermione said.

“They’d catch him, he wouldn’t make it 5 miles before Voldemort found him,” Daphne said instantly, “and they would kill him.”

“I know,” Hermione said, her voice slipping away from her, “If that’s his choice then helping us is a suicide mission. I told him that.”

“Did it convince him to change his mind?” Daphne asked hopefully.

“No,” Hermione said quietly, “He said that he finally had something worth dying for.”

“You,” Daphne said softly.

Hermione nodded tearfully, “But I don’t want to be the reason that he dies Daphne,” she choked out.

Daphne nodded, “I know,” she said, grabbing Hermione’s hand, “But we’ll work something out, alright? Do you think we ought to call an emergency meeting?”

Hermione shook her head weakly, “There’s no point, we’ll all stay behind after the DA meeting on Friday anyway.”

Daphne nodded for what felt the umpteenth time, “Okay. Will you be alright Hermione? This is a pretty hard bombshell to deal with.”

“I’ll be fine,” Hermione said as she took a shaky breath and got to her feet, “I just need to go to the library, I need to see if I can find an alternative option.”

“Alright,” Daphne said tentatively, “Well, I’m here if you need me.”

Hermione smiled weakly, “Thank you Daphne.”

TBC :)


	21. The Attacks Hit Home

As April neared its end Harry, Hermione and Ron received bad news from Hagrid.

“Did you hear?” Harry asked them as he jogged into the common room.

“No, what’s happened?” Hermione asked anxiously.

“Aragog’s dead,” Harry said, waving a note in the air.

“Oh, poor Hagrid,” Hermione sighed.

“Poor Hagrid?” Ron asked incredulously, “That giant beast tried to kill Harry and me in 2nd year!”

“Well he was Hagrid’s pet, he must be horribly upset!” Hermione reasoned as she took the note from Harry.

“Are you going to go to the funeral?” Harry asked, once Hermione had handed him the note back.

“He’s having a funeral for a giant spider?” Ron asked in disbelief.

Hermione shot a glare at Ron and grabbed her cloak, “He was Hagrid’s first friend when he was lonely because he was different! Maybe you can’t understand that, but I can. Are you coming Harry?”

“Uh, yeah,” Harry said distractedly, “For Hagrid, not the spider. Ron?”

Ron scoffed, “I’m not going to a spider’s funeral.”

“Suit yourself,” Hermione said as she spun on her heel and left the common room, with Harry jogging after her.

“You’re really pissed off with him recently.”

“He’s really pissing me off at the moment,” Hermione countered.

“Alright, alright, slow down,” Harry said a little breathlessly, “You’re not still jealous about Lavender, are you?”

“Jealous?” Hermione asked in disbelief, “Certainly not. I just have a lot on my mind, and Ron is adding to the load.”

“I’ve noticed you’ve been a little distant this week, are you going to tell me what’s going on?” Harry asked as he finished pulling his own cloak on.

The grand staircase was empty so Hermione said quietly, “I was going to wait and tell you at tomorrow’s meeting, but I might as well tell you now. Draco’s dark mark can be tracked, by Voldemort.”

“So?”

“So he can’t run away,” Hermione replied irritably, “He’s going to have to go back to his parents, he’s going to have to pretend hes one of them!”

Harry frowned, “Wasn’t that what he was going to do anyway?”

“Harry,” Hermione hissed, “Are you really that naïve? He’s risking his life to help us, he wasn’t just going to return to his life after that! This was his way out, and now it’s not even that!”

“There’s nothing we can do about it, I mean you can’t un-take the dark mark,” Harry murmured.

“And you also can’t burn or cut it off apparently, he’s tried,” Hermione said darkly.

Harry sighed, “Sorry, I didn’t realise he was that desperate.”

“No, neither did I,” Hermione said honestly, “Look, there isn’t any point going into it now. We’ll talk about it tomorrow after the DA meeting.”

Harry nodded, “Alright,” he agreed, glancing anxiously at Hermione, “Will you be alright?”

“I’m fine,” Hermione snapped.

They made their way to the grounds and stood with Hagrid for Aragog’s funeral, and then they were dragged into his hut where he reminisced and cried for at least an hour. By the time they got back to the common room they were exhausted so they went to bed. Hermione was grateful, she didn’t want to be questioned any further by Harry about Draco. She lay in bed tossing and turning that night, trying to think of any way to remove the mark from Draco’s arm, as a result she barely got any sleep. What she didn’t know was that several floors down Draco was tossing and turning in his bed trying to work out if there was any way he could sensibly have any sort of relationship with Hermione given his predicament.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Hermione couldn’t concentrate much throughout the next DA meeting, and she knew the others had noticed. She kept making silly mistakes, and she couldn’t even conjure her patronus when she tried. It wasn’t easy when you felt as miserable as she did, she blamed herself for thinking that the plan might actually work for once.

The meeting finished, and the members trickled out as usual. When they were alone Susan fixed Hermione with a knowing look, “What’s going on?”

Hermione opened her mouth to tell them but then shook her head and sat down, “We should wait for Draco.”

Lilly glanced to the clock, “He’ll be here in a minute, is everything alright Hermione?”

“No,” Hermione said irritably, “Everything is the opposite of alright.”

Before the others could question Hermione any further the door opened and Draco slipped in. All eyes were on him, and he frowned slightly as he glanced at Hermione.

“So you told them then?”

“No, I thought you should,” Hermione said quietly.

Draco was silent, and Daphne shook her head in disbelief, “Alright, I’ll tell them then! Draco’s dark mark makes him traceable, Voldemort can find him, wherever he goes.”

“Well,” Susan said optimistically, “That doesn’t stop you from completing your mission.”

“No,” Hermione said with a glare at the redhead, “It just means he’s practically committing suicide by helping us!”

“Technically, we’re helping him,” Lilly said gently, “All we’re doing is making sure events play out like they are supposed to, but preparing to fight the battle that will happen when it does.”

“And what side did you think Draco was going to be on in that battle?” Daphne asked in disbelief, “Because he’s going to have to fight for the Death Eaters now, and then he’s going to have to go back home with them.”

“And that means his memory will have to be erased,” Neville said reasonably, “Because he knows too much, and Voldemort could easily use Legilimency on him.”

“Exactly,” Hermione said coolly, “So this does make a difference to some of us, Susan!”

“I didn’t mean it like that Hermione,” Susan said honestly, “And surely there must be a way to get rid of the mark? A loophole?”

“Apart from cutting my arm off, there isn’t,” Draco said darkly, “I’ve tried everything else.”

“Well-”

“No, he can’t cut his arm off,” Neville said in disbelief before Lilly could even make the suggestion, “Do you have any idea the kind of agony that would be? And it would ruin the rest of his life!”

“Well, he’s not going to have a rest of his life otherwise,” Lilly said irritably.

“Yes, he is,” Hermione said hotly, “If we can’t find a way then Draco will just have to go back to the Death Eaters and play his part. I’ll erase his memory myself, properly this time.”

She looked towards the Slytherin, waiting for a nod or some kind of agreement. But he shook his head, “No, I’m not going back to them and I’m not letting you erase my memories. I’ll take my chances on the run.”

“They’ll kill you Draco!”

“I’d rather die as the person I really am than go back to them and forget everything,” Draco said calmly, but firmly, “I’m not arguing about it, that’s what I want.”

Hermione sunk lower into her chair, wondering if this situation really could get any worse.

“Well, in the meantime,” Harry said awkwardly, “We’ll look for loopholes.”

“I appreciate the sympathy trip Potter, but there aren’t any,” Draco said, “So are we done here?”

Harry nodded, “Looks like it.”

“Draco-”

He ignored Hermione and left the room, snapping the door shut behind him.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The morning after their meeting a not so welcome surprise came in the form of Katie Bell. Hermione saw her in the common room and panicked, if she remembered Draco attacking her they were in trouble.

“Hey Katie,” Hermione smiled, “How are you feeling?”

Katie turned away from her friends and smiled at Hermione, “Oh hi Hermione. I’m feeling much better, Merlin knows how much of school I missed though!”

Hermione laughed, “I take it you don’t remember anything from when you got attacked?”

Katie shook her head, “No, everyone’s been asking, but it’s all blank.”

Hermione had to hide her relief at that news.

“But anyway, I better get off to breakfast. I don’t want to be late on my first day back!”

As soon as she had left the common room Hermione followed her and darted down a secret passage. She had to beat Katie to the hall, because if Draco walked in and saw her there he would panic and give himself away. Her jog down the stairs was halted when she ran into Neville on the third floor.

“Hermione! What are you doing?” Neville asked in shock.

“Katie’s back,” Hermione said breathlessly, “If Draco sees her-“

“He’ll freak out and give himself away,” Neville finished with a nod, “Come on then, he’ll be in the dungeons.”

Hermione nodded and Neville joined her in her mad dash from the top to the bottom of the castle. When they finally emerged from behind a portrait in the dungeons they just caught Draco before he walked into the entrance hall. Neville grabbed him and pulled him into an alcove, covering his mouth before he could shout.

“It’s just us Draco,” Hermione said breathlessly, “We’ve just come from Gryffindor Tower. Katie Bell is back.”

Neville took his hand off of Draco’s mouth and the Slytherin shot him a glare.

“Does she know?”

Hermione shook her head, “She doesn’t remember anything, it’s all blank.”

“So just act natural,” Neville said as he ducked out of the alcove.

“Draco-”

“I need to go Granger.”

“No, you don’t,” Hermione hissed, grabbing him and pinning him against the wall, “I need to talk to you.”

Draco glared at her, “This is pointless and you know it! What do you want with a guy on a suicide mission?”

Hermione’s glare bored into him, “Oh I don’t know Malfoy, but maybe if you’re going to die I actually want to spend the time you have left with you, not fighting you!”

Draco narrowed his eyes at her, “You know that can’t happen, not here, not with Snape constantly breathing down our necks.”

“Why can’t it? Don’t you think we can keep it a secret?” Hermione asked hotly, “Lilly and Harry have.”

“Potter isn’t trying to bring Death Eaters into the school, kill Dumbledore and help the light all at the same time,” Draco hissed, “He has time to hide a relationship, I don’t!”

“So you won’t even try?”

“Granger,” Draco muttered as he broke free from her grasp, “If I get involved with you and anyone finds out you don’t know what they will do to you!”

“I can handle myself,” Hermione whispered, “I have done up until now. What’s the worse they can do?”

Draco glanced into the corridor and whispered, “Their idea of humiliating me would be to…they would do terrible things, and they would make me watch. I’ve seen it happen, and it makes me sick, I cannot let them do that to you so stop making it so hard for me to stay away from you, please.”

Hermione was so shocked and disgusted by his words that once more she didn’t stop him as he disappeared.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Hermione granted Draco his wish and stopped seeking him out as April rolled over into May. The sun was warm now, and the flowers were all in bloom. 

She was hoping to have a quiet month, but of course that didn’t happen. Everything began on the 2nd of May…Harry was the first to notice something strange in their first class, Potions.

“Where’s Daphne, sir?” Harry asked when he realised he would be working alone today.

Slughorn smiled sympathetically at Harry, “She’s not going to be in today’s class Harry. Why don’t you work in a trio with Miss Moon and Mr. MacMillan today?”

Harry frowned at Lilly who was working at the bench across from him. She shrugged and they didn’t get a chance to talk throughout the rest of the class. Once it was over Harry jogged to catch up with Lilly on the way out, “Lil, have you seen Daphne today?”

“No,” Lilly replied in a whisper, “She wasn’t in the great hall this morning. Maybe she’s sick?”

“I have a really bad feeling about this,” Harry admitted.

“So do I,” Susan said as she and Hermione appeared behind them in the dungeon corridor, “Daphne’s never sick.”

“Well, Draco might know where she is,” Lilly whispered, glancing at the Slytherin boy who was walking behind them.

“I’ll talk to him,” Susan murmured, “No need to arouse suspicion, I’ll see you guys in Transfiguration.”

They walked on, and Susan hung back.

“What do you want, Bones?” Draco drawled, aware that Snape was walking down the corridor towards them.

“Where’s Daphne?” Susan asked quickly, “And don’t lie to me Draco, she’s my best friend and I’m worried about her!”

“I don’t know where she is,” Draco replied, “Snape came and collected her and Astoria from the common room this morning for a private meeting, and I haven’t seen them since.”

Susan’s face paled, “Oh Merlin, no…do you think one of their family members were hurt? Have you heard from Lareina or Cygnus recently?”

“If I knew anything more I would tell you Bones,” Draco snapped, “But I don’t. You’ll have to owl Daphne.”

“Draco-“

Snape had now reached them, and Draco said over his shoulder, “She’s your friend Bones, leave me out of it.”

Susan glared at him tearfully and spun on her heel as she walked away. Her heels clicked down the corridor and Snape paused in front of Draco.

“Everything alright Draco?” He asked quietly.

“I don’t know, is everything alright with Daphne?” Draco asked bitterly, “That’s what Bones was shouting about.”

Snape lowered his voice, “Her brother was attacked, the sisters were to report to St. Mungo’s immediately, to say goodbye.”

Draco’s eyes widened, “What?”

“You are not supposed to know, the prophet have not even reported it yet,” Snape drawled, “If the news spreads around the school I will hold you responsible.”

Draco nodded, still in shock, “I…I won’t say anything.”

“You had better hurry, or you will be late for Transfiguration,” Snape said dismissively as he stalked away through the dungeons.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Draco tried to slip away after Transfiguration, but Susan knew his secret escape routes well because he had spent a fair amount of time snogging her in them last year. She cornered him and threatened to bodybind him if he tried to run.

“I saw you talking to Snape, do you know where Daphne is?” Susan asked in a quiet, but deadly voice.

Draco nodded, “She’s at St. Mungo’s,” he whispered.

Susan loosened her grasp on him, “St. Mungo’s?”

“It’s Salvatore,” Draco muttered.

“What’s happened to him?” Susan asked desperately.

“I don’t know, Snape just told me that he was told to fetch the sisters and take them to St. Mungo’s, to say goodbye,” Draco said in an undertone.

Susan let out a noise somewhere between a sob and a shout, and Draco instinctively hugged her.

“We grew up with Sal!” Susan half whispered, half cried, “How can you be so calm?”

“I’m not,” Draco hissed, “He was like a little brother to me!”

“Don’t say was,” Susan said tearfully, “We don’t know if…he…he might make it.”

Draco sighed, “I don’t think so Susan, it sounded serious.”

Susan subconsciously hugged Draco tighter, and at that point Hermione and Harry appeared behind them, walking down the passage.

Hermione’s eyes immediately widened, and Draco cleared his throat as he separated himself from Susan, “It’s not what it looks like,” he muttered.

“You made it clear we weren’t anything anyway Malfoy,” Hermione said coolly.

“No,” Susan said tearfully, “It’s Daphne.”

Hermione’s demeanor changed, “What’s happened to her?”

“Not her,” Susan sobbed as the tears fell from her eyes, “Her little brother is in St. Mungo’s, Daphne and her sister got taken there to…to…”

“- To say goodbye,” Draco finished in an undertone, “They don’t think he’s going to make it.”

“Oh my god,” Hermione said, her face paling significantly, “What happened to him?”

“We don’t know,” Draco said quietly, “But we all grew up together so it’s just…”

“I understand,” Hermione said as she swallowed, “Look, we’ll just…come on Harry, I’ll explain to Flitwick why you’re late. I’m sure the teachers must know why the Greengrass sisters aren’t at classes.”

Before Draco or Susan could say anything Hermione grabbed Harry’s hand and they slipped away down the passageway. They didn’t talk until they emerged on the third floor.

“That’s not good, Hermione,” Harry whispered, “Why would they target her family? She’s a Slytherin!”

“And her parents are notoriously neutral,” Hermione said in an undertone, “If Voldemort tried to get them to join the Death Eaters and they refused…”

Harry sighed deeply, “What if this is my fault?”

“Don’t be stupid, nobody in his circle knows you two are friends,” Hermione murmured, “Don’t blame yourself, just…be there for her when she comes back. If he…well, she’ll need all the friends she can get.”

Harry nodded weakly, “This isn’t a distant worry anymore Hermione. They’ve attacked one of us now…this is war.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The weekend passed and there was still no sign of Daphne. They all grew anxious because the longer she was gone the more likely it was that the worst case scenario had happened, and her brother had died. 

On Monday morning Hermione scanned the newspaper anxiously.

“Anyone we know?” Harry asked, expecting the worst.

Hermione gasped tearfully and nodded, “Salvatore Greengrass, the 11 year old son of politician Cygnus Hyperion Greengrass, has been reported dead after a werewolf attack. Mr. Greengrass recently stepped down as Party Leader of the Neutrals. The Auror team working on the case believe this connection to be significant in understanding the attack on Salvatore Greengrass.. The funeral will follow on Wednesday.”

“11,” Harry said quietly, “He’d have been coming to Hogwarts in September.”

Hermione raised a shaky hand to her face, and Harry gripped her shoulder wordlessly. He turned around and saw Susan run from the hall looking like she was struggling to contain her tears.

“Nev,” Harry said, grabbing his friends wrist, “It’s in the paper, Daphne’s brother was killed by a werewolf. Susan just ran off, you should go after her.”

Neville’s face paled at the news and he got to his feet wordlessly, leaving the hall as quickly as he could. He had grown up in the same circles as Susan and Daphne, he knew Salvatore as well as Susan and Draco did.

“How many more people will die before this ends Harry?” Hermione choked out.

“Too many,” Harry replied as his eyes darkened.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

After that the news spread around the school like wildfire and they found out from Susan that Daphne would be returning to school on Friday. When Friday morning came Daphne wasn’t in the great hall for breakfast, but she was in potions.

Harry wasn’t sure what to say as they stood at their work bench together in silence, “I saw in the prophet Daphne. I’m so sorry.”

Daphne nodded stoically, “Thanks Potter.”

“Are you okay?” Harry asked tentatively.

“I’m fine,” Daphne lied, “Can I just get on with my work? I’m a week behind.”

Harry nodded, “Right, of course,” he said. He wasn’t stupid, he could tell she didn’t want to talk, so they fell into silence.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Susan managed to corner Daphne eventually, after dinner.

“Daph!” She called as she hurried after her friend.

Daphne started to walk faster but Susan jogged and caught her up easily, “Come on, don’t do this isolation thing, it doesn’t help.”

“I’m fine Susan.”

“That’s bullshit,” Susan said gently, grabbing her best friend’s hand, “Come with me to the secret springs, talk to me. You can’t just lock this away.”

“I have to,” Daphne said, her façade beginning to crack, “For Astoria, I’m the strong one. She…she can’t cope with this.”

“And neither can you on your own,” Susan whispered, “Daphne please, come with me. You don’t have to pretend to be strong with me.”

Daphne turned tearfully to the redhead and simply nodded.

Susan sighed gratefully and didn’t drop Daphne’s hand as they slipped into the store cupboard, and went through the hidden door to gain access to the springs. They didn’t talk until they had both kicked off their shoes, pulled off their socks and dipped their legs into the warm water.

“It was a werewolf attack,” Daphne said quietly, “He was too sick to last until the full moon.”

Susan knew how it worked, if someone was turned into a werewolf close enough to the full moon they would turn and heal themselves in the process. But the full moon wasn’t until the 22nd of May, and Salvatore had been attacked on the 2nd.

“He was so weak Susan,” Daphne whispered as tears fell from her eyes, “And so small in that hospital bed. I knew he wasn’t going to make it as soon as I saw him, he was covered in scratches and he had…” she let out a sob, “He had already lost a leg, and half an arm.”

Susan bit her lip hard to stop herself from sobbing, she had tears flowing down her face freely.

“I’m sorry you couldn’t come to the funeral,” Daphne choked out, “It was just Mother, Father, Astoria and Mother’s parents. It had to be quick and small, they were scared we would be attacked.”

“Why did they do this?” Susan whispered.

“To punish Father,” Daphne replied in a choked sort of voice, “It was the Death Eaters…they wrote a message on the wall in…”

Susan put her arm around her friend, “Shh, you don’t have to say it.”

“I do,” Daphne said painfully, “I have to talk about it, you’re right. If I hold it in it will just…it will be like last time.”

“You don’t have to tell me all of it,” Susan soothed, “I can read between the lines.”

Daphne nodded and wiped her eyes, but there was no point because the tears were still coming, “The message said, join us or it’s the girls next.”

Susan gasped, “No.”

“He had to pick a side Susan, this forced his hand,” Daphne gasped out.

“No, no, no,” Susan said quickly, “He didn’t…he’s not… please tell me he’s not one of them.”

Daphne shook her head and sucked in a long shaky breath, “He joined the order. They’ve given him protection, Tori and I are safe but only as long as we’re in Hogwarts and then when Dumbledore dies and Voldemort takes over Tori won’t even be safe here.”

“Shh,” Susan said as she held Daphne tighter, “She will be safe here, we’ll make sure of it.”

“I don’t know why they did this,” Daphne said in a quiet, broken voice, “Why couldn’t they just have left us alone?”

“Because Voldemort hates the word neutral,” Susan told her, “You know that, he wants followers or enemies, he doesn’t like uncertainties.”

“I just wish he’d hurt me instead of Sal,” Daphne sobbed, “I’d become a werewolf if I could have him back.”

“I know,” Susan said, tears spilling down her own face as she held her best friend as tightly as she could, “But we are going to get through this Daph. I’m going to help, we’re all going to help because we’re your family. You know that, don’t you?”

Daphne nodded weakly as she leant into Susan’s embrace and let the tears flow freely.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“It’s Daphne’s birthday tomorrow,” Susan whispered to Hermione and Lilly, they were working in the library together on a project for Transfiguration.

“I know,” Lilly whispered back, “I’ve got her a gift and everything, but I don’t think she’ll want us to do anything.”

“She’s still so upset,” Hermione agreed. They were now in the middle of the May, and it had only been two weeks since Daphne’s brothers shock death. 

“But it’s her 17th,” Susan sighed, “We should at least try and cheer her up.”

“Don’t throw a party, she’ll hate that,” Lilly said, “She won’t want to be surrounded by lots of people, she’s barely spoken to Hermione or I since she got back.”

“She’s spoken to me,’ Susan said, “But I am her best friend.”

“She’ll only speak to you, Harry and Draco,” Hermione whispered.

“Draco’s her ex and one of her closest friends,” Lilly said, “But why is she so close to Harry all of a sudden?”

“She’s not trying to steal your boyfriend if that’s what you’re suggesting,” Susan mumbled, “Harry just understands what she’s going through, she saw a Thestral for the first time yesterday, it took Harry and I at least an hour to calm her down.”

“Well I understand loss too,” Lilly said irritably, “And she’s completely shutting me out.”

“You’re not the only one, don’t worry,” Hermione said, “She’s clearly struggling and Harry just lost his Godfather last year. If he can help her through it then we should be grateful, not angry.”

Lilly sighed, “Well, if you don’t think she can handle a lot of people…how do you think she’d cope with 6?”

“Who are you thinking?” Susan asked.

“Us three, Harry, Draco and Neville,” Lilly whispered, “A party would be too much but how about a little get together, with butterbeer and cake?”

“Add firewhiskey to the mix and I think that’s a good idea,” Susan agreed.

“Where?” Hermione asked, “The room of requirement is being watched, we should try and avoid going there as much as possible.”

“And the common rooms would be too busy,” Lilly added.

“I know a place, but I’m not sure if anyone else knows where it is,” Susan said, leaning forward so she could lower her voice further, “You know the underground harbour where the boats come in?”

“Where we came into the school in 1st year?” Lilly asked.

Susan nodded, “It’s hardly watched throughout the year, and it’s a great place to dip your feet in the water.”

“Isn’t it always locked?” Hermione asked.

“It is, but if you know where the secret entrance is…” Susan said with a small smile.

Lilly chuckled, “Alright, we’ll spread the news. Can you get Daphne there?”

Susan nodded, “In the lower dungeons there’s this empty hall across from the Slytherin common room. It’s always open and the secret entrance is via that room. At the far back right corner of the room there’s a drain in the floor, lift it up and there’s a ladder inside. If you go down it and drop down a couple of feet you’ll be in the harbour.”

“On the ground or in the water?” Lilly asked suspiciously.

Susan smirked as she got to her feet, “That’s part of the adventure Lil,” she said with a wink as she turned and left.

Hermione shook her head in amusement, “Maybe I should put a bikini on under my clothes…”

“Draco would love that,” Lilly teased.

Hermione scoffed, “Draco hasn’t spoken to me in weeks, he made it very clear that nothing is going to happen between us.”

“But he’s doing it for the right reasons,” Lilly whispered, “You heard what he said would happen to you if he got involved.”

“I know, but knowing he’s doing it for the right reasons doesn’t make me miss him any less,” Hermione said, also getting to her feet, “But I need to go, I’ll see you tomorrow Lil.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When Daphne woke up to a pile of presents on her birthday she wanted to kick them instead of open them. 

“Ooh, lots of pressies this year Daphne!” Pansy squealed.

Daphne rolled her eyes and gathered the pile, dumping it on her bed, “And it’s not your business to see me open them Pansy.”

Pansy glared at her, “I don’t know what’s happened to you and Draco this year, but you’re both acting so horrible! Maybe you should just get back together!”

“Ugh, never happening,” Daphne said irritably as Pansy and Millicent exchanged exasperated glances.

“Well, she’s not being horrible to us,” Sophie pointed out, “So maybe you’re the problem Pansy.”

Daphne hid a small smile at that as Sophie sat down on her double bed. Daphne glanced to the bed next to her where Tracey was watching the scene unfold, “Coming Trace?”

Tracey grinned and jumped into the bed, and Daphne pulled the curtains shut and did a silencing charm.

“The best thing about not being at Hogwarts is going to be not sharing a dorm with that,” Daphne muttered.

Sophie smiled, “Oh forget about her. Go on, open your presents, they might put a smile on your face.”

“And you know we’ve missed your smiling face, Daph,” Tracey said kindly.

Daphne smiled and opened the first present on the pile, which was a lovely dress from Tracey. She then had a beautiful pair of emerald earrings from Sophie, which they both received hugs and smiles for.

“Ooh, what’s this one?” Sophie asked, handing Daphne a rectangular shaped package.

Daphne laughed, “I think it’s from Susan, she got Lil a Ravenclaw charm bracelet for her birthday. I think this might be a Slytherin one.”

She was right, inside the box was a silver charm bracelet with the Slytherin crest, a snake, a cauldron, a locket and a miniature castle clearly meant to portray Hogwarts.

“Wow Daph, that’s so neat!” Tracey said as Daphne slipped the bracelet on and opened the card that had come with the present. There were gift vouchers for Zonkos inside and a written message.

“Daph,

Happy 17th Birthday! 

With everything going on I thought our plan to run away for the weekend would have to wait, but I am going to make sure you have the best day ever anyway. Nothing less for the best friend a girl could ask for.

Love, love, love you!  
Suse.”

Daphne smiled at the message and put the card down carefully on her bed as Sophie handed her the next present. It turned out to be a Honeydukes gift box full of sweet treats from Hermione with a little note saying “Happy 17th Daphne! Sorry, I don’t know you that well yet. But everyone loves chocolate, right? - Hermione x.” The next present was from Lilly, Daphne spotted her hand-writing straight away before she even read the message.

“Happy 17th Daphne! Have a great birthday - Love Lil.”

Inside the box was a simple silver emerald ring, engraved on the inside were the words, “Friendship.”

There was a small note that said simply, “I’ve gotten Susan one for her birthday next month. Her says ‘has’, and Hermione and I have one each too. Hermione’s says ‘no’ and mine says ‘boundaries’. Who would have thought four girls, each from a different house, would ever have become so close? - Lil.”

Daphne smiled at the sentiment and slipped the ring on her finger, it fit perfectly, but then Lilly did know her very well. The presents had already made her feel far better about the day, and she chuckled at the gift from Draco which was just a card with money inside saying, 

“I promised you a great birthday present this year. Don’t spend it all in one place.

Thank you, for everything,  
Draco.”

The money in the card was quite a substantial amount so Daphne carefully put it down next to the card from Susan.

“There are only three left,” Sophie said, handing another present to her friend.

Daphne’s heart sank when she opened the present and lifted out her Father’s golden pocket watch. She swallowed hard, and she was dreading reading the note in the box.

“Want me to read it Daph?” Tracey asked quietly.

Daphne nodded, and Tracey unfolded the note, “Daphne - This was supposed to pass down to Salvatore. Your Mother and I will not have anymore children now, but you will have a son one day and when he turns 17 pass this down to him. Keep it safe for me, for Salvatore, and for the son you will one day hold - All my love, your Father.”

Daphne swallowed back the tears that threatened to spill and placed the watch painstakingly slowly and carefully back in the box. She put the lid on and took a breath, “Pass me the next present please Trace,” she said shakily.

Tracey nodded and handed her the second last present. It was a heart shaped necklace from her parents. It had 5 bands diagonally crossing the heart, and each band had a name and a stone. Daphne’s breath caught in her chest. It read “Cygnus” with his sapphire birthstone, “Lareina” with her tanzanite birthstone, “Daphne” with her own emerald birthstone, “Astoria” with her amethyst birthstone and “Salvatore” with his diamond birthstone.

“Do you want help putting it on Daphne?” Sophie asked.

Daphne nodded weakly and handed the silver necklace to her friend shakily. She held up her hair and Sophie did the clasp, “There, that’s it. What a beautiful gift.”

Daphne nodded, and cleared her throat, “Who’s the last one from?”

Tracey looked at the gift tag and raised an eyebrow, “Harry Potter.”

“What?” Daphne asked in disbelief.

Sophie grinned, “I knew you’d sort of become friends with him ever since Slughorn sat you next to him in Potions, but I didn’t think you were at the birthday present level.”

“Neither did I,” Daphne said honestly as she picked up the heavy present with a frown.

“What does the tag say?” Sophie asked.

Daphne had a look and read it out loud, “Daphne. Hope you have a good 17th. If you ever start to miss the people that you’ve lost, use this and you can be with them again - Harry.”

“Well, open it then!” Tracey said eagerly.

Daphne opened the box and stared at the gift inside in shock. It looked like a ceramic bowl with a jar of cloudy liquid packed in next to it, but it wasn’t.

“Oh Merlin, is that a pensieve?” Sophie gasped.

Daphne nodded numbly.

“Jeez, Daph!” Tracey exclaimed, “They are super expensive and rare! Wow, you clearly underestimated your friendship with him!”

“Don’t be stupid, he’s got a girlfriend,” Daphne said, without thinking.

“Does he?” Sophie asked in surprise.

Daphne instantly realised her mistake, “Oh I don’t know, I mean he must. He’s Harry Potter.”

“Well, if he does have a girlfriend I bet he didn’t buy her a pensieve for her birthday!” Sophie said, still shaking her head in disbelief, “Are you going to try it out?”

Daphne shook her head and climbed out of her bed, “Not now, I’m going to be late for class as it is,” she said. 

She rushed about to get dressed, and then found Astoria waiting for her in the common room when she appeared. Her sister didn’t look much like her, in fact she looked very similar to Lilly. She had dark brown hair, and the same icy blue eyes as Daphne, but she was a good bit shorter.

“Oh hey Tori,” Daphne said with a weak smile.

“Happy birthday Daph,” Astoria said, handing out a little box, “It’s not much, but I hope you like it anyway.”

Daphne smiled and opened the present quickly, it was a simple silver band with the words “Big Sister” engraved.

Astoria held up her hand, “I have the other, see,” she said, showing her ring which said “Little Sister.”

Daphne smiled genuinely and slipped the ring onto her left hand, “It’s perfect Tori, I love it,” she honestly as she hooked her arm through her sisters, “Come on, walk to breakfast with me.”

TBC :)


	22. Birthdays, Butterbeer & Betrayal

Susan had to enlist Astoria’s help to get into the Slytherin common room that night to drag Daphne out for her birthday.

“Can’t I go too Suse?” Astoria asked eagerly.

“Oh, you know you’re too young Tori,” Susan said as they walked towards the dungeons, “Otherwise I’d say yes.”

“I’m only a year younger than you,” Astoria said irritably.

“No, you’re two years younger,” Susan said with a smile, “You might be in 5th year, but you’re still only 15.”

“So when I’m 16 I can come to parties with you,” Astoria asked eagerly.

Susan laughed, “If your big sister lets you. But I’m definitely not supplying a 15 year old with alcohol.”

“Dad would have a fit if he knew Daphne was drinking,” Astoria whispered as they reached the common room.

“Well he won’t find out,” Susan said, tapping her nose and slipping Astoria some chocolate with a wink.

Astoria laughed and spoke the password, “Snakeskin.”

“Merlin, the Slytherin passwords aren’t very original,” Susan joked, “Do you reckon you could grab Daph for me? Tell her I’m waiting outside?”

“Sure,” Astoria said, “See you Susan.”

“See you Tori,” Susan said with a smile.

Astoria disappeared into the common room and a few minutes later Daphne emerged.

“Please tell me we aren’t going to a party,” Daphne muttered.

“We aren’t going to a party,” Susan said, linking her arm through her friends, “Astoria seems to be doing well.”

“In public, yes,” Daphne said, she looked exhausted, “But she’s sleeping in my bed more than her own at the moment, and she’s not sleeping so I’m not sleeping.”

Susan sighed, “She’s grieving, you all are.”

“I know,” Daphne said stiffly, “Where are we going Suse? This better not be some weird girl date, I mean Harry taking Lilly out for dinner is one thing but-”

“It’s not so stop your waffling,” Susan laughed, “Did you like your present then?”

“I love it,” Daphne said honestly as she held up her arm where her bracelet was resting, “Harry got me a present.”

“Did he?” Susan asked in surprise.

Daphne nodded, “I mean I have been talking to him more recently, but I thought he was just being nice and trying to help me through this.”

“Well, you and him are friends,” Susan reasoned, “What did he get you?”

“A pensieve,” Daphne replied quietly as they slipped into the large hall Susan had told the others about.

“What?” Susan asked in disbelief, “They are super rare and crazy expensive!”

“I know,” Daphne frowned, “He left a message about how it would help me feel like Sal was still here…”

“I wouldn’t tell Lilly about that one,” Susan said quietly, “She’s been a little worried about the amount of time you’ve been spending with Harry.”

“Right,” Daphne said awkwardly, “I’ll keep quiet about the gift then. Where are we actually going by the way?”

Susan grinned, she had just pulled the drain cover off, “It’s an adventure, come on Daph!” she said as she jumped onto the ladder.

Daphne chuckled as she climbed on and followed Susan down. The ladder came to an end and all she could see below was darkness. Susan let go and there was a sound that sounded distinctly like a splash.

“Susan…that better not have been a splash!” Daphne called.

“Oh come on Daph, let go!” Susan’s voice called from below. 

Daphne shook her head at how crazy her friend was. She shut her eyes and let go, and found herself landing in freezing cold water. She kicked her way to the surface and gasped.

“Susan, you bitch!”

Susan grinned from the rocks that formed the ‘shore’ and said, “Love you too Daph!”

Daphne swum out of the icy water and was helped over the rocks by Susan. It was only once she had gotten over them that she saw the scene behind them. There was a little ‘minibar’ set up and lots of blankets and throws on the rocks.

“Surprise!” the small gathering called.

Daphne was torn between crying and laughing, and settled for the former as she looked around at her friends.

“Very good, I didn’t suspect a thing,” Daphne said in amusement as she accepted a butterbeer from Hermione, “Although I did not appreciate the cold water!”

“Neither did I,” Hermione said in amusement, “Susan neglected to tell us about the drop, luckily we can all swim.”

“Apart from Neville,” Lilly grinned, “Harry had to jump in and rescue him.”

Neville glared at the Ravenclaw, “I would have been fine if he hadn’t.”

“You were drowning Neville,” Harry said in disbelief.

Neville shook his head, “Of course I wasn’t, I just floundered a little.”

Susan laughed and shot an amused glance Neville’s way.

“So, is this everyone then?” Daphne asked, sitting down and looking around.

“Draco’s coming too,” Hermione said, “He said he would make sure he was the last one down and that he would shut the drain behind him.”

“Does he know about the drop?” Lilly asked in amusement.

Hermione smirked, “No.”

Harry grinned, “I cannot wait to see Malfoy flounder about like a fish when he hits that cold water.”

Just as they spoke they heard the sound of metal clanging, which meant somebody was climbing down the ladder. They all paused in their conversation and watched Draco fall into the cold water. When he emerged his eyes were wide and he was spluttering angrily.

“Granger!” He hissed as he bobbed above the water, “You could have told me!”

“I didn’t know about it,” Hermione said honestly, grabbing his hand and pulling him onto the rocks, “I found out the same way you did.”

Draco glared at her regardless, but Hermione just chuckled and performed a quick drying charm, “There you go Malfoy, no harm done, apart from to your pride.”

“I wish I’d had my camera ready,” Susan sniggered.

Daphne chuckled and said, “Have a firewhiskey or a butterbeer Draco, that’ll warm you up!”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Draco spent the majority of the evening ignoring Hermione as they mingled in smaller groups and generally let their hair down. She finally got to have a conversation with him as the night was nearing its end.

“So…”

“Didn’t I ask you to stay away from me?” Draco asked irritably.

“You did ask me,” Hermione said as she sat down next to him, “But then again, I don’t always do what I’m told.”

“I meant it Granger, I will not put you in danger-”

“You wouldn’t be putting me in danger!” Hermione hissed, “Look, we’re in an underground harbour with just our closest friends!”

“Now we are, what about a secret passageway or an alcove?” Draco asked angrily.

“Draco, how stupid do you think I am?” Hermione asked with a raised eyebrow, “I realise whats at stake here, unless we’re alone in a secure place nothing will happen.”

“Hermione,” Draco said quietly, “I can’t guarantee that I’ll be alive in a few months. Why would you want to put yourself through that?”

“Because I care about you,” Hermione said, a little too loudly, “Are you really too self-absorbed to see that? I don’t care about how bad it will be when it’s over, I just care about what is here right now which is-”

Before she could finish her rant Draco closed the gap between them and kissed her. It wasn’t like the other kisses they had shared, it was slow and gentle and soft. His right hand touched the side of her face, and he pulled her closer with his left. They seemed to forget about their nearby friends.

“Oh come on, get a room!”

They pulled apart, both with slightly pink cheeks and looked up at Daphne who was smirking down at them.

“Sorry,” Hermione said sheepishly.

“Please tell me you actually got together this time,” Lilly said in amusement, “We’re sick of Hermione moping around.”

“We’re not together,” Hermione said, “We can’t be together…we just…”

“Acknowledged feelings,” Draco said awkwardly.

“Right,” Susan said in amusement, “Feelings?”

“Well, together or not, I’m watching you Malfoy,” Harry said carefully.

“So am I,” Neville chipped in, “And if I find out you’ve called her a mudblood again I will punch you Malfoy.”

“Don’t worry, I can punch him myself,” Hermione smirked, “I’ve done it before.”

“I don’t really want a repeat of that,” Draco said dryly.

Hermione shot him a smile, and despite it all he smiled back at her.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

As the night wore on people gradually left the harbour via a carefully transfigured ladder that had to be swum to and jumped on. Midnight came and went and almost everyone had disappeared to bed. Only Harry, Susan and Daphne were left tidying up the mess that they had made.

Susan yawned and tottered a little, and Daphne smiled, “Go to bed Suse, we can finish up down here. I want to thank Harry for his present anyway.”

“You sure?” Susan asked, yawning again.

Harry laughed, “I’ve stayed up later than this and been able to drag myself to class the next day. We’re good here.”

Susan smiled, “Alright then, I hope you had a good day Daph.”

“I did Suse,” Daphne said honestly as Susan jumped into the lake and onto the ladder.

As she disappeared Daphne glanced over at Harry who had picked up the last of the bottles and sat down on one of the rocks, “Thank you for the present, it was-”

“I know,” Harry said sheepishly, “It was expensive and I don’t really know you that well.”

“Well, yes,” Daphne admitted.

“I just…I know it would have helped me so much if I had been able to use a pensieve after Sirius died,” Harry said quietly, “If I could have just taken some memories out and stored them away, my head would have been clearer…” he trailed off and looked as if he was deep in thought.

“Look,” Daphne said heavily as she sat down next to him, “I’ve always locked the painful memories away. It’s a defence mechanism, I shut things out, I shut people out…and I don’t have to deal with it. Maybe now that I can put them in a pensieve…well, maybe I’ll be able to learn to deal with them.”

“Things are always easier to deal with when you have someone to help you,” Harry said gently, “You shouldn’t have to go through this alone Daphne.”

Daphne bit her lip and looked down at the rock they were sitting on, and oddly enough, in that moment she reminded him of Hermione. When she looked up she had a strange look in her eyes that Harry didn’t recognise and before he knew what was happening she had closed the gap between them and she was kissing him. Harry was startled by the desperation in the kiss, it was unlike the awkward, wet kiss with Cho. And it was unlike the many types of kisses with Lilly, it wasn’t like the slow and painfully prolonged kisses she gave him when she felt like being a tease. It wasn’t like the hurried kisses that she grinned into when she caught him in a secret passageway between classes. This kiss was needy, salty, harsh and desperate, and it felt entirely wrong. 

As soon as what was happening hit him Harry pulled away, he got to his feet and reeled back in shock.

Daphne’s eyes widened as she watched him stare at her. She opened her mouth to try and apologise but she couldn’t find any words so instead she got to her feet and hurriedly jumped into the lake and left the harbour. 

Harry wiped his mouth hastily, he couldn’t get the taste of firewhiskey out of it. The harsh taste seemed to burn itself onto his tongue and immediately he felt a heavy weight in his chest as his thoughts went to Lilly and guilt set in.

He left the harbour, and in his dazed state somehow remembered to put the grate on since he was the last one out. How he didn’t get caught on his way to Gryffindor tower he didn’t know, because he was barely paying attention to where he was going. When he finally reached the tower he was praying that the common room would be empty but it wasn’t.

“Harry, hey,” Hermione said brightly, “You were ages, what were you doing?”

“Tidying up,” Harry said quickly, “But I’m off to bed. Night Hermione.”

Hermione frowned, “Harry, are you alright?”

“Just tired,” Harry said hastily as he stepped onto the staircase to the boys dorms.

“Harry-”

“Night Hermione.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The following morning when Harry woke up he seriously considered skipping breakfast.

“Oi, mate,” Ron said, kicking his bed, “Do you want to be starving till lunch?”

“I don’t feel well Ron,” Harry said honestly.

“Maybe cause you were out till after midnight last night,” Ron sniggered, “I heard you sneaking in. Were you out snogging your girlfriend?”

Harry’s stomach churned, “Something like that,” he muttered as he threw on his school uniform and in his haste put odd socks on.

“Are you alright?” Ron asked, a frown appearing on his face, “You seem a bit off this morning.”

“I told you Ron,” Harry said irritably, “I just don’t feel that well.”

Ron’s frown deepened, “Alright,” he said, leaving the subject alone as they left the dorm. For all his irritants Ron was helpful on that long walk to the great hall, they talked about Quidditch and it kept Harry’s mind off of his guilt, temporarily. 

When they walked into the great hall Harry’s stomach churned again when Lilly smiled at him from the Ravenclaw table. He didn’t smile back, and when he and Ron reached the Gryffindor table and Hermione narrowed her eyes at him, Harry decided to bolt.

“Harry-”

“Gonna have breakfast at the lake,” Harry said, grabbing a napkin and some toast and darting from the hall before she could follow him. He had a good half hour before classes began so he did as he said and walked out into the warm, sunlit grounds. 

He didn’t touch his toast as he began his walk towards the lake, kicking rocks angrily as he went and muttering to himself. He figured he would just have time to do a walk around the lake and get to class in time, but he had only gotten to the Northern most point when somebody fell in step with him.

He knew it wasn’t Hermione because the shadow the person cast was far too big. 

“When did you have a growth spurt Neville?” Harry joked weakly.

“Summer,” Neville said matter of factly, “Are you going to eat that toast?”

Harry looked at the toast in the napkin and shook his head, “I don’t feel like eating.”

“Well, I’m starving,” Neville said, grabbing a slice and taking a bite out of it.

They fell silent as they walked around the lake, Neville munching on Harry’s toast and Harry fuelling his self-loathing.

“So…” Neville said, leaving the sentence hanging there.

“Neville, I’m a bastard,” Harry said miserably.

“Care to explain why?” Neville asked curiously.

“Daphne and I kissed last night,” Harry muttered.

Neville halted, “What?”

“I know,” Harry said as he kicked a stone particularly violently into the lake.

“Have you told Lilly?”

“No,” Harry said, “I don’t know how to.”

“Good, for the moment keep it that way,” Neville advised.

“I have to tell her Nev,” Harry said quickly, “The guilt is eating me up inside, I can’t lie to her-”

“Slow down,” Neville said loudly, “I wasn’t suggesting you lie to her. I was suggesting you explain properly what happened, to me first. So when you do tell Lilly it doesn’t all spill out in that insensitive way of yours.”

“Right,” Harry muttered awkwardly, “That’s actually an okay idea.”

“Yeah, I do have them,” Neville said with a raised eyebrow, “So I’ll be Lilly-”

“Don’t,” Harry said with a shake of his head, “You can’t be Lilly, she’s like 5 foot and you’re half giant these days.”

“Harry, I’m only 6 foot, you’re just tiny,” Neville said in amusement, “The wizarding worlds pocket sized hero.”

“Oh go on then, make me feel even worse,” Harry said angrily as he picked up a stone and lobbed it into the lake.

“You’re not actually angry at me, you’re angry at yourself,” Neville pointed out.

“I’m pretty angry at you, I’m sensitive about height jokes,” Harry said with a glare in his friend’s direction.

“Come on, stop avoiding the subject and tell me what happened,” Neville said seriously.

Harry sighed, “I got her a pensieve for her birthday-”

“What? They’re rare and expensive, why would you do that?” Neville asked in disbelief.

“Because I thought it would help her, with the pain of losing her brother,” Harry said irritably, “I knew it would have helped me if I had one after Sirius died. I was just trying to be helpful, and I told her she shouldn’t have to go through this alone and then she just kissed me!”

“Did you kiss her back?” Neville asked.

“I don’t know,” Harry despaired, “Maybe at first, but then what was going on hit me and I sort of reeled back and then she just ran off.”

“Calm down Harry,” Neville said as Harry decided to try and destroy the lake with all the stones he could find along the shore.

“Stop telling me to calm down! I just cheated on my girlfriend Neville!” Harry said, cursing with each stone he threw into the water.

“Bloody hell, you’re worse than a woman,” Neville muttered as he grabbed Harry’s wrists and pulled the stones out of his hands, “Stop doing that, you’ll damage the marine life.”

“What?” Harry asked incredulously.

“There are some really rare varieties of sea anemone in there,” Neville said calmly.

Harry groaned, “You’ve gone quite badass these days, but underneath it all you are still Neville fucking Longbottom.”

“My middle name is Frank actually, but right letter,” Neville said, watching Harry in amusement.

“Fuck you Neville,” Harry said bitterly.

“Look, Harry,” Neville said, still as calm as ever, “It wasn’t your fault, you probably didn’t say the right thing but you’re clueless so that’s not a surprise. Daphne kissed you, just explain that to Lilly.”

“Explain that to Lilly?” Harry asked, raising his voice, “Neville! Have you forgotten that Lilly recently dated a guy who was dating two other girls at the same time? One of which was Daphne! Her trust issues are already low, and she and Daphne just made up!”

“Well that’s Lilly and Daphne’s problem,” Neville said, “Would you rather cause a divide in their friendship or lose Lilly?”

“I don’t want to do either,” Harry said miserably.

“Harry,” Neville said firmly, “You have got to tell Lilly.”

Harry sighed and nodded, kicking another stone into the lake out of spite, “I know.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Despite his chat with Neville, Harry still avoided Lilly all day. He shared a lot of classes with her but he made sure he rushed between them so he didn’t get caught in secret passages with her. He knew he had to deal with the situation, but he couldn’t face it and the right time never came. He avoided the common room that night and pretended he was asleep when Neville gave him a guilt trip through the curtains of his four-poster. He lay in bed that night tossing and turning while thinking about all the ways in which Lilly could kill him when he told her what had happened.

Meanwhile, Daphne had snuck out of the dungeons after curfew and, with the help of her good friend Lisa Turpin, had snuck into Ravenclaw tower. 

“Would you get Lil down?” Daphne whispered to Lisa in the empty common room, “I need to talk to her.”

“Sure,” Lisa yawned, “Did you two have a fight?”

“Sort of,” Daphne said with a shrug.

“I’ll go grab her, I don’t think she’s asleep yet,” Lisa said, jogging up the stairs into the dorm she shared with Lilly.

“Hey Lil, you awake?” Lisa asked through the curtains of Lilly’s bed.

Lilly pulled them back, she was sitting in bed reading a book, “Yeah, what’s up Lisa?”

“Daphne’s downstairs, she says she needs to talk to you,” Lisa said, “What’s going on?”

“I have no idea,” Lilly admitted with a frown as she put her slippers on, “Don’t bother waiting up, if Daphne needs to talk about her brother I might be out a while.”

“Okay,” Lisa said, it was clear she wanted to ask more questions but she didn’t.

Lilly descended the stairs and emerged into the common room where Daphne was waiting for her, “Hey Daph, what’s up?” she asked as she fastened her dressing gown shut.

“Can we talk, in private?” Daphne asked, biting her lip, “I know it’s past curfew but-”

“No, it’s fine,” Lilly smiled, “Come on, I know the perfect place.”

Daphne nodded and they slipped out of the tower together and descended the stairs to the 5th floor. As Ravenclaw tower wasn’t as tall as Gryffindor the entrance to it was on a lower floor. They climbed a steep passageway to the 6th floor and then Lilly used alohomora to unlock one of the doors and they slipped inside.

“Where are we?” Daphne asked as they lit up their wands using lumos and walked up a circular staircase.

“The Herbology tower,” Lilly replied, “It hardly ever gets used these days. It used to be an observation classroom for the forest. It’s just a tiny little tower, more like a turret really.”

Sure enough they didn’t go up many stairs and then they went through another locked door into a small circular classroom. There were about 6 desks set up, and lots of rectangular windows around the walls. The entirety of the grounds could be seen, including Hagrids hut which still had lights in its windows.

“So, what’s going on Daph?” Lilly asked, giving herself a boost onto one of the desks, “Is this about your brother?”

“No,” Daphne said, looking down as the guilt flooded her, “I have to tell you this Lilly. I can’t keep it from you, we agreed no secrets after everything with Draco and…I can’t lose you as a friend.”

Lilly frowned, “What’s going on?” she asked again.

Daphne looked at her a little tearfully, “I kissed Harry last night, after everyone left.”

Lilly stared at Daphne in shock, “Please tell me I heard that wrong,” she whispered.

“I wish I could,” Daphne said weakly, “It didn’t mean anything, it just happened.”

“Just happened?” Lilly asked in disbelief, “You don’t just kiss your best friends boyfriend Daphne!”

“It’s complicated, we were talking about Sal and…I don’t know what came over me,” Daphne admitted.

“You can’t just blame everything on your dead brother Daphne,” Lilly said coolly, “Do you see me blaming all my mistakes on my junkie parents?”

“No, Lilly-”

“No,” Lilly snapped as she got to her feet, “I finally felt happy and safe with somebody. I finally thought I had met someone who wouldn’t abandon me!”

“He won’t!” Daphne shouted, “He won’t because he’s in love with you. I kissed him, and he pulled away and looked at me in disgust.”

“So he should have,” Lilly hissed.

Tears burned in Daphne’s eyes, “I wonder if he’d still love you if he saw how bitter you were! He sees the sweet side, not this angry, resentful person Susan and I know!”

“How dare you!” Lilly shrieked, “Do you think this is the kind of person I want him to see? I’m a wreck, and I can barely hold it together at the best of times! I don’t care how calm and composed you think I am Daphne, you have no idea whats going on underneath!”

“Yes, I do! My Father has joined the order, my brother is dead and my sister is next!” Daphne yelled, “Do you think I’m calm and happy like I pretend? I’m paranoid, I can’t sleep, I think the smallest noises are Death Eaters coming for my sister!”

They were both breathing heavily and glaring at each other.

“That doesn’t give you the right to kiss Harry,” Lilly said quietly.

“He gave me a pensieve for my birthday Lilly,” Daphne said, “With a note saying he’d wished he’d had one when he had lost his Godfather. How else was I supposed to take that? I’m sorry that I misread things, but you are missing the point. He didn’t kiss me back, it was all my fault, so by all means hate me. But don’t hate Harry.”

“I don’t want to talk to either of you right now,” Lilly said honestly as she opened the door to the staircase, “So just give me some space for a while Daphne.”

“Lilly-”

“I mean it!”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Potions was frosty on Friday morning. Harry and Daphne didn’t say a word to each other, Harry had no idea that Lilly had already been informed of the kiss, and Daphne couldn’t tell him with Lilly sitting so nearby.

Harry ploughed on through the day, and had decided to tell Lilly that night. He managed to catch her after dinner, he followed her into a secret passage and grabbed her arm to stop her from walking away from him.

“Lil-”

“What do you want Harry?” Lilly asked irritably.

“I need to talk to you,” Harry said weakly.

“Do you?” Lilly asked hotly, “Do you need to tell me that you kissed Daphne? Because she got there first.”

“What?”

“She told me last night,” Lilly said, “So unless there’s anything you want to add?”

“Lilly, did she tell you everything? She kissed me, I didn’t kiss her back-” Harry began.

“Do you think that really matters?” Lilly asked in disbelief, “You bought her a pensieve Harry!”

“It didn’t mean what she seemed to think it did,” Harry said desperately, “I just wanted to help her through her brother’s death, I swear Lilly-”

“I don’t want to see you Harry,” Lilly said coolly.

Harry faltered, “Lilly, you aren’t…”

“Yes, I am breaking up with you,” Lilly said slowly, “That is generally what happens when you kiss another girl.”

“I didn’t kiss her!” Harry exclaimed angrily.

Lilly turned to leave, but Harry kept hold of her wrist, “Lilly! I didn’t kiss her, for Gods sake why would I want to do that?”

“You admitted you had feelings for her!” Lilly hissed angrily.

“Yes, before I knew her,” Harry said hotly.

“You had feelings for her and now you’ve kissed her,” Lilly said, “So why don’t you go and bond over all your dead family members some more?”

Harry frowned at this entirely different side of her, “What? That’s…that’s not how it is at all.”

“Oh don’t worry Harry, I’m just doing as Daphne said last night,” Lilly said angrily, “I’m letting you see the bitter, fucked up side of me that she thinks will make you not want me anymore.”

Harry stared at her in shock.

“And she was right,” Lilly said, reading the expression of shock on his face as horror, “Guess it would never have worked out anyway. Two fucked up people can’t make a whole relationship.”

“Lilly-”

“It’s over Harry,” Lilly said loudly, “I mean that! Leave me alone!”

“No, Lilly-”

Lilly pulled her hand out of his grasp and rushed up the stairs, leaving Harry alone and confused in the stairwell. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“What’s happened to you?” Hermione frowned when Harry walked into the common room.

“Lilly broke up with me,” Harry said angrily, sitting down heavily on the armchair in front of the fire. It was late by the time he’d thrown rocks into the lake and yelled into the forest.

“What?” Hermione asked in disbelief, “Why?”

“Because I cheated on her,” Harry said miserably.

Hermione’s frown deepened, “What on earth are you talking about?”

“I kissed Daphne,” Harry told her.

“Wait, what? When?”

“The other night, after the party,” Harry said, as he threw a lump of wood into the fire and watched it burn.

“Why did you do that?” Hermione asked in disbelief, “I mean I had suspicions she had feelings for you but you seemed so head over heels for Lilly! How could you do that to Lilly?”

“Daphne kissed me,” Harry snapped, “I didn’t even kiss her back! But Lilly still broke up with me, because apparently giving her a pensieve was a significant thing!”

“I did warn you that it was a profound present,” Hermione said gently.

“Do not say I told you so right now Hermione!” Harry said, getting to his feet and kicking the armchair as he did. 

Hermione glared at him, “Harry, you hurt her, regardless of whether you kissed Daphne back or not! Lilly’s parents never looked after her, she was neglected as a child, what do you think she’s terrified of?”

“Being abandoned,” Harry said quietly.

Hermione nodded, “Of course she’s upset, I’m sure it will blow over and she’ll forgive-”

“She won’t,” Harry said bitterly, “She made it clear that it was over. And she’s almost as fucked up as me under that mask of hers.”

“Well, she had a really bad time of it growing up,” Hermione reasoned, “You know better than anyone that mental scars are almost as hard to conceal as physical ones.”

“Whatever Hermione,” Harry said irritably as he stormed up the stairs and slipped into the dorm. The curtains were drawn around all of the beds apart from Neville’s. 

Harry sat down on Neville’s bed and jolted the book he was reading out of his hands. Neville knew something was wrong the moment he looked at Harry.

“Do I need to shut the curtains and do a silencing charm?” Neville asked carefully.

Harry nodded glumly, and Neville did so. They were quiet for a while, and Neville went back to reading his book while Harry sat at the opposite end of his bed.

“They have double beds in the Hufflepuff dorms.”

“I know, they do in Slytherin too,” Neville said conversationally, “Us and Ravenclaw are in towers so there’s less space, which means single beds.”

Harry hummed.

“You alright?”

“No,” Harry said.

“You told Lilly,” Neville said.

Harry nodded, “She broke up with me.”

“I guessed as much,” Neville said with a sympathetic glance, “Did you tell her Daphne kissed you?”

“Yep, she still hates me for it. Apparently it’s all my fault for giving her a pensieve,” Harry said emotionlessly.

“Yeah, not your smartest move,” Neville admitted, “But I know you were just trying to be helpful.”

“Hermione thinks it will blow over, but it won’t,” Harry said, “She’s got trust issues as it is…and she’s got a lot more issues under her calm mask…”

“Well, Susan said she had a shit time of it growing up,” Neville reasoned.

“I really loved her,” Harry said miserably, “She was the first person I’ve ever been around, or been with who I never wanted to leave. When we were together I wanted time to stop, and no matter how many moments I grabbed with her I always wanted more…she was the thing I looked forward to, she was the reason I could pull through shit days.”

“Sounds like love to me,” Neville said softly, “And if she feels the same it will blow over, trust me.”

“How would you know Neville?” Harry sighed, “You’ve never been in a situation like this.”

“Yes, I have,” Neville said, fixing Harry with a long look, “Hannah and Susan. They’re really good friends, Hannah liked me and I liked, well like Susan. I did kiss Hannah once, at a Hufflepuff party but I thought she’d forget about it. To me it was just a bit of fun but to her it…wasn’t.”

“But you didn’t cheat on someone,” Harry said.

“No,” Neville agreed, “But I did kiss Susan, the other night. And then I had to explain to Hannah that I only thought of her as a friend and that I liked Susan. Hannah cried, a lot, and now she’s refusing to speak to Susan.”

“I can’t even look at Daphne, let alone speak to her,” Harry admitted, “And Lilly hates me.”

“She doesn’t hate you,” Neville said, “I know it’s hard, but you’ve just got to give her some time to deal with it. If things still look bad at the DA meeting at the end of the month then you can re-assess the situation.”

Harry nodded glumly, “I feel like I’ve just lost one of my closest friends Neville.”

Neville sighed and pulled out a box from underneath his bed. He rummaged inside for something and then threw a bar of Honeydukes chocolate at Harry, “Eat it. Trust me, it will help.”

His words rang in his head, they were so similar to Remus’s words. Harry sighed and opened the chocolate bar, he took a bite and leant back against the wood of the bed, “I’m such an arse Neville.”

“Well, we never realise how good what we have is until we lose it,” Neville said, “Just eat the chocolate.”

“Hang on a minute,” Harry frowned, as his brain caught up with the conversation, “How do you know there are double beds in the Slytherin dorms?”

Neville’s only response was to grin broadly.

TBC :)


	23. Sectumsempra

The first time Harry saw Daphne after his break-up with Lilly he wanted to curse her. But, he was in Potions so he couldn’t, and he would never curse a girl, regardless of how pissed off with them he was.

“Why the long face?”

“Oh I don’t know,” Harry said sarcastically, “Maybe I’m pissed that my girlfriend broke up with me.”

Daphne’s eyes widened, “What?” she hissed, “I told Lilly everything, I completely blamed myself!”

“Well she didn’t see it that way,” Harry said irritably.

“Potter, I’m-”

“If you’re going to say you’re sorry, don’t,” Harry said shortly, “I don’t even want to talk to you right now.”

“Alright,” Daphne said quietly. She fell silent, and they worked like that for the rest of the lesson.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Throughout May Lilly ignored Harry, and he had given up on trying to speak to her, it was going nowhere. He felt positively miserable and the only thing that was remotely helpful was Quidditch. With the final game against Ravenclaw coming up he had been spending all of his spare time on the Quidditch pitch or planning out their tactics for the big game.

After a particularly successful Quidditch practice he walked back to the castle with Ginny. 

“I can’t believe he actually dated the octopus,” Ginny joked, “all they ever did is snog.”

“And then some,” Harry laughed, “I thought Hermione was jealous at first, but I think she just objected to Ron and Lavender being so…active when they didn’t actually love each other.”

‘”Well, Mione is old fashioned,” Ginny reasoned

Harry shook his head in amusement, he had been talking to Ginny far more than before in the last few weeks, she was the most dedicated player on the team apart from himself, “It’s just as well really, can you imagine if he had brought her to the wedding as his date?”

Ginny made a face, “That would be horrendous. It’s bad enough that Phlegm made me a bridesmaid, I swear she’ll make me wear something disgusting.”

“Oh come on,” Harry said with a smile, “Fleur’s not that bad, she was always nice to me.”

Ginny snorted, “Because you’re the famous Harry Potter.”

Harry rolled his eyes, “Famous Harry Potter, bullshit.”

Ginny raised an eyebrow at him, “You can’t deny that you’re famous.”

“Oh I know I’m famous,” Harry said offhandedly, “I just don’t care, and I don’t think people become friends with me because of it. If they did that would be really pathetic.”

“You’re real friends are your friends for the right reasons at the end of the day,” Ginny said as they walked into the entrance hall from the warm night and were scolded by Filch for dragging mud into the hall.

Harry shot her a smile, “That’s very profound of you.”

Ginny grinned sheepishly, “Mum says it.”

Harry barked out a laugh, and his timing could not have been worse. As they stepped onto the marble staircase Lilly walked into the entrance hall. She looked hurt, and then she glared at Harry.

“Good practice Potter?”

“Lilly-”

Lilly’s eyes flashed dangerously, “Guess we’ll find out during the game. Prepare for defeat.”

Harry turned around, “Lilly!”

Lilly stalked away into the dungeons, and when Harry turned around and saw Ginny looking bemused he knew he would have to explain.

“Uh, what was that?”

“That was my ex,” Harry muttered angrily.

“You dated her?” Ginny asked in surprise, “When?”

“For a few months earlier this year,” Harry replied, “But we broke up earlier this month.”

“Oh,” Ginny said, “You kept that quiet.”

Harry shrugged, “People I love tend to end up hurt, or dead.”

“You loved her?” Ginny asked, her eyes widening.

Harry’s cheeks quickly turned scarlet, he shrugged, “I don’t know, I thought I did.”

“Well it’s noble of you, trying to protect people,” Ginny smiled, “Why did you break up?”

Harry didn’t really want to go into it, he shook his head, “I’d rather not talk about it. I would like to kick her bloody arse in the game though. If she catches the snitch…”

“You’ll be in a rage?” Ginny joked.

Harry nodded seriously, “We’re going to kick her arse Ginny.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“What are you doing now? Leading another girl on?”

Harry looked up with a frown, “What are you on about Hermione?”

“Ginny,” Hermione said hotly, “You were flirting and laughing with her last night after Quidditch practice.”

“We were just joking about Ron and Lavender, we’re friends after all,” Harry bit back, “And what do you mean another girl? I didn’t lead Daphne on!”

“Well that’s debatable,” Hermione muttered.

“What is your problem?” Harry asked in disbelief, “She’s Ron’s little sister! How unethical do you think I am? I’m not going to snog Ron’s bloody sister!”

Hermione’s expression softened, “Well, you should make that clear. I think she still holds a torch for you.”

“Isn’t she dating Dean?” Harry asked pointedly.

Hermione glanced around and then whispered, “Like that’s going to last, they’re always arguing.”

Harry sighed, “I’m sorry but I’m not going to say anything to her. I don’t have feelings for her, take my word for it.”

“Sorry,” Hermione said sheepishly.

“What’s got you in such a bad mood anyway?” Harry asked.

“Draco’s avoiding me,” Hermione said with a sigh, “I’ve not seen him since Daphne’s party. Are you talking to Daphne yet by the way? I saw her crying in an alcove down in the dungeons yesterday. I know you’re angry that she spoke to Lilly, but she was just trying to do the right thing, and she needs a friend like you right now.”

“I know,” Harry said, running his hands through his hair, “I’ve been feeling guilty about ignoring her.”

Hermione chewed her lip, “Anything from Lilly yet?”

“Nothing,” Harry said as he got to his feet, “Apart from the fact she thinks I’m with Ginny now or something. I’m assuming that’s how you found out?”

Hermione nodded, “She saw you coming back from practice.”

“She saw one tiny part of a conversation,” Harry muttered, “But then again she does take things out of context.”

“Harry-”

“I’m just going to go to bed,” Harry said quietly, “Night Hermione.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Sorry,” Harry whispered.

Daphne frowned and looked up from her cauldron, “Is that the silent period over then?”

Harry shot her a mock glare, “I was trying to be sincere and you respond with sarcasm?”

Daphne smiled, “It’s what I do.”

Harry shook his head, “Are you alright? Hermione said she saw you crying yesterday.”

“I’m fine,” Daphne said hastily, “I’m just scared for Astoria.”

“She’ll be fine as long as she’s in Hogwarts,” Harry assured her.

“As long as Hogwarts stays Hogwarts,” Daphne whispered, “I feel like if I let her out of my sight for 5 minutes something will happen.”

“You’re paranoid,” Harry said, “I know what that’s like, trust me. But you’ve got to try and move past it, or you’ll stay miserable.”

“The one time I wasn’t miserable was at the meetings,” Daphne sighed, “And now I’m not even sure I should go to this month’s one. Lilly hasn’t spoken to me since…”

“Well you’re not alone there,” Harry said, risking a glance across the room to the Ravenclaw in question who seemed to be deeply immersed in her potion, “She’s spoken to me, but only to insult me.”

Daphne sighed and looked down at her cauldron, “I felt good at the start of this year, and now look at how things are.”

“Things never stay bad forever,” Harry said quietly as Slughorn approached them, “One day you’ll feel better, I promise.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“If I didn’t know any better I’d think you were avoiding me Malfoy.”

Draco jumped at Hermione’s voice as she snuck up behind him.

“I’m here aren’t I?”

“I wasn’t sure if you would come,” Hermione admitted as she dropped onto a beanbag in the Room of Requirement.

“Neither was I,” Draco said honestly.

Hermione hummed thoughtfully.

“Why are we doing this to ourselves Granger?” Draco asked as he sat down next to her on the beanbag which was meant for one person.

“Because I have hope we’ll find a loophole and that you won’t die,” Hermione said, “So I don’t see the harm in this.”

“Whatever this is,” Draco added, his lips very close to hers.

“Like I said, you define what this is, or isn’t,” Hermione whispered, “It’s your suicide mission. If you’re so sure you’re going to die how do you want to spend your last few months? Grumpy and alone or with-”

He didn’t let her finish asking the question, and he didn’t answer it, at least not with words. He simply closed the miniscule gap between them and pulled Hermione closer to him as she deepened the kiss. 

“Answer your question?” Draco asked, his eyes sparkling.

Hermione smirked, “Vaguely.”

“I didn’t hear you complaining,” Draco teased.

“No complaints here,” Hermione agreed, “But, I really wish you would stop interrupting me by kissing me!”

Draco smirked and Hermione slipped her hand into his. He glanced down at their intertwined fingers and let his forehead rest against hers. If these were his last days he was going to make the most of them.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

On his way back from his rendezvous with Hermione, Draco was cornered and dragged into an empty corridor by Snape, again.

“Would you leave me alone?” He asked, genuinely irritated.

“Is it done yet?”

“I think you would have noticed if it was.”

“Do not be smart with me Draco,” Snape hissed.

“No, it’s not,” Draco answered angrily.

“People are beginning to suspect you!’ Snape muttered, “You seem quiet and reserved. You have not even had any run ins with Potter this year. Somebody might think that your heart was not really in it…any of it.”

Draco rolled his eyes, but the threat was a little close to home, “Didn’t you say I seemed too normal the last time we spoke?”

Snape’s eyes flashed, “I am merely letting you know that you are suspected, Draco.”

Draco shook himself free from Snape’s grasp, “If it makes you happy I’ll aggravate Potter. I could do with letting off some steam.”

“Draco-”

“Are we done here?” Draco asked firmly, “I think we’re done.”

Without giving Snape a chance to say anymore, or grab him again Draco slipped away in the direction of the Slytherin common room. He lay low that night but made an effort to insult Harry as he walked past him the following morning. This insult made Harry suspicious so he cornered Draco in a bathroom later that night.

“What was that earlier?” Harry asked in disbelief as he walked into the dungeon’s bathroom where Draco was leaning against a sink breathing heavily.

“It was nothing,” Draco muttered.

Harry snapped the door shut, “Malfoy, have you betrayed us?” he hissed.

“No,” Draco replied, turning away from the sink, “But Snape is suspicious.”

Harry frowned, “How do you know?”

“He cornered me again, and told me people thought I was acting odd, quiet…not confrontational enough,” Draco muttered, “I don’t know how much he suspects but I had just met up with Granger.”

“Shit,” Harry murmured.

Draco merely nodded.

“Well, what can we do to show him that things are normal?” Harry asked.

“You need to make a statement,” Draco said, “Duel me.”

“Duel you? I’d kick your arse,” Harry snorted.

Draco glared at him, “It would be evenly matched, and it would convince Snape. But you’ll have to injure me.”

“I don’t know that many dangerous hexes or curses,” Harry admitted.

“Why don’t you try one of the ones from that book you’re always playing around with?” Draco asked irritably, “You need to make this look convincing Potter.”

“They are handmade spells, anything could go wrong,” Harry said uneasily, “I don’t want to accidentally kill you or something.”

Draco rolled his eyes, “Stop being so noble and do it!”

“No,” Harry said firmly.

“Potter, it may have escaped your notice but I have this great fucking snake on my arm,” Draco hissed, “And so does Snape. When I press down on it the closest Death Eater will hear the beacon. He’ll run in, I’ll be hurt and everyone will be off our backs for the rest of the term!”

“And if I properly hurt you I could get expelled!” Harry argued.

“You won’t get expelled, Dumbledore needs to keep you here and you know that,” Draco drawled, “So stop being such a wimp and duel me.”

“I’ll duel you, but I’m not going to seriously hurt you,” Harry said again.

“What was that one you tried at the last meeting, Sectumsempra?”

“It’s lethal!” Harry exclaimed, “Are you actually suicidal Malfoy?”

“Lethal? It cut the dummy, I can handle a couple of cuts,” Draco said irritably, “Duel me and finish it with the spell. I’ll call Snape, and that’s it - done.”

“Do you have any idea the amount of trouble this will get me in?” Harry said with a shake of his head, “I’m not doing it.”

He turned to leave and grabbed the door handle.

“Do it or I’ll talk.”

Harry froze and turned around slowly, “No, you wouldn’t. You’d lose your memories.”

“I don’t care,” Draco said coolly, “I’ll tell Snape that I’m helping you.”

“You wouldn’t put Hermione in danger,” Harry challenged him.

“No, I wouldn’t,” Draco said calmly, “I’ll tell him I’ve been helping you and a certain Ravenclaw by the name of Lillian Moon.”

“Why would you do that?” Harry shouted, pulling his wand out.

“Because I need you to do this Potter or Snape will look further and find out what I’ve done, and then when the Death Eaters come they’ll kill me instead of Dumbledore!” Draco hissed as he pulled out his wand.

“You selfish bastard!” Harry muttered angrily as he threw a body bind at Draco.

The duel that followed was fierce, with mostly harmless spells bouncing back and forth. It was also loud and it would probably attract Snape’s attention before Draco even got a chance to call him. As Harry ducked a stunning charm Draco gave him a miniscule nod and Harry raised his wand tentatively. His hand shook and then he said, “Sectumsempra!”

The effect was immediate. His wand acted as a knife and slashed across Draco’s chest. As the Slytherin fell to the ground, Harry dropped his wand and rushed over to him, he was bleeding profusely.

“N…No…”

“Didn’t think this through,” Draco hissed through gritted teeth as he tried to lift his arm to press on the mark.

Harry dropped to his knees, “I…I’m so…”

“Just help me Potter,” Draco groaned.

Harry did so, he helped Draco press his right hand onto the mark, and he watched with morbid amazement as it burned white. Draco groaned in pain, and then looked at Harry.

“Run, he might not catch you,” He said breathily.

Harry stood up but he couldn’t run, he was frozen with fear and shock. Draco’s blood was mingling with the puddles of water on the floor, and Harry had that blood on his hands and on his school shirt.

Before Draco could feebly tell him to run again he fainted, and the door opened. Snape strode in and pushed past Harry, he calmly knelt down next to Draco and mumbled some sort of charm as he ran his wand over the cuts. The blood stopped, and the wounds began to knit themselves shut, as if they had been stitched.

Snape looked up at Harry with a deadly glare, and muttered “Enervate.”

Draco gasped as his eyes opened weakly.

“You need the hospital wing,” Snape said quietly, “There may be some scarring, but if you take dittany now it may be avoided. Come, Draco.”

Draco looked like he was still in a state of shock as Snape helped him up and supported him. As they reached the door Snape turned to Harry, “You Potter, wait here,” he said in a dangerous, quiet tone.

Harry spent the next 10 minutes contemplating how much trouble he was going to get in for something Draco had asked him to do and he was fuming at the Slytherin despite the pain he had clearly caused him. He had literally asked for it. Then his thoughts turned to Hermione, and what she would do to him when she found out. He wondered how long she wouldn’t talk to him for, and how hard she would hit him, and how much she would cry.

When Snape finally returned Harry began his floundered explanation, “I didn’t know what the spell did I-”

“I underestimated you Potter,” Snape said smoothly, “I did not think the golden chosen one would have known such dark magic. Who taught you that spell?”

“No one,” Harry said, “I read it in a book.”

Well, that wasn’t a lie, strictly speaking.

“Liar,” Snape said calmly as his eyes bored into Harry’s.

Harry was powerless to what happened next, he had always been terrible at Occlumency and as much as he tried not to think about it all that was in the forefront of his mind was the stupid half-blood prince book which he and Neville had made no progress on at all. As his vision blotted out and the book appeared, Harry knew that Snape had seen it.

“Bring me your schoolbag,” Snape said quietly, “And all of your books. Now.”

Harry nodded, and swallowed hard as he left the bathroom. He darted to the common room, using secret passages and avoided seeing a single person until he went through the portrait hole. He rushed through the common room to avoid Hermione but was confronted by Ron in the dormitory.

“Why are you covered in blood?” Ron asked in shock.

Neville frowned as he opened the curtains of his bed, “What the hell has happened Harry?”

“Snape knows about the book, he wants it,” Harry said weakly.

“Well give it to him then,” Neville said, “It’s just a book.”

Harry paused, the book had been such a useful guide and he had enjoyed perusing the spells inside of it. But if there were more like the one that had hurt Draco…Harry nodded and grabbed his school bag with his books, “I need to take this to Snape.”

“Harry, whose blood is that?” Neville asked weakly.

“Malfoy’s,” Harry replied shakily. He left the dorm room and escaped the common room without being followed by Hermione. He couldn’t face her right now, not given what had just happened. 

When Harry reached the bathroom, out of breath and shaky on his feet he handed the bag to Snape. He sifted through it and pulled out the half-blood prince’s book.

“Where did you get this Potter?” Snape asked coolly.

“It was a spare, I wasn’t supposed to take potions this year so I didn’t buy my own book in Flourish and Blotts,” Harry replied honestly.

Snape tutted, “Well Potter, I think you are a liar and a cheat. I will be confiscating this and informing Professor Slughorn of the reason behind your apparent brilliance in his class.”

“Yes sir,” Harry said, looking at his feet.

“That’s not all,” Snape said, savouring this moment, “I think you deserve detention every Saturday for the rest of term.”

“What?” Harry spluttered, “But sir! The Quidditch…the last game…it’s on Saturday!”

Snape smirked, “Poor Gryffindor,” he said unsympathetically, “Last place this year I fear. 10am, Saturday Potter.”

Before Harry could say anymore Snape turned on his heel and left the bathroom. Harry trudged after him, debating with himself as to whether he should go to the Hospital Wing or the common room. In the end he decided that he should probably go to the common room, and change before he went to apologise to Malfoy.

He felt utterly miserable about what had happened, and equally pissed off with Malfoy for pushing him to use the spell. When he walked into the common room this time he couldn’t avoid Hermione.

“Why are you covered in blood?” She asked in an anxious tone.

“Because I just duelled Malfoy.”

“What?” Hermione hissed.

“Upstairs,” Harry said, grabbing Hermione’s hand and taking her up to the boys’ dorm where only Neville remained now.

“Harry,” Hermione said hotly, “Where is Malfoy? What did-”

“He’s in the Hospital Wing,” Harry replied, “And he asked me to do this! Snape was getting suspicious, so he told me to duel him and use Sectumsempra to make it look convincing.”

“And what did it do?” Hermione said, as she sat down on Neville’s bed looking pale and slightly green.

“I thought it just left a cut, like it did on the dummy in the DA room,” Harry said, his eyes focusing on a spot on the wall, “But it doesn’t…it turns your wand into…a knife.”

Hermione gasped and her hand flew to her mouth. Neville gently put his arm around her and looked at Harry incredulously, “Why the hell did you use it?”

“Malfoy said he would betray us if I didn’t,” Harry said bitterly, “He said he didn’t care about the consequences of doing so. He said he’d save Hermione, but tell Snape that he’d be helping me, and Lilly.”

Neville shook his head, “What a fucking-”

“Is he okay?” Hermione asked weakly, “Because if he’s okay I can punch him for what he did later. But if he’s not…”

“He seemed okay,” Harry said shakily, “There were scars, but Snape said they should heal…”

“I have to go and see him,” Hermione said, trying to get to her feet.

“Not now you can’t,” Neville said, pulling her back, “Go after curfew under the cloak.”

Hermione nodded and swallowed hard.

“How could you do this Harry?”

“I told you-”

“I can’t believe you never told me,” She continued tearfully, “He’s my…he’s…”

“Yes Hermione, what is he?” Harry asked angrily, “Do enlighten me if you actually know yourself!”

“I love him, you idiot!” Hermione shouted, “And you could have killed him!”

A shocked silence rang in the room at her words.

“It happened so quickly there wasn’t time-”

Hermione shook her head and left the room without another word. 

Harry watched her go and turned to Neville, “Did you know?”

“I suspected,” Neville said honestly, “But I don’t think Hermione actually knew herself until she said it there.”

Harry sank onto Neville’s bed in the spot Hermione had just occupied, “She’s right. I could have killed him.”

“It’s a good thing you gave that book back,” Neville said darkly, “Whoever the half-blood prince is, he’s an evil bastard.”

“Do you reckon it’s Voldemort?” Harry asked, turning to his friend with bloodshot eyes, “He’s a half-blood, and he’s arrogant enough to call himself a prince.”

“I don’t know,” Neville said, “I don’t think so.”

“Snape was looking for it,” Harry said, “He looked to the right pages, the ones that were annotated.”

“You think he knew the half-blood prince?” Neville asked thoughtfully.

Harry shrugged, “I think I need to loan Hermione the cloak and the map. It’s the best apology I can give her right now.”

“I think that would be wise,” Neville said honestly, “She’ll simmer down. Malfoy didn’t exactly give you a choice Harry.”

Harry nodded numbly and tried to convince himself that Neville was right.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Mione?”

“You better have the cloak and the map,” Hermione said without looking up at Harry.

The common room was empty apart from Harry and Hermione.

“I do, but I’m coming with you,” Harry said, leaving no room for negotiation, “I want to apologise.”

“I’d hope so, considering the fact that you nearly killed him,” Hermione said hotly.

Harry sighed and held out the cloak, “I’m not arguing, come on.”

Hermione reluctantly slipped under the cloak and took the map from Harry grudgingly.

“Clear?” Harry asked as they prepared to leave the common room.

“Until the 1st floor corridor, yes,” Hermione replied coolly.

“Who’s guarding the 1st floor corridor?” Harry asked curiously, he hoped that it wasn’t Snape. If it was he didn’t feel like they could risk this visit.

“Filch,” Hermione replied.

“That’s easy enough. Ready?”

Hermione nodded, and Harry tried not to roll his eyes at the icy atmosphere between them. They walked in silence from the 7th floor to the hospital wing. They managed to slip past Filch and sneak into the ward easily, and once they were in the hospital wing Harry put a muffliato charm on Madam Pomfrey’s office so she wouldn’t hear them speaking.

They tiptoed up to Draco’s bed and then pulled the cloak off. He was asleep, but Hermione sat down on the stool next to his bed and took his cold, clammy hand in her own. She looked like she might burst into tears at any moment.

“Hermione, he’s alive,” Harry said gently.

“No thanks to you Potter,” Draco mumbled.

“Draco,” Hermione whispered.

He opened his eyes sleepily, “Don’t give him too much trouble, I did ask for it.”

“I told you,” Harry said irritably.

“I know and I am going to hit you for that as soon as you’re better,” Hermione said honestly, “You could have told me. I was worried sick.”

“It just sort of happened, there wasn’t much time,” Draco said under his breath, “Sorry.”

“You will be,” Hermione sighed, “how are you feeling?”

“Sore,” Draco winced, “There’s only the one scar though, Pomfrey managed to heal the rest.”

“Well girls love a battle scar,” Hermione said optimistically.

Draco looked at her through his heavily lidded eyes, “I’m only bothered about the one girl.”

Hermione couldn’t conceal the smile that came to her lips, and she also noticed that Draco squeezed her hand with his words.

“Well, I only came here to apologise,” Harry cut in, feeling very much like a third wheel, “And to tell you how bloody pissed off I am. Snape gave me detention for every Saturday for the rest of the term. I’m going to miss the Quidditch final!”

“Sorry,” Draco mumbled, “Means it worked though.”

“Yeah, at a ridiculous price,” Harry said irritably.

“Why did you do it anyway Draco?” Hermione asked, “Why did you say you would betray us?”

“If he found out they would have killed me when they come to the school, and you too Hermione,” Draco said as his eyes fluttered shut, “I was just trying to buy us some time.”

“Alright,” Hermione said gently as she kissed him on the cheek, “We’re going to go now. Go back to sleep.”

Draco mumbled something unintelligible and Harry held out the invisibility cloak to Hermione. She slipped underneath it and they left as quietly as they had entered. They avoided Filch and didn’t talk again until they were on the grand staircase.

“Sorry about earlier, I just…panicked,” Hermione whispered.

“No, I was in the wrong,” Harry said, “You were right to be angry at me.”

“Draco was the one in the wrong,” Hermione argued, “Forcing your hand like that, and I swear I’ll make him suffer for that once hes better.”

“At least hes going to be better,” Harry said quietly as he gripped Hermione’s hand under the cloak, “Are we okay?”

“We’re okay,” Hermione replied, squeezing his hand.

“Good,” Harry whispered, “Because I don’t think I can handle losing another friend at the moment.”

“You will never lose me Harry,” Hermione said, “I’ll get pissed off with you and ignore you at times, but you will never lose me.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Harry was very quiet in the days following the ‘attack’, and Hermione hadn’t failed to notice. Ginny had thrown a fit when she found out about his detention. The news of what Harry had done to Draco spread through the school like wildfire, and all but his closest friends started to view him as the bad guy.

He had been pulled into a broom closet by Susan and interrogated, and Daphne had hissed angrily in his ear throughout potions. They both ultimately found themselves irritated at Draco in the end for threatening to betray them.

The match approached quicker than it ordinarily would. The irritating thing was that in a sense Harry wouldn’t mind if Ravenclaw won the match. The way things stood meant that Gryffindor had to win by 300 points or more to win the cup. That meant realistically they had to catch the snitch and score at least 15 times, excluding the possibility of penalties. He had confidence in the team, but he also knew that Lilly was a fantastic seeker. After all she had beaten Cho Chang in try-outs, and Cho had been pretty good. Ginny was great too, in fact in that sense they would be evenly matched. But with Ginny playing seeker the team had lost one of its best chasers. If Gryffindor won the game by 100 points they would come second, and Ravenclaw would win the cup, which was the more likely outcome. But if they lost, depending on the point margin they would end up either third behind Hufflepuff, or at the bottom of the table. If Harry was being honest, and a little vindictive, he was hoping Slytherin would finish bottom of the table, just to spite Draco for making him miss the last match.

The night before the big match Hermione finally spoke to Harry about his dire mood, which she had previously put down to the fact he couldn’t play in the game.

“Harry, there’s more to this than Quidditch, isn’t there?” She asked him in the empty common room.

Harry looked up at her, and she was shocked by the fear in his eyes, “What if I’m becoming like him Hermione? Like Voldemort?”

Hermione looked at him incredulously, “Harry, if this is about Draco-”

“I enjoyed it Hermione,” Harry whispered, “Part of me thought he deserved it for everything he’s ever done to me over the years.”

Hermione studied him carefully, “That doesn’t mean you’re becoming like him Harry,” she said after consideration, “I saw you when you got back here after it had happened. You threw up.”

Harry stared resolutely into the fire.

“And I don’t think that’s because you’re squeamish, you’re always covered in someone’s blood. I think you felt so guilty and disgusted with yourself that you made yourself physically ill. You came down and burned your shirt in the fire, while most of the female population of Gryffindor tower watched,” Hermione said with a slight smile, “That’s not the act of a cold-blooded murderer.”

“What if I had murdered him?” Harry asked coolly, “You wouldn’t be defending me then.”

“You didn’t murder him, so why speculate on what would happen if you did?” Hermione asked evasively, “and if we’re going down that route then think about this. What would you have done if he had died? Would you have just gotten on with your life as if it had never happened?”

“No,” Harry replied quietly, “I would have carried that guilt everywhere…”

“Exactly, psychopaths like Voldemort don’t feel remorse,” Hermione said gently.

“It scared me though Hermione, the dark magic, the powerful magic that I’m capable of,” Harry said, “I realised how easy it would be for me to go dark…it’s there, inside of me.”

“Harry, it’s like Sirius said. Everybody has light and dark inside of them, what matters is the part you act on,” Hermione said as she took his hand, “You won’t act on the dark side, I know you won’t. You’re strong enough to suppress it, you haven’t let it take hold of you like Voldemort has because you know love.”

“How does that really make me different?” Harry asked in disbelief, “Do you think love is what stopped me killing Malfoy?”

“Yeah I do,” Hermione said honestly.

Harry looked at her like she was insane, “You think I love Malfoy?”

“No,” Hermione said with a small smile, “But you know I do, and that’s why you couldn’t have killed him.”

Harry frowned and looked down at his hands, “When did you become so wise Hermione?”

“I’ve always been wise,” Hermione said honestly, “You have just never noticed before. You should go to bed, Harry. You need sleep.”

Harry nodded and got to his feet, “For what it’s worth Hermione, I don’t think it’s my strength that keeps the dark part at bay, I think it’s you. Without your reasoning…I don’t know how easily I could suppress it.”

Hermione got to her feet too and hugged him briefly, “You just think you need me, you would be fine without me.”

“I’d rather not test that theory,” Harry admitted.

“You won’t have to,” Hermione promised.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The following morning Harry sat with the team at breakfast and put on smiles for them, he told them how they were still great without him and he hoped that they believed him. On the way out of the hall they had to separate, the team walking out into the beautiful sunlit grounds to go to the Quidditch pitch, and Harry to go to Snape’s dire, miserable dungeons.

As he was about to descend into the dungeons he saw Lilly emerge with the rest of the team, including Cho who had been delegated to chaser. He decided to ignore the fact that this would look suspicious and called, “Lilly!”

Lilly turned around sharply and glanced across the hall, it was quite busy so a lot of eyes watched the exchange.

Harry smiled, “Good luck today!”

Lilly watched Harry in amazement and walked across the hall to him, “Aren’t you captaining the opposing team?”

“I’m not playing for them,” Harry shrugged, “So I can say good luck to you, can’t I?”

Lilly frowned and Harry looked behind her, “You’d better go join the rest of your team.”

Lilly nodded vaguely, and Harry was sure he almost got a smile from her as she turned and hurried across the hall to her bemused and awaiting team mates.

Feeling the smallest bit better about the dismal day Harry trudged down to Snape’s office where he was gleefully told that his task was to sort through, re-write and re-file Filch’s files of wrongdoers and their crimes. The task was both boring, and clearly intended to be hurtful because his Father and Godfathers names cropped up regularly. It seemed to take forever and the time didn’t pass normally at all. Down here in the dungeons he could hear nothing but the drip of a leak somewhere in the distance. His mind turned to the game, Lilly against Ginny, in a battle for the snitch. They were both better than able, Harry had seen them both fly. He had taught Lilly some moves, which he was now regretting profusely. If Gryffindor won by a good enough margin then the house cup would be theirs, which would feel fantastic. But if Ravenclaw won, it would almost be worth it to see Lilly grinning again. His mind had never been so conflicted and he wished he had taken the one piece of advice his Uncle Vernon had taught him - never mix sport with women.

Snape finally looked up, after a long-suffering sigh from Harry, at 1.10pm. 

“You can go, Potter,” He drawled, “Mark your spot, you will pick up where you left off next week.”

“Yes sir,” Harry said, quickly marking his spot and darting from the dungeons. The game had begun at 10am, and a good Quidditch game could easily last for 3 to 4 hours. If it had been a whitewash, one way or the other, it would be over. But if the game had been as close as Harry anticipated he might just catch the end of it.

He heard the sound of cheering and shouting as soon as he entered the entrance hall and he sprinted through the open doors in the direction of the pitch. He made it there in record time, with one hell of a stitch. He cut through the changing rooms and saw the score briefly flash before his eyes.

Gryffindor 160 - Ravenclaw 170. 

It all came down to who caught the snitch, and seconds after Harry had arrived on the edge of the pitch that decisive moment came. It was already in motion, and clearly had been why the cheering had gotten so loud as Harry approached the pitch. 

At the opposite side from where Harry stood a red blur and a blue blur were shooting towards the ground at high speed.

“She’s doing a wronski feint,” Harry muttered in disbelief.

As the two players got closer to the ground the red blur began to slow, and the blue one didn’t. Harry watched, with amazement, anticipation and fear, as they reached the ground. Ginny appeared to crash, and moments later was lying on the grass. But Lilly stayed on her broom, stayed upright and only scuffed the grass with her toes as she raised her hand triumphantly and the Ravenclaw stands went wild.

Harry was torn between irritation that Gryffindor had lost, worry for Ginny and happiness for Lilly. He stayed on the sidelines as the Ravenclaws ran onto the pitch and handed Lilly the cup before lifting her up into the air. Madam Pomfrey was tending to Ginny, and she got up and walked, with the aid of Pomfrey to a stretcher by the side of the pitch, so his worry eased immediately. He smiled and slipped away unnoticed before the crowds began to descend on the grounds. 

As it was he was sitting on a rock by the lake when the victorious Ravenclaws marched by with Lilly high in the air, laughing and holding the silver cup. 

Harry smiled and waved at her, “Congratulations!” he called over the noise.

Lilly saw him, but Harry wasn’t sure she heard him. The crowd reached the doors and put Lilly down, and she fought her way through them and walked over to Harry with the eyes of at least half of the school on her.

“What are you doing here?”

“I was just planning on going for a walk around the lake actually,” Harry said with a soft smile, “Nice catch.”

Lilly grinned, “Thanks.”

Harry smiled at her again and turned around, for that walk around the lake he had alluded to. He expected her to run back to her fans, to go and enjoy the inevitable celebration they would be having in Ravenclaw tower. But, Harry had only taken a few steps when he heard her running up behind him. He didn’t have time to turn around, and she jumped onto his back with ease.

Despite it all he laughed and steadied her, she was so small and light that it wasn’t a burden. Lilly wrapped her arms around his neck and leant her chin on his shoulder, “I think we might just have told the school that we’re dating.”

“Oh, so we’re dating again?” Harry asked sarcastically, but it was overridden by the grin on his face.

Lilly smiled and kissed his cheek, “I think so.”

Harry couldn’t control the grin that broke out on his face then, and Lilly said, “Sorry about breaking Ginny’s arm.”

“I am regretting teaching you that move since it just won you the Quidditch cup,” Harry joked, “Will she be okay?”

“She’ll be fine. Pomfrey will fix it in hours, since nobody removed the bones,” Lilly laughed, in reference to Harry’s dreadful experience in 2nd year, “I may have done it out of spite…When I saw you two together the other day I thought…”

“She’s my best friends little sister,” Harry said in amusement, “Ron would kill me if I’d ever tried anything on with Ginny.”

“Well she’s always had a crush on you, can you blame me for being paranoid?” Lilly asked softly.

“Has she?” Harry asked in disbelief, “I mean she did when she was like 10, but I thought she was over that now.”

Lilly laughed, “You really are so clueless,” she said fondly as she dropped down from his back and took his hand as they continued to walk towards the most heavily forested part of the lake’s edge, “Maybe that’s why you didn’t realise Daphne was hinting at having feelings for you.”

Harry frowned, and Lilly explained, “She showed me the memory, last night.”

“Oh,” Harry said, that explained why she had been civil towards him that morning.

“I’m sorry Harry, I knew deep down you hadn’t kissed her back,” Lilly admitted, “But as much as I hide who I am underneath all of this happiness, I’ll always be terrified of being abandoned.”

“Well you don’t have to worry about that with me,” Harry said, letting go of her hand and putting his arm around her.

“And Daphne’s done this before,” Lilly continued, “not with Draco, because she was dating him first…but every time I’ve liked someone, they’ve always preferred Daphne. I mean who’s going to go for the short Ravenclaw with her hair always up in a bun and her reading glasses on, compared to the tall, sexy blonde bombshell of a Slytherin.”

Harry scoffed, “Sure she’s good looking,” he admitted, “But that’s not everything there is in the world Lil. And personally I prefer brunettes, blondes remind me of Malfoy too much and that would be weird. Besides, she’s far too tall, can you imagine me dating her? I’d need to kiss her sitting down…or otherwise I’d need a set of steps.”

“You better not be dating me because I’m the right height,” Lilly joked.

“I’m dating you because you’re the right fit,” Harry said honestly, “I think you’re perfect. And for the record, I like your glasses, they suit you.”

Lilly smiled, “You really think that?”

“Yeah, I do,” Harry said, “You have your demons and your skeletons, but so do I. All I see is someone intelligent, confident and beautiful who makes me laugh when all I want to do is kill someone.”

Lilly smiled softly, and leant into his embrace as they reached the top of the lake and turned around.

“Are they still watching us?” Lilly asked in disbelief.

“Well, I am the chosen one,” Harry grinned.

Lilly smirked at him, “Well, let’s see how they like this, chosen one.”

Harry frowned as she walked towards him and then he realised what she was doing, “Lilly don’t you dare-”

“I dare,” Lilly grinned, putting both of her hands on Harry’s chest and pushing him into the lake. He had been prepared for this however, as soon as he realised what she was doing. Harry grabbed her and as he fell he pulled her in with him. This end of the lake was the deepest so when they both emerged spluttering they weren’t sure whether to glare at each other or laugh, but the sun was shining down, and the world seemed put to right again so they laughed.

“Should have been a bloody Gryffindor,” Harry said as he dragged himself out of the lake and sat on the shore to dry off.

“Well I was a hatstall,” Lilly said thoughtfully.

“Between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw?” Harry asked with interest.

“No,” Lilly replied, “between Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. I always thought that was a bad thing, that this dark part of me belonged in Slytherin.”

“Somebody once told me that we all have dark and light inside of us,” Harry said as Lilly sat down next to him on the grass, “But what matters is the part we chose to act on.”

“You have a dark side too Harry, don’t you?” Lilly asked knowingly, but not accusingly.

“I think everyone must.”

“What really happened between you and Draco?” She asked, Harry knew that had been where the conversation was leading, “Everyone is saying it was a duel and you tried to kill him. But I don’t believe that.”

“Snape was suspicious,” Harry explained quietly, “So Malfoy asked me to use the spell on him so that he would get hurt badly enough for Snape to believe that he and I were still enemies. He said he would betray us if I didn’t, and he demonstrated perfectly why you are a weakness.”

Lilly frowned, “What do you mean?”

“He said if I didn’t do it he would tell Snape, but he wouldn’t tell him Hermione was involved, he’d tell him you were,” Harry said with a glance her way, “He used my weakness.”

“I’m your weakness?” Lilly asked, somewhere between shocked, flattered and irritated, the latter being directed towards Draco.

Harry nodded numbly.

“Well he didn’t die, so I suppose it served its purpose,” Lilly sighed, “And while I’m pissed off that he used me against you, he did get you in detention which enabled Ravenclaw to win the cup so…” she trailed off with an amused smile.

“You can let him off the hook if you want,” Harry snorted, “He’s already got it in for himself from Hermione, Daphne and Susan.”

Lilly laughed, “I might get in on the action then,” she joked.

“Is everything alright now, with you and Daphne?” Harry asked, he had been nervous about bringing the subject up.

Lilly shrugged, “It’s not back to normal, it’s civil at the moment and a little tense…but we’ll get there.”

Harry nodded, glad to hear that things were at least on the mend, “Good, I hated seeing you four split up. You’ve become quite good friends.”

“I’m glad Hermione’s been included,” Lilly said, “Like I told you before, it could get lonely. But I feel like I’ve got a friend for life in Hermione, and as much as you all tease him I love Ron, he’s harmless really.”

Harry laughed, “Yeah, harmless, if a little irritating at times,” he agreed.

Lilly chuckled and lay back on the grass to dry off in the warm summer heat. Harry lay next to her, and for a while he could forget about the impending war, and Voldemort, and all of the bad things that would inevitably happen in the next month or so. In that moment he could just lie there peacefully, and his mind was blissfully free from all thoughts apart from those involving Lillian Moon.

TBC :)


	24. Don't Say Goodbye

When Lilly walked into her dorm room, after her walk around the lake with Harry there were two particularly eager people awaiting her return.

“Oh my god! The secret boyfriend was Harry Potter!” Mandy squealed.

Lilly watched Lisa and Mandy in amusement.

“Well,” Lisa grinned, “I can see why you laughed when I said your type was tall, dark and handsome.”

“He’s certainly handsome,” Mandy said eagerly, “and famous.”

“I really don’t care about his fame, and he’s tall to me Lisa,” Lilly said, looking between them both.

“He must love being with you, you make him look tall,” Lisa teased.

Lilly grabbed a pillow and threw it half-heartedly at her friend, and the three of them all laughed together for the first time in a little while.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

As the final days of May drew to an end things began to look up for Draco. After just under a week in hospital he was let out, with just one long, thin scar running down his chest. He wasn’t in the best spirits, because there was barely a month of the term left and he hadn’t fixed the vanishing cabinet yet. After the monthly DA meeting they waited for Draco to join them, and when he did his mood was even worse.

“Before you ask, no I haven’t fixed the damn thing!” Draco said irritably the second he had shut the door, “I only have about 10 frequencies left to try and it’s bound to be the last fucking one!”

“Alright,” Hermione said as she put her hand on his shoulder and gently pushed him onto one of the chairs, “10 more frequencies, that won’t take long. It only takes about half an hour to try each one, right?”

“That’s 5 hours Granger!”

“Draco, calm down,” Hermione snapped, “5 hours, that’s a day’s work. Do it tomorrow.”

It was Friday night, so the following day would be the best time for Draco to put his plan in place since there were no classes.

“Right,” Draco said somewhat sheepishly.

Hermione shook her head in amusement.

“This meeting is probably going to be the most unpleasant one,” Harry said firmly, “And I’m fully expecting lots of arguments. So, before we start…Lilly and Daphne, are you two really on good terms because you’re going to have to be to do what I propose.”

Lilly opened her mouth to speak, but Daphne was faster.

“You want to plan what happens after Dumbledore dies,” Daphne guessed, “And I assume you, and a select group of people, will not be returning to Hogwarts because they will be disappearing to find horcruxes. You don’t have to worry about Lilly and I clashing on that mission, because I’ll be here.”

Harry frowned, “Why?”

“Death Eaters killed my brother,” Daphne said, “And they warned us that my sister was next. If Draco is right about how close Voldemort is to toppling the Ministry, then Hogwarts doesn’t stand a chance after Dumbledore dies. There will be Death Eaters crawling around here, so I have to stay to protect Astoria.”

Hermione nodded, “We understand Daphne. She should be your first priority.”

Harry nodded absentmindedly, he was stunned but also a little relieved to hear this news, “And we could always use someone inside Hogwarts.”

“Especially if it’s a Voldemort run Hogwarts,” Draco added darkly, “You’ll need a way to communicate that they won’t be able to find.”

“I wish you would stop saying ‘you’ instead of ‘we’, Draco,” Hermione said anxiously.

“Well we’ve already established that I’ll be dead,” Draco remarked.

“No we haven’t,” Lilly said hotly, “We’ve established that you think you’re going to die. Some of us still think you’re going to live.”

“See,” Hermione said, glaring half-heartedly at Draco.

“Look, that’s beside the point at the moment. You have under a month to come up with a good, undetectable communication device,” Draco cut in.

“Well we’re in one,” Susan said, glancing around the walls.

They all looked at her like she was mad, apart from Neville, “Of course…the room becomes anything you want it to be…so if we thought about a way to communicate with someone maybe one would appear.”

“Who thought the room up first today, you or Hermione?” Daphne asked Harry.

“I did,” Harry said as he shut his eyes, “So if you could all be quiet for a moment we’ll test this theory.”

He thought long and hard, and paced the floor three times. The collective gasp told him it had worked before he’d even opened his eyes. In the centre of the table, where there had once been a pensieve when they needed it, there was a mirror. But it wasn’t their reflections that they could see in it. 

“What is that?” Lilly asked, cocking her head at the image in the mirror.

“It’s an old sock and a library book,” Harry said sheepishly, “That mirror is connected to one in the bottom of my trunk, one that’s in shards I think. My Godfather gave me it so that we could communicate, and he kept the other half.”

“So I would be able to see you and hear you,” Daphne said, “But I’d have to be in this room.”

“Well, it’s better than nothing,” Neville said optimistically.

Harry nodded, “It will work fine,” he said as he cleared his throat, “Well that’s one part of the problem solved, I guess. What I was going to say was that I think four of us should go on the mission to find the horcruxes, I think anymore would look suspicious.”

“And which four of us are going, exactly?” Lilly asked with narrowed eyes.

“Myself, Hermione, Neville and you,” Harry said slowly, “The only way I can protect you is if you are with me Lilly.”

“And what about me?” Susan asked in disbelief.

“I thought you could stay here-”

“Stay here and do what?” Susan asked angrily, “Help Daphne babysit her little sister while you lot are off killing bits of Voldemort? Hell no!”

“I have to side with Susan here-”

“Of course you do,” Harry muttered, “Your personal feelings cannot come into this Neville!”

“Just like your personal feelings had nothing to do with you deciding to take Lilly with us?” Neville asked hotly.

“What feelings?” Susan asked, looking between them both in alarm.

Neville shook his head, and Harry cut in, “See, this is precisely what I mean. You know in the muggle world, police don’t let people in relationships work together. Do you know why?”

“I’m sure you’re going to enlighten us Potter,” Draco drawled.

Harry glared at the blonde, “Because if you are in a situation where the person you care about could die, you will rush in to save them comprising the mission, or yourself. They are a distraction.”

“Yes, I do happen to know this,” Neville said, “Because it’s the exact same rule for Aurors. But my parents were Aurors and they were partners. Do you know why that was allowed?”

“No,” Harry replied.

“Because they were good enough, and powerful enough, to do the right thing. They knew when they could save the other one without comprising the mission. If you really think Susan being there is going to be the difference between killing Voldemort or not you are kidding yourself,” Neville said, his anger building up, “And you can’t use that argument for not bringing her, and then bring Lilly yourself. That’s called a double standard!”

“Fine,’” Harry said as he sat down heavily at the table, “Here’s a new plan. It’s called, ‘I can’t be bothered having to make all of the choices all the time’. Hermione, sit next to me.”

Hermione frowned, “Why?”

“Just come here please, and I’ll explain,” Harry said.

Hermione sighed and sat down next to him, “Well?”

“You each have 5 minutes to stand on the table and tell me why I should take you with me. Hermione is my second in command, so she has to come with me. I want to know why the rest of you are valuable. There are four of you, because Daphne has decided she’s staying here, and there are two places,” Harry said, watching them all with a slightly mischievous glint in his eyes.

“Do I have to do it? Because I’ll be dead so-”

“Yes, you have to do it Malfoy!” Hermione snapped.

Harry turned to his bushy haired friend, “What’s the best way to do this then Hermione?”

“Alphabetical order by surname?” Hermione suggested.

“I can’t believe you’re actually making us do this,” Susan muttered.

Harry ignored her, “Perfect. So, we’ll have Bones first then,” he said with a wicked smile at the redhead.

Susan glared at him as she jumped onto the table.

“Your 5 minutes starts now, Bones,” Harry said, leaning back in his chair and watching her with interest.

“I know you’ll immediately disregard me as a Hufflepuff and therefore class me as useless but that’s bullshit. I’m one of the best in the DA and you know it, I’m a powerful caster, probably more powerful than all of the other girls here. I’m good at everything, transfiguration, charms, potions…I could easily brew simple remedies to things like a cold, a poisonous bite, you know, things that would happen when you’re on the run. Assuming we will be in the wild I’m also fantastic at Herbology which means I can tell you what plants are edible and what plants aren’t, and on that note I’m also a great cook. I did this wilderness camp thing at WitchCamp, and I won Cook of the Camp, for the record. But anyway, I also have valuable knowledge that you will need if you want to destroy horcruxes, like the fact that you need basilisk venom to destroy one, and I doubt anybody else in here knows how to extract venom from a dead basilisk. I also found out information about the location of Helga Hufflepuff’s cup, and I won’t tell you it unless you take me with you. So, I’m pretty sure you need me more than you think. Any questions?”

“You could be lying about the knowledge of the cup,” Harry said, “And I know for a fact that Neville is just as good, if not better at Herbology so you aren’t unique on the plant thing.”

“Did anyone else take a N.E.W.T in Care of Magical Creatures?” Susan asked pointedly.

There was silence, and shaking of heads all around.

Susan smirked, “So nobody else knows how to extract basilisk venom then? Interesting.”

Harry rolled his eyes, “Alright, point made. Are you done?”

Susan nodded and shot Neville a triumphant look as she jumped from the table.

Harry looked at Hermione in amusement, “Longbottom, you next.”

“Longbottom?” Neville asked in amusement as he jumped onto the table, “I don’t think you’ve ever called me by my second name.”

“Well, this is a formal occasion,” Harry said with a pointed look, “Your 5 minutes begins now.”

Neville began, looking distinctly uncomfortable, “Well I don’t really like talking about myself or bigging myself up Harry. At the end of the day, you’ve seen me in the DA and you’ve grown up with me all these years. You know what I’m capable of, and I hope you know that I’ll always have your back and I’ll never abandon you, no matter how tough things are going to get. Apart from that, I don’t really have anything to say.”

Harry gave Neville a genuine smile and nodded, “Thanks Nev.”

Hermione smiled at their fellow Gryffindor too as he jumped down from the table, and was glared at by Susan.

“What?”

“That wasn’t even a minute,” Susan said irritably.

“Sometimes quality is better than length,” Neville joked, getting a slap around the head in response.

Harry was shaking his head in amusement, “Malfoy, you’re up next.”

Draco sighed and climbed onto the table, before being told when his 5 minutes began he started to talk, “Right, well assuming I’m still alive when all this kicks off I don’t expect you to take me. We were enemies for years, and I’m still not sure if I like you, to be honest. I do have a lot of valuable information about Voldemort, and I know who’s a Death Eater and who isn’t which isn’t easy these days given how many he’s placed in powerful positions. Other than that I don’t have any skills in particular that are unique, but if you take me with you then you’re running into the exact same problem as if you take Longbottom and Bones. My personal feelings will interfere, because my priority will always be Granger.”

Hermione stared at him in amazement as he stepped down. Harry cleared his throat, “Right, well thank you for your honesty Malfoy,” he said.

Draco just looked down at the table and refused to catch Hermione’s eye.

“Moon, you’re next,” Harry said with an amused smile.

Lilly jumped onto the table with ease and crossed her arms, “Can I start?”

“Your 5 minutes begin now,” Harry told her.

“Well as the only Ravenclaw I do have valuable information on the diadem that you asked me to research. I also know more about soul magic than anybody else here, which I know is very useful to your mission. I’m an all-rounder in every other subject, and I can read Runes too. I can also read and write Latin, and I speak Italian and Spanish. I did three week-long summer placements last year in the Ministry. One of which was in the department of transportation so I know how to create portkey’s and I also know how to bypass the code that lets the Ministry track them. I know hacks for the floo network that disable them from the Ministry’s main server, and I’m one of the few people here who has actually passed their apparition test.”

“Thank you for that Lilly,” Harry said, a smirk playing on his lips as she sat back down. He looked around the table with a grin.

“So, who’s coming then?” Susan asked irritably.

“Everyone,” Hermione said in amusement, “Am I right?”

Harry’s grin widened, “Yep, I was always intending to take you all but it was useful to see what uses you all have, and fucking funny to watch you sell yourselves.”

“You little shit,” Lilly said in disbelief.

Susan could only laugh, and even Draco smiled slightly.

“So,” Harry chuckled, “All 6 of us will be going on this mission next year. There will be 5 of us if Malfoy’s suicide mission actually ends up being a suicide mission. We’re going to have to wait until the trace breaks on Neville and I since our birthdays are latest in the year, so everyone is going to have to lay low until the end of July.”

“And then what happens?” Neville asked.

“Then Hermione, Lilly and I go to Bill and Fleur’s wedding,” Harry said, “It makes things look like they’re going to progress as normal. But after the wedding we leave, and meet at a previously agreed rendezvous point.”

“Then we’re on the run,” Hermione said, “We don’t stay anywhere for any longer than a week, and we find all of the horcruxes, and destroy them.”

“Well, we really ought to start getting things in motion now then,” Susan said, “I mean, I’ll have to get the basilisk venom before we leave Hogwarts.”

“How exactly do you intend on smuggling it out of Hogwarts?” Draco asked with a raised eyebrow.

“The hump-backed witch,” Harry murmured, “I know a secret passage from Hogwarts to the cellar of Honeydukes. Take the venom out that way and hide it in the train station, then grab it before you get on the Hogwarts express.”

Susan nodded thoughtfully, “That would work, but there is one issue. The basilisk is in the chamber of secrets, and I’ve no idea where that is, or how to get in.”

“You can’t get in, only Harry can,” Hermione said sheepishly.

“And I’ll take you down at the weekend, but it will have to be very late at night,” Harry said, “I can’t risk anyone finding out what we’re doing.”

“Okay,” Susan agreed.

Harry glanced around at the rest of them, “Is there anything else we have to do while we’re in Hogwarts?”

“I’ve finished copying all of the useful books from the library,” Hermione said, “So on my behalf, no.”

“Well, there might be one more thing we have to do,” Lilly said quietly, “I’ve been doing research on the diadem, like you asked. And I found out who its last owner was, Helena Ravenclaw.”

“Rowena’s daughter?” Hermione asked.

Lilly nodded, “There’s this tower in the school, I’m not sure if you know about it. But it’s called the Founders Tower.”

Harry frowned, “It’s not on my map, where is it?”

“It’s hidden away, I found it by accident,” Lilly admitted, “Have you heard of the Room of Runes?”

“Yes…” Harry said slowly as he traced his finger over the Marauders map, “That is on the map, it’s in the north wing of the 7th floor…access by a code, apparently.”

Lilly nodded, “Yes, the code is in Runes. There’s not much else up there, just the Head Boy and Girls quarters. I got lost up there and found this alcove full of Runes. There were some that you could press in, but I did it once and I obviously got the code wrong so it pushed me out of the room and I couldn’t get back in for weeks. I went back and studied the Runes on the wall, it told the story of the founders, just the basic stuff that we all read in “Hogwarts: A History”. I figured out that the code had something to do with the founders, and it was as simple as the initials of each founder in Runic. I didn’t know the order of the initials though, so I tried alphabetical and it worked. The wall slides back and there’s this room full of Runes, it tells the whole story about the founders, things I’ve not read in any book and apparently the founder’s tower is accessed through that room but I’ve never worked out how.”

“We should all go there together and see if we can figure it out,” Hermione said with excitement, “A tower that contains information about the founders? That would be amazing!”

Lilly smiled, “Well the information in the Room of Runes itself is amazing,” she admitted, “All I knew about the founders was that they came to Hogwarts, created the houses, and then they quarreled and Slytherin left. But it’s so much more complicated than that.”

“Go on,” Daphne said eagerly, leaning forward.

Lilly grinned, “Well, Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin were best friends. They found the site where they decided to build Hogwarts, not Rowena Ravenclaw which is what everybody thinks. They decided the school needed female attention and love and brought Rowena, and Helga Hufflepuff for that purpose. But, here’s the first surprise, two of the founders were married.”

“Which two?” Susan asked in surprise.

“Gryffindor and Hufflepuff,” Lilly replied, “Not long after the founding of Hogwarts Godric and Helga married.”

“How does nobody know that?” Draco asked in disbelief.

“Well I suspect people have found the room, but you can’t write the information down, it erases itself. You can talk about it, but you wouldn’t have any proof and you can’t just take people into the room with you, the code changes every time and each person has to solve it for themselves.”

“So, the secrets in that room are well protected,” Neville said with interest, “Which means they must be pretty scandalous.”

“They are,” Lilly assured him, “Rowena Ravenclaw had always been in love with Godric, even after he married Helga. At some point they had an affair, and Rowena had an illegitimate child by him.”

Hermione’s jaw dropped, “Helena Ravenclaw.”

“No,” Lilly said, “It gets more scandalous, trust me. The child was a boy, Helga found out about the affair but remained loyal to Godric and they had three children together. Godric acknowledged that Rowena’s child was his son, and they all seemed to remain friends. But, Salazar had always loved Rowena, and after being jilted by Godric she slept with him.”

“Seriously?” Hermione asked in disbelief.

Lilly nodded, leaning forward with excitement that she was finally getting to tell the story, “And Rowena fell pregnant again. When Salazar found out about the baby he refused to marry Rowena, and he and Godric argued because Godric thought he should do the right thing by her. That was what sparked the huge argument about how to educate their children, and the children they would teach after that. Salazar left, and Rowena had the second illegitimate child, a girl who she called Helena.”

“And they just got on with their lives, the three of them?” Harry asked in surprise.

Lilly nodded, “Yes, they seemed to forgive and forget. Godric and Rowena’s child seems to have been called Apollo. He left the school when he was 16 and was never seen again, but Helena stayed close to her Mother until she ran away after stealing her Mother’s most treasured item, her diadem.”

“What happened to her after she stole it?” Harry asked.

“She died,” Lilly replied, “And she’s still here, as is her murderer.”

“The grey lady,” Hermione realised with a jolt, “She’s Helena Ravenclaw!”

Lilly nodded, “She ran away to Albania with the diadem, and that is where she was killed, by the Bloody Baron.”

“The Bloody Baron?” Draco asked in surprise, “Slytherins ghost?”

“Yes, Rowena fell ill and wanted to see Helena before she died,” Lilly explained, “So she sent the Bloody Baron to Albania to bring Helena back. But Helena refused to go, and the Baron killed her. Then he killed himself, out of guilt.”

“So the diadem is still in Albania?” Susan asked hopefully.

“No,” Harry and Hermione said in unison. They turned to each other as the revelation began to unfold in their heads.

“You two are doing that thing again,” Daphne said, “You know, that thing where you have brainwaves at the same time and don’t tell anyone else what’s going on.”

Harry and Hermione ignored Daphne and appeared to forget about the rest of the room momentarily.

“I have to be wrong here Hermione.”

“You’re right, of course you’re right! He was in Albania, he told you that.”

“Do you think he found the diadem when he fled to Albania after killing my parents?”

“He might have, but that’s not what you’re thinking.”

“No, I’m thinking he probably fled somewhere he already knew about, somewhere he thought was isolated and safe…somewhere he knew nobody would look for him.”

“He’d already made the horcrux well before he killed your parents…he’d already found it in Albania.”

“And when he came back to Hogwarts to ask for the job…he brought it back.”

“Of course!” Hermione exclaimed, “He’s so arrogant, he wouldn’t have thought anybody else would know his secret hiding places. He hid it in plain sight!”

“Can we be included in this conversation?” Lilly asked in amusement, “If you two are right, where did he hide it? Hogwarts is huge and it has a lot of hiding places.”

“But what’s the one hiding place that’s unplottable?” Draco asked quietly as he looked around the room.

“The Room of Requirement,” Harry murmured, “If you’re right Malfoy, how would we be able to turn the room into what Voldemort turned it into when he hid the diadem?”

“He would have been looking for a hiding place,” Draco said, getting to his feet and walking around the table, “Somewhere to hide the diadem.”

“Oh great, now he’s in on the secret brainwave conversation,” Daphne said, shooting an amused glance at Lilly and Susan.

“The room where I work on the vanishing cabinet is full to the bursting of lost, and hidden things,” Draco continued, “That’s where the diadem is, it must be somewhere in that room. And we have to act fast. If I can get the cabinet fixed tomorrow…there will be Death Eaters here by tomorrow night.”

Susan sighed, “So I might not live to see my 17th birthday at this rate.”

“Nobody is going to be dead by the 1st of June,” Harry said firmly, “Apart from Dumbledore, and that can’t be helped. Granted it might not be your best birthday ever Susan but we can’t hold off another week.”

“And Draco’s birthday is the day after yours,” Hermione pointed out, “So he’s probably going to have a shit 17th too.”

“And I’ll be stuck in the muggle world with no magic for mine, and Voldemort will likely try and kill me as soon as midnight on my birthday is over,” Harry said, “So cheer up, it can’t be worse than that.”

“Little things like birthdays really aren’t important right now,” Draco said darkly, “We have to take control of the situation before tomorrow night.”

Harry nodded, “Susan, once the meeting is over I’ll take you to the Chamber of Secrets for that venom. Hermione, how exactly will we get out? I don’t think we can call on Fawkes like we did the last time.”

“Last time you were 12,” Hermione said in amusement, “You’re 16 now, I’m sure you can manage a levitation charm?”

“Right,” Harry said stupidly, “So Susan and I will do that tonight. Everybody who can spare the time tomorrow should be in the Room of Requirement while Malfoy is fixing the cabinet, searching for that diadem. We should be safe here until the end of term after Dumbledore dies, but we might have to run and I don’t want to take any chances, I want the venom and the diadem found and hidden away before the Death Eaters get here.”

There were nods all around and Lilly piped up, “You will make a good Minister for Magic one day.”

Harry snorted, “Never going to happen. Final order of the night, Hermione this shouldn’t be too hard for you…don’t let Malfoy out of your sight tomorrow. As soon as we know those Death Eaters are coming we’ve got to tip McGonagall off and seal up the students in their dorms. We’ll give the DA the call to arms before we do that, and we’ll hijack the floo in McGonagall’s office to call the Order. Does everyone know what they’re doing?”

There was silence, and nods. Harry nodded grimly, “Perfect,” he said as he grabbed the invisibility cloak, “Come on then Susan, let’s go to Slytherins dark and creepy lair.”

They left in a hurry, and once the door had snapped shut behind them Lilly said, “Well, I didn’t even get to tell him the exciting part about the information in the Room of Runes.”

Hermione frowned, “Yeah he was kind of on a roll, he does that. What do you mean, what more is there?”

“There’s a family tree,” Lilly said cryptically, “And it has some interesting names on it.”

“Who’s names?” Daphne asked eagerly.

“Godric and Helga had three children, two boys and a girl. The eldest, also called Godric, well his line ran out of males and his great great Granddaughter married Lorcan Potter.”

Hermione’s eyes popped, “Harry is the most direct descendant of Gryffindor?”

Lilly nodded with a grin, “I mean are you really surprised? Look at his magical strength! Wait till you hear the rest. The second son, the male line went extinct after his great great Grandson died. His great, great, great Grandaughter married a certain Baldrick Longbottom.”

Neville’s jaw dropped, “Are you telling me I’m descended from Godric bloody Gryffindor?”

“And Helga Hufflepuff,” Lilly smirked, “The final line of Gryffindor, the girl. Well she married, and about four marriages down the line the name Lucian Bones appeared.”

“So Susan is a descendant of Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. Explains a lot,” Neville said in amusement.

“It gets really interesting when we look into the other heirs. Godric and Rowena’s son, Apollo. When his male line ran out the family inter-married several times. Some familiar names there were Greengrass and Lupin.”

Daphne’s eyes widened, “Gryffindor and Ravenclaw?”

“Oh yeah,” Lilly said, standing up, “But I’m saving the best till last. The last heir, Helena Ravenclaw. Well, like her mother she had an illegitimate child, I don’t know who to but that child was a boy. A few generations down, the male line died out and a female married Hyperion Malfoy. Now, bear in mind that Voldemort thinks he’s the only one descended from Slytherin. Salazar did have other children with a woman who he married at a later date which is where Voldemort comes in. So being descended from an illegitimate son of an illegitimate daughter is a bit more convoluted, but it does make you a descendant of Ravenclaw and Slytherin, Draco.”

“I was worried you were going to say I was descended from Gryffindor for a minute there,” Draco said, looking genuinely relieved, “Mind you, Ravenclaw was a bit of a tart.”

“Well they always say watch out for the brainy ones,” Hermione said with a smirk.

Lilly laughed, “Anyway, I think we should probably leave and try and get to sleep. We’re going to have to be up early to comb that room tomorrow.”

Draco nodded, “I think that’s a good idea. We’ll agree to meet here at 9am tomorrow morning, just think that you need a place to hide something and this room will appear.”

“Alright,” Hermione said with a yawn, “Tomorrow then. I’ll do Harry’s job and supervise you all going out. Daph and Lilly, you two might as well go first.”

“See you tomorrow,” They said as they left the room. 

Neville sighed, “I’ve got a very bad feeling about tomorrow,” he admitted.

“I don’t exactly feel thrilled about it,” Hermione said, watching the clock, “But it’s going to happen, so we’re just going to have to face it. You should be alright now Neville.”

“What about you?” Neville asked, “I was going to walk you back to the common room.”

Hermione shook her head, “I think I’ll stay here a little longer,” she said pointedly.

Neville hesitated as he got to his feet.

“I’ll be fine Nev,” Hermione said gently, “Honestly.”

“Alright,” Neville said after a moment of consideration, “Goodnight then.”

“Night,” Hermione said as he left, shutting the door behind him with a snap.

Hermione turned to Draco, who had been silent throughout their conversation, “You can’t avoid this anymore Draco. What are you going to do tomorrow? I want the honest answer.”

Draco sighed and looked her directly in the eye, “I’m going to fix the cabinet, and then Borgin will inform the Death Eaters and they will come through it into the school. I then have to at least try to kill Dumbledore. If I’m right Snape won’t be able to let me, but if I’m wrong then I’ll have to do it. Either way, the Death Eaters will leave and they will take me with them. Once we’re out of the grounds I’ll slip away and apparate as far away as I can. After that I’ll run, I won’t stay in one place for too long and I won’t use magic until my birthday in a couple days, but they’ll be able to track me, even if the Ministry can’t.”

“Why haven’t you considered staying here?” Hermione asked in a whisper.

“Because, I’ll either have killed or tried to kill Dumbledore. If I stay here, I’m a criminal and I’ll end up in Azkaban with lots of ex-Death Eaters and Voldemort sympathizers,” Draco replied.

“Why do both situations end in you dying?” Hermione asked as the tears she had been holding back began to fall from her eyes. 

Draco grabbed her hand, “Because my options don’t involve living. They haven’t since I got this thing burned onto my arm.”

“But then,” Hermione half spoke, half cried, “After you fix the cabinet tomorrow I’ll…”

“You’ll never see me again,” Draco finished quietly. 

Hermione looked at him through her blurry eyes and was surprised when she saw tears in his own eyes. She reached out and pushed his hair out of the way, he frowned slightly as she watched him. After a moment she kissed him, gently, lightly, and softly. He kissed her back, in the same, soothing way. It was unlike the hurried, desperate, terrified kisses they had shared before, and unlike the enthusiastic, passionate kisses too. It was a goodbye, and they both knew it.

Hermione broke the kiss and took Draco’s hand, “Come outside for a minute.”

“Why?” Draco asked slowly.

“It’s a surprise, it won’t take long,” Hermione promised as she dragged him to the door. She opened it and peeked into the corridor which was clear. She made Draco wait by the place where the door had been and she walked up and down three times with her eyes shut. When she finally opened them the door was back, and she opened it, pulling Draco inside with her.

He frowned as he looked at the room’s new setting. It looked like a simple bedroom, with beige walls and a double four-poster bed with silk covers, and sheer curtains surrounding it.

“Hermione…” Draco said weakly, “You don’t have to do this.”

“I know what I’m doing Draco,” Hermione said softly, “I didn’t want to believe it but you’re right. You could die tomorrow, or you could die a day after tomorrow, or a month. I might never see you again, and I…I always wanted this to mean something, and I can’t think of a way it could ever mean more.”

Draco stared at her in shock, “I…”

“You don’t have to say anything,” Hermione said as she took his hand and led him to the bed. She sat down on the edge, and tapped the spot next to her with a smile. 

Draco sat down tentatively and looked into her hazel eyes, “I wish this wasn’t the last time we were going to be alone together.”

“I know,” Hermione said.

Draco raised his hand to her face and gently placed his hand on her cheek as he moved towards her and captured her lips in a kiss. Like the first kiss it was slow, and sweet, and even as Hermione deepened it, the kiss retained that romantic nature. She took the first initiative, assuming he was either too afraid or too much of a gentleman to do so. Hermione began to unbutton his shirt, and when the kiss broke and he shrugged it off she traced her finger over the long, thin scar on his chest.

“Does it hurt?”

“No,” Draco replied, his lips had moved to her neck as he pulled her top off and discarded it on the floor. His surprisingly warm hands made her skin tingle as he ran them up her body.

Hermione felt surprisingly calm, she had always imagined she would feel incredibly self-conscious in this situation. But Draco made her feel safe, and comfortable, and relaxed. He gently pushed her onto the bed and lay next to her as he captured her mouth once more. They fumbled at the zips, and buttons on each other’s trousers and kicked them off impatiently.

They looked at each other for a moment, as if both contemplating whether or not to cross the line that couldn’t be uncrossed. 

“Are you sure?” Draco asked in a whisper in-between a kiss.

“I’m sure,” Hermione said, the butterflies in her stomach were flying around like crazy, but she had thought about this for a long time and she had decided weeks ago that this was what she wanted.

“Have you ever…”

“No,” Hermione replied, “Have you?”

Draco shook his head, “No, I was waiting for the right person.”

“So was I,” Hermione said with a knowing smile.

Draco returned her smile and kissed her again, this time a little harder and a little more desperately. He finally unclasped her bra and threw it into the pile of clothes next to the bed. As he kissed her she pulled him closer to her and smirked into the kiss, “You don’t have so much of that self-control now,” she mumbled.

“Well before you were fully clothed,” Draco mumbled back, “And for the record, you really shouldn’t hide this amazing body under jumpers all of the time.”

Hermione laughed heartedly and caught his sparkling eyes, “I like wearing jumpers.”

Draco chuckled and captured her lips again, this time flipping them around so he was above her, the kiss deepened and Hermione’s heartbeat quickened. Part of her was excited, and another part of her was terrified. Draco could clearly sense this because he whispered, “We don’t have to, if you don’t want to.”

“No,” Hermione assured him, “I want to, but you’ve got to let me do the charm.”

“Don’t you trust me?” Draco asked in amusement.

“I trust you, but I’m a control freak,” Hermione laughed. There was one very handy advantage of being a witch. There was a very easy, very useful contraceptive charm that worked better than any Muggle contraceptive, and they were all taught it by a very embarrassed and flustered Professor Flitwick in 5th year. She cast the charm and let her wand slide off the bed onto the pile of clothes on the floor.

She looked up at Draco and saw the same nerves in his eyes that she was feeling, “Are you ready?” she practically challenged him.

Draco raised an eyebrow at her, “If I didn’t know any better I’d say that was a challenge, Granger.”

“Maybe it was, Malfoy,” Hermione countered with a grin.

They quickly stripped each other of the remnants of their clothing, and their eyes met once more. Hermione waited for the inevitable pain that she had heard the girls in the common room talk about, and Draco watched her anxiously. But there was no pain, and she subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief. 

Draco smiled slightly and murmured in her ear, “Soothing charm, you were so relaxed you didn’t feel it.”

For some unexplainable reason that made tears form in Hermione’s eyes, maybe it was because it was such a sweet thing to do, such a thoughtful thing to do. Maybe it was because the man who did that kind of thing was exactly the kind of man she wanted to be with. But she was never going to have that option with Draco, and that hit her hard in that moment.

“Don’t cry,” Draco whispered as he caught her lips gently, “Don’t think about tomorrow, just enjoy tonight.”

Hermione swallowed her tears painfully and reached up to run her hands through his hair. They moved seamlessly with each other, it wasn’t like two people awkwardly trying to do something they had never done before. It felt like two people, who both knew that this was the end, acknowledging that if the end had come there had at least been some love in it. Draco’s hands never left Hermione’s body, and his lips roamed freely. It was as if he was savoring every single second of it, as if he was burning it all into his memory. Hermione, for her part, kept her eyes open for as long as possible, she didn’t want to miss a second, she didn’t want to forget anything. It was all burned into her brain, the tingling sensation of his touch, the strong aroma of his French cologne lingered with the smell of sweat, the taste of his lips on hers and the soft sound of his breathing in her ear. 

“Hermione,” Draco said breathlessly, and Hermione didn’t know how much time had passed. She only knew that his hair was now damp with sweat, and his breathing and movements were getting more erratic by the minute.

She didn’t know what to expect really, this was something Hermione hadn’t read into in a lot of detail. It was one aspect of life that she wasn’t prepared for. In the end it culminated in their bodies being pressed tightly together, they were both gasping for breath, and Hermione gripped Draco so hard that her nails left marks on his back. She was fairly sure at some point she had shouted out his name, and he had moaned hers.

In the aftermath they lay under the silk covers, entirely bare with each other. Their sweat began to cool, and they were both breathing heavily as they tried to catch their breath. Draco rolled onto his side and smiled at her, it was the first time she had seen him smile so easily, and so truly. He was carefree in that moment, the worries that had been pressing down on him were gone, and all he saw was her.

“You’re beautiful,” Draco said, as he took in her pink cheeks, and her frizzy hair, “I’ve been in love with you for so long.”

Hermione smiled weakly and pushed his hair out of his face, “Have you?”

“The moment I saw you at the Yule Ball, I knew,” Draco said softly, “I didn’t notice another girl in the room that night. I wanted to kill Krum.”

Hermione chuckled, “I seemed to have quite an effect on certain boys that night.”

“You definitely had an effect on me,” Draco said honestly, “I just wish I’d told you sooner.”

“We had these few months,” Hermione said, her hand still resting on his face, “And despite it all, they’ve been good months…And for the record, I’ve been in love with you for quite a while too.”

The smile that lit up his face was the best thing Hermione had ever seen, his grey eyes sparkled so much they almost looked blue, “Really?”

Hermione nodded, “Since the night I saw your mark…I just felt like I’d never seen who you really were underneath the sarcastic remarks and insults. I hated you so much Draco, I cried because of the things you said and did to me. But that night…I saw someone just as scared and hurt as I was, and all I wanted to do was help you, and get to know you.”

Draco smiled and pushed a loose strand of her hair behind her ear, “Are you glad that you did?”

“It was the best decision I ever made,” Hermione told him truthfully, “I didn’t think someone so sweet and thoughtful could be hiding underneath that concrete mask of yours.”

“I’ve been building it up since I was 4, Hermione,” Draco said honestly, “I was this sweet little kid with my Mother. I used to help her bake and offer to clean the house with her, but when my Father found out those things he called me a dandy and said boys didn’t bake and clean. He showed me what men did, by hitting my Mother and he told me to do the same. She whispered in my ear, do it Draco or he will not be happy, so I did. The only person who I could be myself around before I met you, was my Mother. I was so grateful when my Father was sent to Azkaban, but I couldn’t tell you that without telling you everything and that was a story I never thought I would be ready to tell.”

“Do you hate him?” Hermione asked.

“Do I hate him?” Draco asked thoughtfully, “I don’t know. He’s my Father, but all he ever caused me and my Mother was pain. I grew up being so careful what I did or said around him. When I came to Hogwarts I thought I could get away from it, but he was on the board so he heard about everything that happened. I couldn’t be friends with the people I wanted to be, I had to stick to my own house, my own kind.”

“No muggle-borns,” Hermione whispered.

“And no being friends with Harry Potter,” Draco added, “He and I are alike, and I think under different circumstances we might have been friends. I was always going to be stuck up, but I blame my Father. When you are told you are superior from the time you can speak you learn to believe it.”

“In the Muggle world we call it brainwashing,” Hermione told him.

“In the wizarding world we call it parenting,” Draco said with a sigh, “But I soon learned when I came to Hogwarts that the things he had taught me, the things he had told me, were wrong. I just kept playing along, and even then I made mistakes and when I did, I was punished for them in the holidays.”

“You’re free from it now,” Hermione said gently.

“One way or another, yes,” Draco agreed.

On that bittersweet note Hermione lay her head on Draco’s chest and curled up as close to him as she could sensibly get. He sighed in contentment as he put his arm around her and closed his eyes. The thought of what he had to do tomorrow wasn’t so scary anymore, he had meant what he said when he told Hermione that he finally had something to die for and tonight had only reinforced that belief. 

TBC :)


	25. The Lost Diadem

“We’re in a bathroom…”

“Yes,” Harry said, “The bathroom where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is.”

Susan looked around, “Uh, where?”

“Here,” Harry said, rubbing the dirt off of the sink that bore the image of the snake on it, “Now be quiet please, I have to concentrate to do this.”

Susan watched in bemusement as he stared at the snake and imagined it alive and wriggling. She jumped when he began to speak parseltongue. The sink was pushed backwards and then lifted upwards, revealing a pipe leading into the lowest depths of the school.

“You could have warned me,” Susan breathed, “I forgot you could speak parseltongue.”

“You didn’t forget in 2nd year when you and all your friends thought I was trying to kill Justin,” Harry said, with a touch of irritation.

“Yeah, I am sorry about that,” Susan admitted.

Harry raised an eyebrow at her, “Thanks. Do you want to go first?”

“Not really,” Susan said as she stared into the darkness.

“It’s just like a slide,” Harry said as he sat on the edge and lowered himself in, “See you at the bottom.”

He disappeared from view and slid down the tunnel at record speed, it was smaller and tighter than he remembered but then again he was bigger than he had been the last time he had gone down it. At the bottom Harry lit up the dark chamber and dusted himself off. A few minutes later Susan slid out of the tunnel and steadied herself nervously.

She looked around the dark, dingy chamber with the many skeletons of rats, and other rodents covering the floor, “Are you sure it’s dead?”

“I stabbed it in the mouth with the sword of Gryffindor myself,” Harry said in amusement as he held out his hand to her, “I’m sure it’s dead.”

Susan took Harry’s hand anyway, “Don’t you go getting any ideas about this by the way. I’m only holding your hand because I’m a little frightened, not because I fancy you. I know it was kind of Daphne’s fault, what happened, but just so you know, if you ever hurt Lil again I will castrate you and feed your balls to the giant squid.”

Harry looked at her in alarm, “I wasn’t intending to, but I never realised how scary you are.”

“I’m not scary, I’m loyal,” Susan quipped.

Harry snorted, “You have this hard arse image Susan, but you’re the one holding my hand because you’re scared of a dead snake.”

“It might be alive, it’s very hard to kill a basilisk you know,” Susan said as they walked through rubble and old shedded skins.

“I know, I killed it,” Harry said, somewhere between amused and exasperated.

“How the hell did you figure out that it was down here anyway?” Susan asked.

“Well it was really Hermione,” Harry admitted, “I kept hearing it in the walls, because of the parseltongue thing. Hermione was trying to figure it out when she was petrified and we found her with a note in her hand saying that it was in the pipes. After that we had to work out where the entrance was, and we realised that Myrtle had died 50 years ago when the chamber was first opened by Voldemort.”

“So you traced the entrance to Myrtle’s bathroom,” Susan realised.

Harry nodded, “So when Ginny was taken we decided to go and get her out. Lockhart tried to run away so we dragged him down here with us thinking he’d be of some help but he was useless. He tried to obliviate Ron and I with Ron’s broken wand, and that was how he ended up losing his memory and going to St. Mungo’s.”  
“I had such a crush on him,” Susan admitted with a shake of her head, “I couldn’t believe it when we found out he was a fraud.”

“Really?” Harry asked in amusement, “I thought it was fairly obvious. Maybe your crush blinded you.”

“Oh shut up,” Susan muttered as they reached the door to the main chamber.

“Susan, I’m going to speak in parseltongue, so try not to jump out of your skin this time.”

Susan glared at Harry as he commanded the door to open in parseltongue. It swung open with ease and Susan nervously peeked into the long, thin chamber where the basilisk lay.

“See, very much dead,” Harry said, giving Susan a nudge into the chamber. She walked forward slowly and Harry hung behind her a little. When she got near to the snake Harry used a levitation charm to make it look like it was lifting its head up to look at her.

Susan screamed and reeled back, slamming into Harry and making him lose control of the spell. The snake crashed to the ground again and Susan turned around to glare at Harry when she realised what he had done, “You fucking bastard!”

“I’m sorry, but I couldn’t resist,” Harry said, crying with laughter as he walked towards the basilisk and used a fallen piece of rock to keep its mouth open.

Susan was still pissed off as she joined him.

“Right, so how do we get the venom out?” Harry asked as Susan pulled five large jars out of her bag. They had been forced to divert by the potions store cupboard to steal the jars before they came to the chamber. 

“It’s pretty simple really,” Susan smirked, “I just need to extract the venom from the fangs with an extraction charm and then put it into these jars.”

“Really?” Harry asked in disbelief, “That doesn’t seem very N.E.W.T level Care of Magical Creatures to me.”

“It’s not,” Susan grinned, “It’s O.W.L Care of Magical Creatures, it’s the same procedure that they use to extract venom from Acromantula, Hagrid said as an afterthought that it would work for any kind of magical creature with venom.”

“Doesn’t the venom of an Acromantula dry out though?” Harry asked, “I may not have paid that much attention in COMC but I did pick some things up.”

“It does,” Susan said, “But Acromantula are just big, venomous spiders. The Basilisk is a rare, mythical beast, its venom would take years to dry out, and I don’t mean like 4 years, we’re talking more like 50.”

“Well that’s good,” Harry said cautiously as Susan took her wand out and opened all of the jars.

“This is going to be a pretty long and boring task,” Susan warned him, “And we can’t talk in case I lose concentration and spill some venom on myself or you. So, don’t talk to me.”

“Got it,” Harry said nervously.

Susan then began the task. She was literally siphoning the venom from each individual fang and moving it into the jars. It was held in suspension in the air, like the silvery glow of a memory, but black with a strange red glow surrounding it. The basilisk had three large fangs (it should have had four, but Harry had used one to kill the diary), and a substantial amount of venom came from each one. Each fang filled a jar, but that left two more jars empty. Susan put lids on the three that were full and bit her lip.

“This is the hard part,” She admitted, “I need to extract the venom that’s still in the venom sacks.”

“Why is that the hard part?” Harry asked.

“Because basilisk skin is really thick and magically resistant,” Susan said grimly, “I need to cut the sacks out and extract the venom directly from them. You know the spell that you used on Draco, the one that turns your wand into a knife, how well can you control it?”

“Well I nearly killed Malfoy with it, so not very well,” Harry replied.

Susan sighed, “Well I need you to try. I need you to cut the skin away so I can get at the sacks, but you can’t cut the sacks or they’ll puncture and we’ll lose the venom.”

“Great,” Harry muttered as he pulled out his wand, “Where are the sacks?”

“Here, and here,” Susan said, “And you can afford to puncture one. It should take a jar to kill a horcrux. We only have four to kill and I brought five jars. I thought it was good to have a spare, but it’s not essential.”

“That doesn’t make me feel much better,” Harry said as he took a breath and aimed his wand a little to the right of where the sack was meant to be.

“Sectumsempra!”

His wand acted as a knife straight away, but his hand wasn’t shaking this time like it had been when he was duelling Draco. He carefully cut a square in the skin which Susan then pulled off. Blood dripped out of the snake, and Susan, who seemed as unphased by this as Harry, levitated the venom sack out of the snake. As it was the venom in the sack filled both jars, meaning Harry wouldn’t have to cut into the other one. He was grateful for that, because he really didn’t want to use Sectumsempra again, he hated that curse.

“The jars are unbreakable,” Susan said as Harry eyed her putting them into her bag. She had used an expansion charm on the inside of it so it held all 5 even though it was tiny. She threw it over her shoulder and got to her feet, “Can we get out of here now?”

Harry nodded, “It still gives me the creeps,” he admitted as they left the main chamber and he pulled the door firmly shut behind them. The journey back to the pipe felt faster than the journey to the main chamber had. When they reached it Harry glanced up, “I’m really not that good at levitation charms.”

“I am,” Susan said in amusement as she cast one on him that enabled him to float into the pipe and guide himself up it. Once he emerged in the bathroom he steered himself away from the hole and when Susan appeared and landed she undid the spell which let him slowly drop down to the floor.

“Job well done, I think,” Harry said as he shut the chambers entrance, “For now let’s hide the venom inside the passageway, if we find the diadem we can take them both out of the school tomorrow.”

Susan nodded and yawned, “Are you good to do that alone? It’s nearly midnight and I really want to get some sleep before the big battle tomorrow.”

Harry took the bag from her, “Of course, you’re right. Go and get some sleep, we’ll meet at…say 9am tomorrow in the Room of Requirement. Just think of a place to hide something and you should get the right room.”

“Okay,” Susan said sleepily, “See you tomorrow Harry.”

“See you Susan,” Harry said, letting her slip out of the bathroom.

Harry yawned too, hers had been catching. He took the map out and threw the invisibility cloak over himself. He would take a detour via the humpbacked witch statue on the 5th floor and then he would go back to Gryffindor tower for some much needed sleep.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The morning of the 31st of May dawned far too quickly for anyone’s liking. Nobody had slept well the night before.

Hermione lay awake, but with her eyes closed, for as long as she could. The sound of Draco’s heartbeat and slow, steady breathing was soothing and something she never thought she would hear again.

“Hermione,” Draco said gently, “We have to get up.”

“I know,” Hermione sighed, “We have to go to breakfast and act normal.”

Draco gently slid out from under her and began to dress in his clothes from the night before.

Hermione smiled at him with amusement, “Do you not think that going to breakfast in the same clothes we were wearing last night will also look suspicious?”

Draco chuckled and began to button up his trousers, “I’ll transfigure them when I’m dressed.”

Hermione nodded numbly and began to throw her own clothes on. Once they were dressed they transfigured the appearance of their clothes and Hermione cast glamour charms on her hair to make it less frizzy and more curly.

Draco gently pulled on one of her curls, “I like it frizzy.”

Hermione smiled somewhat sadly, “We should leave separately.”

“We should,” Draco said, taking a step towards Hermione and easily capturing her lips in a final kiss. She pushed herself onto her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his neck as she kissed him back. It didn’t last nearly as long as Hermione wanted it to, and when Draco pulled away it was to walk towards the door. There wasn’t a need to say anything more, it had all been said the night before. He simply smiled at her and left, and Hermione’s heart sank. She waited, and then she followed, feeling sick to her stomach when she thought about the outcome of the day.

They arrived around 5 minutes apart in the great hall and when Hermione sat down next to Harry, and across from Neville she smiled at them and tried to make small talk. Draco was right, things had to look as normal as possible.

Between 9am and 9.30am they gradually trickled into the Room of Requirement and by 9.45am they were all gathered in the giant room filled with stacks and stacks of lost rubbish.

“This could definitely take all day,” Susan said as she stared at the vast amount of junk.

“Well there are 5 of us,” Harry said, “We’ll take a section of the room each.”

He glanced to Hermione who was sitting watching Draco silently as he ran through the first frequency of the ten that were left to be tried, “Regardless of when Malfoy fixes the cabinet the Death Eaters won’t come until nightfall.”

“Let’s get searching then,” Neville said, wandering into one section of the room. Susan and Daphne also departed, and Lilly glanced at Harry, “I’ll search with you for a while. I need to tell you something.”

“What’s that?” Harry asked as they walked into the main aisle of the room.

“I told the others last night, there was a family tree in the Room of Runes,” Lilly said, “And some of the names that cropped up were interesting. The Potter’s, was one.”

Harry glanced at her, “Please tell me I’m not descended from Slytherin.”

Lilly shook her head with a smile, “You’re not descended from Slytherin. You are descended from the most senior line of Gryffindor and Hufflepuff though, through their eldest child.”

Harry did a double take, “Seriously?”

“Seriously,” Lilly said, “And the Longbottom’s are descended from the second son. And the Bones’ from the third child.”

“So me, Nev and Susan are all descended from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff?” Harry asked in amazement, “Wow, that’s pretty awesome.”

“I know,” Lilly said, “And the Greengrass’s and Malfoy’s were both up there too, along with the Lupin’s. Daphne’s family is descended from the son that Ravenclaw had with Gryffindor.”

“Daphne has a bit of Gryffindor in her?” Harry snorted, “That’s hilarious.”

Lilly smirked, “What’s even more interesting is that Draco has some Ravenclaw in him. He’s descended from the illegitimate son of Ravenclaw and Slytherins illegitimate daughter.”

“That’s not complicated at all,” Harry joked as he started opening all of the cabinets along the aisle in his search for the diadem.

“It’s interesting though,” Lilly said thoughtfully, “I mean there are 7 of us, 7 pieces of Voldemort’s soul…the most magically powerful number and 5 of us are even descended from the founders.”

“Imagine if we all were,” Harry mused as they searched, “7 founder’s descendants working together…that would be some powerful magic.”

“If only,” Lilly said almost longingly.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Did you know that you are descended from the founders?”

Susan’s head snapped up, “What?”

“Lilly told us last night after you and Harry left,” Neville said, “All of us with wizarding blood are descended from the founders in some way. You’re descended from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff’s daughter.”

“Gryffindor?” Susan asked in surprise, “Hufflepuff doesn’t surprise me. There were always rumours in our family about that. But Gryffindor?”

“Yup,” Neville said, “And we’re also very, very distantly related, because apparently I’m descended from the second son of Gryffindor and Hufflepuff.”

“And the others, Harry’s got to be descended from the senior line of Gryffindor right?” Susan guessed, “I mean he’s our golden chosen boy,” she teased.

Neville laughed, “He is, and Daphne’s descended from Gryffindor and Ravenclaw.”

“I always knew she had a bit of Gryffindor in her,” Susan admitted, “She’s braver than your average Slytherin. Does that make Draco descended from Ravenclaw and Slytherin then?”

“Yep,” Neville said, “But he was just relieved not to be descended from Gryffindor.”

Susan laughed, “I bet.”

“How did you get on last night?” Neville asked conversationally.

“We got the venom, it’s hidden away,” Susan said, “Although Harry is a complete arse.”

“What did he do?” Neville asked curiously.

“Levitated the snakes head to make me think it was alive, I was bloody terrified,” Susan said with a shake of her head.

Neville hid a smirk, but Susan saw it, “Hey, who’s side are you on here? I thought you had feelings for me.”

“What? What you talking about?” Neville spluttered.

Susan raised an eyebrow at him, “Nev, we kind of need to talk about this before we go into battle.”

“Susan,” Neville said firmly.

“Yes, Neville?” Susan asked with a smile.

“I’ve…well…I’ve kind of wanted to tell you, well ask you for a while…I mean…the thing…well what I’m trying to say is…” 

Susan was watching Neville with a fond smile as he spluttered and stumbled through his words. 

He stopped and shook his head, “Oh bollocks to this,” he muttered as he took a step closer to the redhead and leant down slightly to kiss her. Susan was clearly surprised but she returned the kiss.

“What I was trying to say was will you go out with me?” Neville asked quietly as he broke the kiss.

Susan smiled, “Yes, but don’t tell Harry. Relationships are problematic, remember?” she winked.

Neville just grinned at her in response.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“It’s got to be soon,” Draco muttered.

“Frequency number 7,” Hermione yawned, “Want more coffee?”

“I’m alright now,” Draco said with a smile at her, “But you should have some. You seem tired.”

Hermione cocked her head at him, “I have no idea why that is,” she joked.

Draco smirked knowingly at her and turned his attention back to the vanishing cabinet, “I’m assuming they haven’t found the diadem yet, or we’d have heard.”

“I would assume so, yes,” Hermione said, leaning against the pile of junk she was sitting in front of. 

The cabinet made some sort of noise, and Draco groaned and kicked it.

“Calm down, Draco,” Hermione said calmly, “There are only 3 more frequencies to try.”

“And what do we do if none of them work Hermione?” Draco asked, slightly panicked.

“One of them will work,” Hermione assured him, “Just have a break and try the 8th frequency.”

“I think I-”

“I’ve found it!”

Harry ran around the corner like a madman, brandishing a tarnished tiara with a sapphire at its heart.

Hermione’s eyes widened as she took it from him, “Are you sure this is it?”

Harry nodded, “I know it sounds stupid but I can feel it. It’s like there’s dark magic pulsing through it.”

“Well what do we do with it now?” Hermione asked with wide eyes as Lilly ran around the same corner and caught up with Harry, seemingly a little out of breath.

“Can’t we just destroy it?” Lilly asked.

“The venom is hidden on the 5th floor, I could easily grab a jar,” Harry said, “But how do we kill the horcrux? The last time I stabbed it.”

“Well you’d need something, like a knife…” Hermione mused, “Something you could dip the venom in and then stab the horcrux with.”

“And where do I find a knife?”

“There’s one in my dorm,” Draco said as he adjusted the vanishing cabinet, “But you would be better with something goblin made.”

“Why?” Harry asked.

“Because goblin made metal absorbs anything that can make it stronger,” Hermione realised, and Draco nodded.

“So if you killed this horcrux with something goblin made you could kill others with it, without needing to dip it in the venom,” Lilly said.

“Exactly,” Hermione said thoughtfully, “And the basilisk…Harry, you stabbed it through the mouth with the sword of Gryffindor which means you probably punctured one of its venom sacks, it must be imbued with basilisk venom!”

“And?” Harry asked, “Hermione, we can’t just steal the sword of Gryffindor from Dumbledore’s office! I think somebody might notice!”

“No, but we could make a copy of it,” Lilly said slowly, “And take the real sword.”

“You would have to wait until Dumbledore died,” Draco said, fiddling with a knob on the cabinet.

“Susan will go ballistic if she finds out we don’t need any of this venom,” Harry muttered, “She went to quite some length to get it.”

“Well we still need it,” Hermione reasoned, “If any of the horcruxes are small enough it would be far easier to drop them into a jar of the venom.”

“And basilisk venom can cure any poisonous bite,” Lilly pointed out, “Which could be useful while on the run.”

“I thought it killed you,” Harry said.

“Unless you already have the venom of another creature inside of you,” Lilly said, “In which case in a diluted form it counteracts it and cures you. It makes you violently sick too, but it cures you. Don’t you listen in potions?”

“Not particularly,” Harry said honestly, “Right, so. What are we doing with this horcrux? If we can’t destroy it until we have the sword then we can’t destroy it until Dumbledore is dead.”

“So for now the best course of action is probably to hide it in the passageway, with the venom,” Hermione said.

Harry nodded, “Alright, I’ll take it down there now. Lilly, could you find the others and call the search off?”

Lilly nodded, “Sure,” she said. 

They all parted ways again, and Draco swore as the cabinet sparked and burned him.

“Take it easy,” Hermione said.

“What time is it Hermione?” Draco asked curtly.

Hermione glanced at the clock, “2pm.”

“That doesn’t seem like a whole lot of time,” Draco muttered, “Especially if you want to warn the DA and the Order, and McGonagall.”

“It’s enough time Draco, they won’t be here until nightfall. It’s the end of May, that’s not until about 10pm,” Hermione said gently, putting her hand on his shoulder, “Don’t put extra pressure on yourself.”

Draco reached up and put his hand on top of hers, “Alright, I won’t,” he promised.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When Harry returned to the Room of Requirement he had hidden everything that needed to be hidden and he also brought more coffee, and a supply of bacon sandwiches from the kitchen. He distributed them around the group and asked Draco how many more frequencies he had to go through.

“Well the 8th just failed,” Draco said irritably, “So two.”

“Well, it’s only just gone half 2,” Harry said optimistically, “Even if you fix it on the 10th attempt that shouldn’t be any later than 4.”

Draco nodded glumly, and gratefully accepted the coffee Hermione was handing him.

“Didn’t you get any sleep last night?” Susan asked him, “You look exhausted.”

“I had a restless night,” Draco remarked, “Can you really blame me?”

“No,” Susan said, shooting an amused look at Lilly that nobody else seemed to notice. 

Draco took a gulp from the coffee and then handed it back to Hermione so he could get back to work. The others watched in silence as he fiddled with, and adjusted the vanishing cabinet. The minutes on the clock continued to tick by, and Hermione could have sworn that the time was passing faster the later in the day it got. The 9th attempt failed and was very drawn out, and the tension in the air was thick as Draco began work on the 10th, and final frequency at quarter to 4. It took less time than the other attempts, and there were no sparks as there had been before. The cabinet didn’t whir, or make other odd gurgling noises. This time it just clicked, three times.

Draco paused and turned to the others, he placed a finger on his lip and pulled an apple from his pocket. He placed it inside the vanishing cabinet, and shut the door. He kept his finger pressed to his lips as there was a loud, whooshing noise. 

Hermione’s eyes widened, and they waited in silence for what felt like hours, but was only really 5 or 10 minutes. The whooshing noise came again and Draco opened the door tentatively. Behind him all wands were drawn. But there were not any Death Eaters in the cabinet, just the apple with a large bite taken out of it.

Draco turned to them and put his thumbs up and then pointed to the door. They all got up slowly and quietly and began to walk towards the door. Hermione looked torn, like she wanted to stay or say something but she couldn’t and she knew that she couldn’t so she was forced to walk away with everybody else.

When they were outside they regrouped in a hidden alcove, but Draco didn’t join them.

“What now?” Hermione hissed, “We can’t warn people yet, it’s too early.”

“It’s time to tell Dumbledore,” Harry whispered, “I won’t tell him that we helped Malfoy. I’ll tell him we’ve been suspicious and we figured it out, that we saw or heard him fix the cabinet and that the Death Eaters are coming tonight.”

“What if he doesn’t believe you?” Lilly asked.

“Then I go to McGonagall, she trusts me and she knows I wouldn’t lie about this,” Harry said, still whispering, “I’m going to go to see Dumbledore now. If I’m not back by the time dinner has finished for some reason, tell McGonagall to lock down the school, and call the Order and the DA to arms.”

This was directed at Hermione who nodded, “But you will be back before then,” she said tentatively.

“I should be,” Harry said simply, “But when I tell Dumbledore he might want to take me to destroy a horcrux. If that happens, you’ll need this.”

Harry handed Hermione the Marauders map, and looked around at them all, “Good luck.”

Hermione nodded and hugged him, Daphne gave him a nod, and Susan hugged him too. Neville just patted him on the back, “You’ll be fine Harry.”

Harry finally turned to Lilly who threw herself at him, kissing him with one of what he liked to call her full on kisses. It was quick, it was passionate, and it got his heart pumping. When he broke away Harry was chuckling, “I’ll be fine,” he said, resting his forehead against hers briefly.

He took a step away and slipped out of the alcove silently. He had a feeling he would be in Dumbledore’s office for a long time, and he knew the others shared that theory. If Dumbledore believed him then he knew there was a chance he would be going to find a horcrux with the Headmaster. The possibilities ran through his mind as he walked to Dumbledore’s office, he told the gargoyle the password and jogged up the stairs, knocking on the wooden door atop them.

“Come in,” Dumbledore called calmly.

Harry walked into the office nervously and sat down across from the headmaster.

“I think you have something you want to tell me, Harry,” Dumbledore said, fixing his knowing blue gaze on Harry.

Harry nodded, it was time to come clean, “I know what Draco Malfoy is doing sir. I know he’s bringing Death Eaters to the school and I know hes going to try and kill you. And it’s happening tonight. Malfoy fixed the vanishing cabinet today.”

Dumbledore smiled slightly, “You have become friends with Draco Malfoy this year, Harry. You may have thought it slipped my notice, but few things do.”

“I…I don’t know what you’re talking about Professor,” Harry stuttered.

Dumbledore bowed his head, “You do not have to lie about this Harry.”

“Well if we’re being honest, sir,” Harry said, his temper beginning to get away from him, “I know a lot more than that. I think I know what Voldemort’s horcruxes are, and I’ve even found one.”

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at him, “You have?”

“Ravenclaws diadem,” Harry said, “I found it in the Room of Requirement, and I know how to destroy it too, basilisk venom.”

Dumbledore smiled, “Very well Harry. I assume your new friends helped you with this development? Isn’t it interesting, 7 friends, 7 horcruxes, and 7 descendants of founders.”

“You know about that?” Harry asked in surprise, “You’ve been into the Room of Runes.”

“Of course,” Dumbledore said, “I know the secrets of this castle almost as well as you do, Harry.”

Harry frowned, “But you’re wrong, Hermione and Lilly can’t be descended from the founders. They’re muggle-borns.”

“Where do you think muggle-borns come from Harry?” Dumbledore asked, his eyes sparkling, “Magic does not manifest itself out of nowhere. All of the founder’s lines produced squibs at some point.”

Harry’s eyes flashed in surprise, “Do you know which founders they are descended from?”

“Unfortunately not,” Dumbledore apologised, “Now, I happen to have something for you.”

Harry watched in confusion as Dumbledore took something from underneath his desk and placed it in front of Harry. He looked from the sword on the desk to the sword in the case on the wall.

“Uh…”

“It is a copy,” Dumbledore said, “This sword is real, and indeed imbued with basilisk venom as I’m sure Miss. Granger found out.”

Harry nodded, “So I’m right about all of it then. Including you.”

“Yes Harry, I am indeed dying,” Dumbledore said quietly, “It is not only my hand that is cursed… and on that note, I believe we have somewhere to be.”

Dumbledore got to his feet and walked towards the window of his office that looked out over the ground. Harry watched him stare into the late sunlit afternoon longingly, as if this was the last time he would ever see it, and he was filled with dread at what was to come.

“Have you found a horcrux?” Harry asked.

“I believe so,” Dumbledore said, pulling on a thick travelling cloak, “Do you wish to come with me, as I said you could?”

Harry nodded and walked slowly towards the headmaster, but then he hesitated.

“It is only natural to be afraid, Harry,” Dumbledore said gently.

“I’m not scared,” Harry said quietly, “Not for myself anyway.”

“For Miss. Moon,” Dumbledore said with a knowing smile.

Harry wasn’t surprised that he knew, because he knew everything else. He merely nodded, “What horcrux is it sir? Where is it?”

“I am unsure, but I think we can rule out the snake, and now the diadem,” Dumbledore replied, “I think it is in a cave on the coast, the cave where Tom Riddle terrorized the children from the orphanage.”

Harry nodded, remembering the memory of Dumbledore visiting Voldemort, and Mrs. Cole telling Dumbledore about how he had terrorized these children on their annual trip.

“I must warn you Harry, I do not know what protections lie on this cave. But coming with me today, is exceedingly dangerous,” Dumbledore said hesitantly.

“I’m coming,” Harry said simply, and firmly.

Dumbledore bowed his head, “Very well, then please listen to me carefully. There is one condition. You must obey my command, regardless of what I ask of you.”

Harry nodded, sensing something dark coming their way.

“Do you understand Harry? If I tell you to run, or hide you must do so. If I tell you to leave and save yourself, will you do so?” Dumbledore asked seriously.

Harry nodded after a moment of consideration, “Yes sir. You are cursed, if that was the case you would…” he couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence.

“I would die anyway, correct,” Dumbledore said, seeming satisfied with this answer, “Good, go and fetch your cloak and meet me in the entrance hall in 5 minutes.”

Harry nodded, and as he made for the door Dumbledore turned back to the window. He used secret passages to get to the common room and was grateful to see it fairly empty as he made his way to the boy’s dorm. Ron was the only person there.

“What’s happening Harry?” Ron asked, the moment he saw his friend.

“It’s happening tonight,” Harry whispered, “The Death Eaters are coming, and Dumbledore is going to die and he knows it. I’ve just spoken to him, he was planning for this to happen Ron.”

“Well I’ll be there when the call to arms goes out,” Ron promised as Harry grabbed his invisibility cloak, “Where are you going?”

“Dumbledore thinks he’s found a horcrux, I’m going with him to find it,” Harry told the redhead as he headed for the door.

“Harry?”

Harry turned around and saw that Ron looked incredibly conflicted, “Good luck.”

Harry smiled, “Thanks mate,” he said as he slipped out of the dorm, and the common room. He reached the entrance hall just in time and put on his cloak, as Dumbledore commanded. They walked from the school in silence, winding their way down the path towards the gates in the humid, warm summer heat. It had not long gone 5pm, Harry had been in Dumbledore’s office for longer than he had realised. Hermione estimated that the Death Eaters would arrive around 10pm, which gave him 5 hours. He hoped they would be back in plenty of time for the inevitable attack. But he could not predict anything because he had no idea how long this would take. 

They walked through Hogsmeade to the Hogs Head, the part of the little town that was always empty. Dumbledore held out his arm wordlessly and Harry took it immediately. 

“You can apparate now I believe, but as you do not have your license I will guide you. Grip my arm lightly and turn with me on the count of three. One…two…three…”

TBC :)


	26. The Battle of the Lightning Struck Tower

The first thing that Harry noticed when the sickening feeling of apparition had eased was that the air was fresh, and salty. He could hear waves lapping over rocks and as he looked around himself he realised that he and Dumbledore were standing on a high, rocky outcrop. 

“What do you think?” Dumbledore asked curiously.

Harry turned around and looked at the high cliff behind them, “They brought kids here for a trip?” he asked in disbelief.

“No, there is a village along the cliffs behind us,’” Dumbledore said calmly, “Muggles could not reach this rock unless they were incredibly skilled in mountaineering.”

“What about a boat?” Harry asked, looking into the choppy waters.

Dumbledore shook his head, “The waves are much too violent, and the rocks too sharp. Riddle must have climbed down, using magic…and he brought two small children with him to terrorize them.”

Dumbledore turned and began to walk towards the edge of the rock, and Harry followed him. They climbed down, using the crevices in the rock for foot and handholds. Once they reached the bottom Dumbledore illuminated a fissure in the cliff face and informed Harry that they would have to take a plunge to enter the cave. Harry took his cloak off, and followed Dumbledore. They swam through a narrow tunnel and emerged in a large cave. 

“This is it…it has known magic,” Dumbledore whispered. Harry watched in bemusement as he walked around the cave several times before eventually stopping and pressing his hand against the wall. He murmured something about a concealed entrance and pointed his wand at the wall. Whatever spell he had used revealed an archway, but it disappeared again seconds later.

Harry was still shivering as he said, “You’ve found it.”

Dumbledore turned around, and Harry was fairly sure he had forgotten that he was there as he cast a drying charm on him. He turned back to the wall and after even more consideration he said.

“Surely not…”

“What is it sir?” Harry asked.

“I think,” Dumbledore said, pulling a knife from his robes, “We must make a payment to pass.”

“Blood,” Harry realised quickly.

Dumbledore merely nodded and cut his arm before Harry could volunteer to do it himself. The blood spattered onto the rock, and the door appeared. Harry followed Dumbledore inside where there was a huge black lake with an eerie green tinge. Harry’s bad feeling increased by tenfold as they walked around the lake in silence.

“Sir, I know it’s probably stupid. But couldn’t we just try a summoning charm?” Harry asked in a whisper.

“We could try,” Dumbledore said simply, “Why don’t you try, Harry?”

Harry frowned but raised his wand and said, more confidently than he felt, “Accio horcrux.”

There was a bang and something erupted from the lake and then splashed back into it again, Harry jumped into the air in fright and hit his head off of the low roof of the cave.

“That thing in the water is something designed to come after us if we attempt to take the horcrux,” Dumbledore told Harry calmly as he nursed the bump on his head.

“You knew that would happen,” Harry realised.

“I knew something would happen,” Dumbledore corrected him, “But that was a very good idea Harry. Now we know exactly the danger we face.”

“But we don’t know what that was,” Harry said slowly.

“I doubt very much that what we saw in the lake was the only one,” Dumbledore said cryptically as he walked onwards. Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes and didn’t question him any further. 

After a few minutes Dumbledore stopped and reached into mid-air, gripping something invisible. He tapped his fist with his wand and a chain appeared, which pulled a small boat to the shore where they stood. 

“Is it safe with those…things…in the water?” Harry asked tentatively.

“I believe Voldemort created this boat to transport himself to the lake’s centre,” Dumbledore told Harry, “So yes, it is safe. However, it is likely designed to only enable one wizard to sail in it at a time. But you are under age, and unqualified so I am certain we will be fine,” he assured Harry.

They climbed into the boat and it began to move towards the centre of the lake. Harry’s heart was pounding, and as he stared into the depths of the water all he could think about was Lilly and how he had to get back to her, for her. He jumped when he saw something in the water, something that looked like a human body.

“Sir! I just saw a…a human hand!”

“Yes,” Dumbledore replied simply as Harry’s wand light illuminated the full body. A man lay upright in the water, his wide open eyes staring up at them.

Harry felt like he was going to throw up.

“We do not have to fear them just yet,” Dumbledore just said calmly.

“What?” Harry asked weakly.

“They are merely floating peacefully beneath us,” Dumbledore said, “And there is therefore no need to fear them.”

Harry disagreed with that and swallowed the bile that had risen in his throat, “One of them jumped, when I summoned the horcrux.”

Dumbledore bowed his head, “I do not think they will be so peaceful after we have taken the horcrux,” he said simply, “But like all creatures of the darkness, they fear fire and we are able to conjure it.”

Harry nodded, still feeling sick and now also terrified. That wasn’t something he could hide anymore. The boat reached the small island and they carefully climbed from the water. The green light that had been illuminating the whole cavern was coming from this island, more precisely it was coming from a basin that was full of an emerald liquid.

Dumbledore reached out to the liquid, but he couldn’t touch it and Harry couldn’t either. There was a barrier. Dumbledore began to perform complicated spells, and all Harry could do was watch fearfully. After what felt like quite some time Dumbledore spoke.

“The potion cannot be transfigured, or charmed, no changes can be made to its nature…it cannot be parted…it must be drunk.”

Harry’s eyes widened, “But, drinking it will kill you, and then those things will come out…and I’ll…” he trailed off, unable to finish his sentence when he realised how selfish it sounded.

“No, I do not think it will kill me,” Dumbledore said, “But I do believe it will do something to me that would prevent me from taking the horcrux.”

“Like what?” Harry asked weakly.

“Paralyze me perhaps, or incapacitate me through pain,” Dumbledore spoke softly, “I must drink it all, and if I cannot for whatever reason, you must force me to Harry. If I beg you to stop, or try to attack you, you must still ensure I drink it all.”

“I will,” Harry promised.

Dumbledore looked at him, and Harry was sure it was pride he saw blazing in the old man’s eyes as he took a goblet and lowered it into the potion. He filled it and drank it, very quickly. Harry watched with fear as Dumbledore filled the cup again, and again. After four goblets Dumbledore staggered, but it was the first sign of weakness Harry had seen. His eyes were shut tightly, he had not opened them since he began to drink the potion. His face twitched and Harry grabbed the goblet as he lost his grip on it. 

Harry then had no choice but to force feed Dumbledore the potion as he protested. He sounded like a child and he seemed terrified. Harry had promised to make him drink the potion, and he could not go back on that, he had to take the advice he had given to everyone else and not let his personal feelings get involved. The more goblets that he drank the more Dumbledore cried and shouted, and the more it killed Harry to have to do this. When it eventually came down to it, he had to tell Dumbledore that he would die, to make him drink the last goblet because he was shouting over and over again, “Just kill me!”

When he collapsed, and appeared to stop breathing Harry panicked, but thankfully he was awoken with, “Enervate.” 

Dumbledore rasped for water, and Harry tried desperately to give him some using aguamenti. But the water kept vanishing, and in his desperation Harry plunged the goblet into the icy lake and threw the water over Dumbledore’s face. But he quickly realised that decision hadn’t been the best one because one of the dead things hands was holding his wrist and dragging him into the lake.

They began to emerge from the water everywhere, hands pulled themselves out onto the rocks, and heads appeared above the water. There were men, women and children, all with dead eyes walking towards him and Harry had no idea how to stop them. 

“Sectumsempra!” He tried desperately, but they were dead so no blood was spilled. The spell did little more than cause them to stumble. He took a step back as the army neared him, and stumbled into those that had approached from behind. He shouted out, but Dumbledore was lying motionlessly on the ground. He gripped his wand tightly and tried everything that he could think of to get them off of him, but he was still pulled into the icy water. He kicked and punched but they were only pulling him deeper into the lake, to his death. His life did not flash before his eyes, but he did see one face clearly through the haze, Lilly’s. He heard her voice too, but she spoke Dumbledore’s words, “Creatures of the dark don’t like light, or fire.”

Harry had been training himself, he had been working hard. But he had not prepared himself for these things, whatever they were. He had learned wordless magic, and he cast a patronus charm, thinking that if they were creatures of the dark it might work. It did, to an extent, it distracted them for a few seconds but that was long enough for him to get free of them and desperately swim out of the water. He was panting for breath as he pulled himself onto the rock, Dumbledore was just getting shakily to his feet as Harry scrambled away from the water’s edge.

“RELASHIO!”

The spell sent a jet of sparks from his wand, it was close enough to fire to push the dead things back slightly, and Dumbledore, who was still shaky but now on his feet, conjured a whip of fire from his wand. He motioned wordlessly to Harry as the creatures were distracted by the fire, and they got back into the boat. Harry’s heart was pounding as they reached the other side and he supported Dumbledore towards the exit.

“It will need blood again…” Dumbledore rasped.

“It’s fine, I cut myself,” Harry said, looking at a nasty gash on his arm he had gotten while trying to scramble back onto the rock, “Just tell me where to do it.”

“Here,” Dumbledore whispered. 

Harry pressed his arm against the rock and half-dragged Dumbledore into what he had earlier called the antechamber. He helped Dumbledore into the icy water, and out of it at the other end of the tunnel. The sky which had been bright in the late afternoon sunshine was now much darker, but night had not completely fallen yet. Harry had no idea of the time as he helped Dumbledore up the rock, to the place where they had arrived.

“I can apparate us back Professor,” Harry said, gripping Dumbledore tightly and spinning. They emerged into the dark high street of Hogsmeade, close to the three broomsticks. The sky was almost dark now.

“I need Severus,” Dumbledore rasped as he fell to his knees, “He will know what to do…Severus.”

“Alright,” Harry said, “I’ll get Snape.”

Before Harry could leave Madam Rosmerta ran out of the three broomsticks, “You’re back! I saw you apparate, thank goodness!”

“He’s sick, I have to get Snape,” Harry said quickly, “Can you look after him Madam Rosmerta?”

Rosmerta looked at him in horror, “No, you can’t go up there alone! Haven’t you seen?”

Harry frowned and followed her gaze to the castle up on the hill. Hanging in the sky above the castle, with its grotesque snake-tongue was the dark mark, casting a green light on the entire landscape.

“We must return to the castle…brooms, Rosmerta,” Dumbledore said weakly.

“Behind the bar,” Rosmerta said hastily.

“The Death Eaters are already here,” Harry panicked, “Accio Rosmerta’s brooms!”

They flew out of the door and Harry mounted one while Dumbledore shakily got onto the other. He ordered Rosmerta to send a message to the Ministry and they flew in the direction of the school as fast as they could in the warm summer night air. Dumbledore mumbled something which undid the enchantments on the castle momentarily so they could reach it. They flew over the boundary to the Astronomy Tower where the dark mark hung, and landed roughly. 

“Put your cloak on,” Dumbledore urged.

“No,” Harry refused as footsteps approached the door to the main school.

The door flew open and Draco walked in, “Expelliarmus!” he shouted, immediately disarming Dumbledore.

“Good evening Draco,” Dumbledore said calmly.

Harry stared at the Slytherin resolutely, “You don’t have to do this Malfoy.”

“Yes I do, Potter,” Draco said shakily, “Do you see Snape anywhere? He’s clearly broken his vow to my Mother!”

“Where are the others?” Harry asked, “Hermione and Lilly?”

“Downstairs, fighting the Death Eaters,” Draco replied, looking Harry directly in the eye with a look that said, ‘help them’.

“Malfoy-”

A shout and a bang came from below, and Draco’s wand hand shook, “Potter, go! Hermione is down there!”

Harry hesitated briefly, and the door banged open and snapped shut again. 

“I got him, like you asked,” Daphne said breathlessly as all eyes turned to Snape.

“Please don’t make me do this Uncle Severus,” Draco practically whispered, which came as a shock to Harry but nobody else on the tower top.

Snape showed the smallest amount of compassion. He gripped Draco’s shoulder and gently pushed him to the side before drawing his wand and pointing it at Dumbledore.

“Severus,” Dumbledore sighed.

Snape’s gaze was fixed on Dumbledore and Harry was sure that he saw the old man give Snape a miniscule nod.

“Severus…please,” Dumbledore pleaded.

“Avada Kedavra.”

It was said calmly, and quietly. But the burst of green light was as bright and violent as ever. It pushed Dumbledore back, and his lifeless body fell from the tower, almost in slow motion.

“Draco, leave now if you want to avoid being taken by the Death Eaters,” Snape hissed.

Draco turned to Snape in shock.

“I know about everything that has happened this year, and if you want to escape you must go now!”

Draco nodded and opened the door to the main tower. The sounds of shouting and the bangs were louder than before and he turned to Harry, “Potter, come on!”

Harry took his eyes away from Dumbledore’s falling body and rushed, along with Daphne, after Draco. They sprinted down the spiral staircase of the tower and in the corridor immediately leading from it they found a battle raging. The DA and some of the Order were both here, fighting together against the Death Eaters, who were outnumbered. There was rubble everywhere, and parts of the corridor had entirely collapsed. 

They ran in blindly and threw curses in every direction that they could. Harry had just caught site of Lilly fighting a masked Death Eater when a shout diverted his attention.

“Hermione!”

Harry’s head snapped towards the sound. Draco was running full-out towards Hermione, who had just been disarmed and was seconds away from being pounced on by Fenrir Greyback.

“Malfoy, no!” Harry shouted as he lunged forward.

Daphne grabbed Harry’s arm and held him back, her wand was trained on Greyback. Neither of them were fast enough, however. 

“DRACO!” Hermione screamed as Draco jumped in front of the werewolf, in order to give Hermione time to pick up her wand. His shield charm would normally have protected him, but Greyback smashed it in one punch and lashed out at Draco, reaching for his throat.

“AVADA KEDAVRA!”

The shout, fuelled with such hatred, and such bitterness came from Harry’s side. It hit the werewolf square in the chest, and he fell back instantly, into a heap on the ground.

Harry turned to Daphne in shock. Her eyes were blazing as she said, “He killed my brother. He wasn’t killing my best friend.”

Daphne then rushed to Draco as Hermione shook his limp body and sobbed. Harry’s eyes darted from the unconscious blonde, to the other side of the corridor where Lilly was still in a duel.

“What happened?” A new voice asked as Bill Weasley ran onto the scene.

“Greyback,” Hermione sobbed as Draco’s blood covered her hands.

Bill dropped to his knees and began to murmur some basic healing charms that did nothing more than slow the blood flow, “I’ll get him to the hospital wing Hermione. Harry, there are more of them out there. Where is Dumbledore?”

“He’s dead,” Harry said darkly, “Snape just killed him.”

Bill’s eyes darkened and he threw Draco over his shoulder, “Hermione,” he said, holding out his hand to her, “Come with me.”

Hermione nodded and scrambled to her feet, gripping his hand as they jogged into the dusty, obscured passage to the left.

“Come on,” Harry said, grabbing Daphne’s blood stained hand, “Lilly’s on her own up there.”

As soon as the words had left his mouth he heard a scream and turned around to see that the Death Eater who Lilly had been duelling had just grabbed her and thrown her over his shoulder. They were close enough to hear him say, “The Dark Lord reserved special treatment for you, since you’re Harry Potter’s girlfriend.”

“Lilly!” Harry shouted, running after the Death Eater and throwing all of the curses he could think of at his back. He had a shield charm up, so Harry’s efforts failed, but he and Daphne still ran after him through the main battle. They threw spells around to try and help those they passed, Susan, McGonagall, Remus and Tonks were all locked in duels. 

“Neville!” Harry exclaimed as he nearly tripped over his feet.

“I’m alright,” Neville said as he pushed himself to his feet, “Just winded. Harry, Lilly-”

“I know,” Harry said quickly, running past his friend so as not to lose the Death Eater who was carrying Lilly. As he ran around the corner he almost slipped, and when he looked down he realised sickeningly that his trainers were covered in blood. He was aware that Daphne was on his heels as they sprinted down the grand staircase, after the masked man. The school was empty which made Harry feel a little better, the common rooms had clearly been sealed off as he had hoped. This made it easier to chase the man, who they finally caught up to in the grounds, the rest of the battle raged on high up in the school. But they were a little too late.

“Petrificus Totalus,” He said, freezing Lilly to the spot.

“No!” Harry shouted as he picked her up with ease and walked towards the lake, “NO!”

Daphne ran forward, she was faster than Harry. She reached the Death Eater as he threw Lilly’s frozen body into the depths of the lake while he laughed about it.

“Oh, you too,” He laughed, freezing Daphne and throwing her body into the lake just as Harry reached its edge. He acted on autopilot as he removed his cloak and robes and dove into the lake. You still had to breathe while petrified, how long could they both breath for? Harry wondered as he kicked his way desperately deeper and deeper into the lake. Then he saw them, their eyes wide in fear, floating side by side, sinking ever deeper.

He had seconds to decide who to grab first, he couldn’t think about it, he just had to act. So he grabbed Lilly, and he pretended to ignore the look of pain in Daphne’s eyes as he kicked his way to the surface. He took the charm off so that Lilly could swim to the shore herself, then he sucked in a breath and dove underwater once more. Harry kicked with all of his might to reach the lake’s depths where Daphne’s body lay lifelessly, he grabbed her and pushed himself to the surface as the water began to choke him, and the dead bodies flashed through his mind. When he got her to the surface and removed the charm she wasn’t breathing and her eyes were shut, “No, no, no,” Harry muttered as he dragged her to the shore and lay her on the grass.

“Daphne,” Lilly shivered, pressing down on her chest hard, “Daphne? Daphne!”

She grew more desperate with each push as Daphne didn’t breath, “No, Daphne, no!” Lilly sobbed.

Harry pushed her to the side and acted on instinct, it might not have been wizarding, but Harry didn’t know how to make someone breathe when they weren’t breathing in the wizarding world. However, he did know how to do that in the muggle world; CPR.

Lilly watched fearfully, as Harry tried and tried, and on the third attempt Daphne began to choke.

“Help me sit her up, Lil,” Harry said, and Lilly did. Daphne choked and coughed up the water, as if she was being sick, her eyes seemed a little unfocused but she was alive.

Harry breathed heavily, “Jesus Daphne, next time don’t try and swallow the entire lake.”

Daphne’s mouth twitched into the smallest smile, and then her eyes slid shut.

Lilly breathed a sigh of relief, “I have to take her to the hospital wing, Harry, you have to go back. You have to go back to the fight. People were dead…there were bodies.”

Harry nodded, “I know, and I love you Lilly,” he said sincerely, “Whatever happens up there I love you, and I need you to promise me you’ll stay in the hospital wing with Daphne. Promise me you won’t go back to fight.”

Lilly kissed Harry as if it was the last time she ever would. She gripped his face so tightly, she kissed him with so much emotion, and when she broke the kiss she said, “I promise.”

Harry got to his feet and ran as fast as he could back into the school. The Death Eaters were fleeing and he took down as many as he could as they ran down the stairs and he ran up them. By the time he reached the wing of the school where the fight had taken place they had all gone, all that was left were the injured, the dead, and the survivors.

“Lilly?” Neville asked anxiously when he saw Harry rush in.

Harry nodded, “At the hospital wing with Daphne,” he gasped, aware that he was still soaking wet.

“Susan?”

“Hospital wing,” Neville said as Harry helped him to his feet. He winced, his leg had a large gaping gash in it which was bleeding profusely, “Ginny took her there.”

“The hospital wing is where you should be,” Harry said carefully, “Come on Nev.”

“I’ll be fine,” Neville said through gritted teeth, “It’s just a cut.”

“It’s a massive gash,” Harry said as he supported Neville’s weight, “Lean on me.”

Neville groaned and did as Harry said.

“How many are dead Neville?” Harry asked quietly.

“None of us,” Neville said a little shakily.

“I saw bodies on the ground,” Harry said darkly as they emerged onto the grand staircase.

“Flitwick got knocked out, but he’s okay. A Death Eater is dead, and Greyback,” Neville groaned, “And Draco…”

“I know, I saw it happen,” Harry said, feeling sick at the thought.

“Is he…”

“I think he’s alive,” Harry said shakily, “Bill did something to his wounds, I don’t think he healed them but he stopped the bleeding a bit and took him to the hospital wing.”

Neville nodded, “And Hermione and Daphne?”

“Hermione’s fine, and Daphne…” Harry’s voice cut off and he had to clear his throat, “She nearly drowned, she stopped breathing for a while but she’s in the hospital wing.”

Neville blew out a shaky breath as they reached the 6th floor landing.

“Right, that’s it, I’m not taking any more tough stuff from you,” Harry sighed as he conjured up a stretcher, and made it levitate, “Get on it.”

“Harry, I’m fine-”

“Neville,” Harry said firmly, “Get on.”

Neville sighed, “Fine,” he said, sounding defeated. He climbed onto the stretcher and they moved at a far better pace towards the hospital wing. Once they entered Harry deposited Neville on the bed next to Susan’s, who seemed to have at least one broken bone.

Daphne seemed to be sleeping peacefully in another bed, with Lilly holding her hand. Then there was one more bed, with the curtains around it drawn. Harry walked towards it, dreading what he would find inside. He peeked around the curtains, “Hermione?”

“Come through Harry,” Hermione said weakly.

Harry did so and stared at the person in the bed in shock. It was Draco Malfoy but he didn’t look much like Draco Malfoy right now. Madam Pomfrey was standing by his bed, dabbing ointment onto his face. He had three, open, gaping gashes on his face, clearly made by three clawed fingernails. They missed his key features, for the most part, but his nose looked like it had been broken and reset. The gashes didn’t cross his eyes, and stopped before they cut into his lips.

“Can’t you heal them?” Harry asked, his voice a little cracked.

“All I can do is rub this ointment, made from powdered silver and dittany, onto the wounds,” Pomfrey said, “But they may never fully heal.”

“There are more, on his chest,” Hermione choked out.

“But he’s going to be okay,” Harry said.

“He’ll be permanently scarred,” Pomfrey informed him.

“And he might…well Greyback is a werewolf Harry… and Draco has a bite on his shoulder,” Hermione half-whispered, half-sobbed.

The curtain behind them moved and Remus slipped in, placing his hand on Hermione’s shoulder, “I think it’s very unlikely he’ll become a werewolf Hermione. Given that Greyback was not in wolf form, and it was not a full moon…but there will be some consequences.”

“What kind of consequences?” Harry asked sharply.

“He may develop some wolfish traits,” Remus replied, “Especially around the full moon. Strictly speaking his blood has been contaminated…he is part werewolf. That in itself has consequences for his family life.”

Hermione frowned, “His family life?”

“He will likely be disowned, by the head of the family,” Remus said quietly, “His Mother is on her way, but his Father will no doubt send word from Azkaban when he finds out.”  
“Draco won’t care about that,” Hermione cried, “He’s on our side, this happened to him because he’s on our side! He jumped in front of Greyback to save me.”

“And he will get the protection he needs from the Order,” Remus assured Hermione, “As will his Mother.”

Hermione frowned down at Draco’s pale face, and limp body, “He tried to kill Dumbledore, the Order won’t help him and you know that.”

“They may-”

“Dumbledore is dead, Remus,” Harry said quietly, “Snape killed him, when the rest of the order find that out, and they discover that Malfoy was supposed to do it they will not protect him. They might say they will, but would they really stop the Death Eaters?”

Remus hesitated, “No, you must be wrong…Snape…Dumbledore always trusted him.”

The curtains around the bed were pulled open as the hospital wing began to get busier. McGonagall walked over, looking pale and wearing ripped robes.

“Minerva,” Remus said, lowering her into a seat, “Dumbledore is dead.”

“He was killed by Snape,” Harry added.

“No, no…”

“I saw it happen Professor,” Harry said, thinking of Dumbledore’s lifeless body lying out in the grounds, abandoned there, “And I’m going to bring his body inside. He shouldn’t be left out there.”

“I’ll come with you Potter,” McGonagall said, shakily getting to her feet and steadying herself with Harry’s arm.

Remus moved to join them, but Hermione grabbed his hand, “Remus, please, stay here,” she begged, “I can’t…” she looked down at Draco as fresh tears bubbled to the surface, “I need you here.”

He looked conflicted, but Remus simply nodded and sat down next to Hermione. Harry and McGonagall walked into the grounds in silence, and Harry pretended not to notice McGonagall’s tears when they saw Dumbledore’s lifeless, broken body lying on the grass which was now wet. Harry had no idea of the time that had passed, but it was now late into the night, or more likely, early morning of the 1st of June.

Harry dropped to his knees next to Dumbledore and noticed something glimmering on the ground. It was the locket, and it was lying open. He scooped it up and shut it, pushing it into his pocket before McGonagall could notice what he was doing. They wordlessly lifted his body onto a stretcher and took it to the hospital wing, where he was respectfully placed behind closed curtains. Neville’s leg had now been patched up, and he was sitting next to Hermione by Draco’s bedside. Susan’s arm was in a sling, and she too sat around his bed. Harry walked over to join them, just as Lilly and Daphne, who were supporting each other to some degree, took seats by the blonde’s bed.

Harry caught Lilly’s eye, and she silently got to her feet and walked to him, throwing her arms around him and holding on as tightly as she could.

“I was terrified I was going to lose you tonight,” Lilly whispered in his ear.

“So was I,” Harry whispered back, gently kissing her and sitting down next to Remus by Draco’s bed. 

He glanced across the blonde boy’s body to Daphne, “Are you alright?”

“Fine,” Daphne replied calmly, “Just a bit of oxygen deprivation, it will sort itself out in a few days.”

“Good,” Harry said, turning his gaze to Draco, whose open gashes were already beginning to close themselves.

“What happened while Dumbledore and I were gone?”

Bill walked over from where Pomfrey had been attending to some minor injuries of his. He had Tonks behind him, “Tonks, Remus and I were patrolling the corridors, with Minerva and Filius. In the event something happened while Dumbledore wasn’t here.”

Hermione turned tearfully to Harry, “You weren’t back by the time dinner was over so we called the DA to arms, and told Professor McGonagall what was happening. She locked the common rooms down, and told the others, including Snape.”

McGonagall looked tearful, “I had no idea…no idea. I thought he would help us.”

“It wasn’t your fault Professor,” Harry said honestly.

“We were guarding the Room of Requirement,” Lilly said, “And the Death Eaters came out and slipped past us, invisible.”

“I saw them heading towards the Astronomy Tower,” Bill said, “And I informed the others. We followed them up there, they put their mark in the sky and then it all kicked off.”

“And then I got Snape,” Daphne said quietly, “I pulled him from the fight and told him Draco was with Dumbledore. We ran to the Astronomy Tower, and he killed Dumbledore when Draco said, please don’t make me do it.”

“He killed Dumbledore so Draco didn’t have to,” Hermione whispered.

“He’s only a boy,” McGonagall sighed.

“But something odd did happen,” Harry said, looking up, “Dumbledore asked him to do it. He said, please Severus, like he was begging him to do it.”

“You knew he was dying Professor, didn’t you?” Lilly asked McGonagall, “From the curse that blackened his hand?”

“Yes, I did,” McGonagall said honestly, “But I did not know that he intended for Snape to kill him.”

“So what side is Snape on then?” Remus asked angrily, “Because he fled, with the Death Eaters!”

“I do not know,” McGonagall said quietly, “But he always has been a very good Occlumens so we may never know.”

Suddenly the weight of it all hit Harry, and he just wanted to sleep. But he couldn’t, there were other burning things that had to be done. The locket, had to be hidden away, the sword had to be taken from Dumbledore’s office before the Ministry arrived.

“I…I have to go,” Harry said weakly, squeezing Hermione’s shoulder as he walked past her, “But I’ll be back.”

Before anyone could question him he left the hospital wing, and he had only gotten to the grand staircase when Lilly jogged up next to him, her breathing still a little heavy from her near death experience.

“Where are we going then?” She asked, her usual optimistic tone dropped, in light of all that had happened today.

“Dumbledore copied the sword of Gryffindor,” Harry said as Lilly slipped her hand into his, “It’s in his office. I have to get it into the passage before the Ministry get here.”

“Did he take you to find a horcrux?” Lilly asked softly.

Harry nodded numbly, “Do you think Malfoy…”

“I think the next few months are going to be really hard for him,” Lilly cut in, “But he’s going to live, and Hermione won’t leave him.”

Harry gripped her hand tightly, and thanked all of his lucky stars as they walked to Dumbledore’s office together. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The hospital wing had been very quiet as everybody sat around Draco’s bed, waiting for him to wake up. This was interrupted sometime in the very early morning when the doors slammed open and the sound of heels clicking frantically across the floor drew them all to their senses.

Narcissa Malfoy did not look like her usual put together self as she ran towards her son’s bedside. She wore simple black robes, and her face was bare of make-up. Her hair, usually pulled into an uptight bun, was loose and fell to her mid-back. She had an almost manic look in her eye as she reached his bedside and sank to her knees by it.

“Draco,” She sobbed, her hand gently tracing the side of his face, “My boy, my son!”

Hermione glanced anxiously at Remus.

“Narcissa, take this calming draught,” Remus said gently, as he pulled a phial from his robes, “It will help.”

Narcissa took the phial with a shaky hand and drank it. Her hands stopped shaking, and she took a breath, turning her steely gaze to Remus.

“Tell me honestly Remus, how bad is it?” She asked coolly.

Remus calmly spoke to her, “The cuts will close because Madam Pomfrey has applied powdered silver and dittany to them. But they may never entirely heal. There will always be scars, if he’s lucky they will gradually fade to light pink. Around the full moon he will take on wolfish qualities, he will have a temper and he may be aggressive. He will probably always have a taste for meat that is rare, or raw from now onwards.”

“That was not what I mean Remus,” Narcissa said quietly, as tears fell down her beautiful face, “How will this affect his life? His prospects?”

“He’ll never be able to be a Quidditch player like he’s always dreamed,” Hermione practically whispered.

Narcissa’s head snapped to the side and her eyes focused on Hermione, “And who are you?”

“Hermione Granger.”

Narcissa’s eyes flashed with recognition, “And what are you to my son?”

“Try the only thing that’s been keeping your son from doing something incredibly stupid for the last 6 months,” Neville cut in.

Narcissa looked down to Hermione’s hand which was clasping Draco’s.

“The International Quidditch Association have rules on those with werewolf or vampire blood in their system,” Hermione said in a whisper, “They can acquire extra human strength and speed. Therefore they cannot play Quidditch…or work as Aurors, or work in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement…the prejudices are still so strong…all of the things he wanted to do…he can’t do them anymore.”

Narcissa had been watching Hermione carefully as she spoke, and to Hermione’s surprise the older woman placed her hand on top of hers, “But he is alive.”

They were all quite stunned by this development, but Hermione couldn’t help but think that it changed nothing. He would still be on the run from the Death Eaters, and they would still be able to track him. This dismal thought however, made something click in her mind.

“Why was Greyback not a Death Eater?” Hermione asked quickly.

“The Dark Lord cannot make a werewolf into a Death Eater,” Narcissa answered, looking quite startled, “The mark only imprints itself onto pure-bloods or half-bloods, not people who he deems as lesser.”

Hermione let go of Draco’s hand and pulled his left sleeve up, gasping when she did. When the others saw what was on his left forearm they were just as stunned. Where the mark had been there was a large, odd-shaped mark that looked distinctively like a burn.

“He has werewolf blood,” Hermione breathed, “He’s not a Death Eater! He can run, and Voldemort can’t track him.”

Narcissa stared at her sons arm, she traced her hand along the burn-like mark, and she appeared to be close to tears once more, “Miss. Granger, my son has an opportunity to leave this life. He has a chance to make sure he does not become his Father. Please, once he is well enough, make him run, make him leave.”

“I will,” Hermione promised.

Narcissa squeezed Hermione’s hand, and Madam Pomfrey arrived by Draco’s bed.

“I understand that the circumstances are difficult tonight, but all of my patients need rest! Longbottom, Bones, and Greengrass, go to your own beds now please,” Pomfrey said authoritively.

Not wanting to argue with the matron they did so, Bill lingered with Professor McGonagall close to Dumbledore’s body as Hagrid came into the room crying loudly. Remus and Tonks walked away from the bedside, lingering nearby. 

“He was always such a handsome little boy,” Narcissa said, tracing Draco’s face, “I used to sit and gaze at him when he was little…and when he grew up, he grew into such a handsome young man, and now…”

“He still is,” Hermione said, her hand in Draco’s once more.

Narcissa turned to look at Hermione in surprise.

“Scars don’t make him any less handsome,” Hermione said quietly, as she stared at his face, “They only show the world that he’s brave as I always knew he was.”

Narcissa smiled very slightly, “Are you in love with my son, Miss. Granger?”

Hermione’s cheeks didn’t even tinge pink, “I am Mrs. Malfoy. It wouldn’t matter to me if he had become a full werewolf, I don’t care what he is or what he looks like. I fell in love with a Death Eater, and I could have fallen in love with a werewolf just as easily as long as that werewolf was Draco.”

“See!” Tonks said, in a strained whisper from across the wing, “She loved him even though he was a Death Eater, and she still wants to be with him now that he’s been bitten!”

Remus looked incredibly embarrassed, “Draco’s situation is different, he will probably never transform, he is not a full werewolf-”

“But I don’t care either, I don’t care Remus!” Tonks shouted, a little manically, “I’ve told you a million times-”

“And I have told you! I am too old, and too poor for you. You deserve someone young, and whole,” Remus said, aware that the entire hospital wing were watching this exchange.

“You can’t change what your heart wants Remus,” Hermione said quietly, “And if Tonks wants you then nothing will change that.”

“And look at my son, Remus,” Narcissa said softly, “Young men do not always remain whole.”

TBC :)


	27. The Aftermath

When the sword was safely deposited in the passageway, along with the diadem and basilisk venom, Harry and Lilly found themselves standing in the middle of the 5th floor with no idea what to do now.

“Come with me,” Harry said, taking Lilly’s hand and leading her to the Room of Requirement. He was exhausted, so the room subconsciously began a replica of the Gryffindor boy’s dorm, but with only one double bed instead of five singles.

“Did you make this a copy of your bedroom?” Lilly asked with a raised eyebrow.

Harry yawned, “I’m tired, it was what it subconsciously became,” he said, kicking his shoes off and lying on the comfortable bed. He pulled the locket from his robes and examined it.

“Is that it?”

“Yes, but it’s fake,” Harry said.

“What? How do you know?” Lilly asked, kicking off her own shoes and joining him on the bed. 

“I can’t feel the magic,” Harry said, “I have to tell you something Lilly…I’m like Voldemort…I can feel the things he’s created, I can feel the dark magic pulsing inside the horcruxes…in my dreams I see Voldemort or his snake. I see things as they happen, through their eyes, and I’m sorry that this is all spilling out but you have got to realise that I might not be a good person. I mean I don’t even know if I’m a good person or not.”

“Harry,” Lilly said, grabbing his hand, “You are not like him, you are better than him, a million times better than him. The connection is because of the scar, that’s all, it’s cursed, that’s why you can see things and feel things.”

Harry breathed deeply, “This isn’t a horcrux Lilly…” he said as he opened it, and unfolded a note.

“What does that say?” Lilly asked slowly.

Harry took another deep, shaky breath.

“To the Dark Lord

I know I will be dead long before you read this but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret.

I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can.

I face death in the hope that when you meet your match, you will be mortal once more.

R.A.B.”

“R.A.B?”

“I don’t know who he is either,” Harry said, dropping the fake locket onto the floor, “And I don’t care right now. You nearly drowned last night, Lilly, I nearly lost you…and I was nearly killed by a bunch of dead bodies.”

“What?” Lilly asked sharply.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you that,” Harry said, as he lay on his side to look at her, “When Dumbledore took me to the cave there were dead bodies in the water and after we took the fake horcrux they started trying to drag me into the water.”

“Harry, those were Inferi!” Lilly exclaimed, “They’re one of the most dangerous types of dark magic, ever!”

Harry’s eyes found her worried gaze, “I got out Lil, they dragged me under the water. But you saved me.”

“Harry, I wasn’t even there,” Lilly said, her eyes wide, and her voice sounding a little panicked, “And I’m really worried now, they say an encounter with Inferi can drive you insane.”

Harry smiled and took her hand, “Calm down,” he whispered, “I’m not going insane. When I was drowning I saw your face, and I heard your voice…you said Inferi didn’t like the light or fire. So I used a patronus, and it distracted them for long enough to let me swim back to the surface, so you saved my life.”

Lilly didn’t smile, like Harry thought she would. She actually had tears running down her cheeks as she launched herself at Harry and kissed him. Her lips had a slightly salty taste about them, but Harry didn’t mind as he returned the kiss. Her hands went to his already messy hair and his to the small of her back, he pulled her closer to him and deepened the kiss. Lilly already seemed to have something more than kissing on her mind as she easily flipped Harry onto his back and straddled him.

“I don’t know if this is a good idea,” Harry began, “I mean we did both nearly die so our judgment-”

“Our judgment is perfect,” Lilly cut in, “I love you Harry, and I know you love me, and when I nearly lost you tonight I thought I’d never breathe easy again. I need to…I need to feel that everything is…”

“I understand,” Harry said gently as he pushed himself into a sitting position, “I do Lil, and trust me I want the same thing.”

“But?” Lilly said with frustration.

“But you have the same name as my Mother,” Harry blurted out, “And isn’t that going to be awkward?”

Lilly smirked at him, “Harry, I understand that we have the same name. But if you are thinking about your Mother while we’re doing this there is something seriously wrong here.”

Before Harry could contemplate what she meant by ‘this’, Lilly had caught his lips once more. The kiss was searing, and all he could do was take in everything about her and she was right, her name didn’t mean anything. Her name wasn’t important in the slightest. The smell of her perfume, the salty, sweet taste of her lips, and the feel of her hands which were currently unbuttoning his shirt were all that mattered to him, and what did it matter to him anyway? His parents were his parents, or his mum and dad. They were never James and Lily, and he certainly never thought of his Mother as Lil.

So, Harry kissed her back with just as much fervor and pulled her t-shirt off as she finished unbuttoning his shirt and threw it onto the floor. Harry’s mouth only left Lilly’s briefly, and then his hands were roaming down her back. He was startled by her eagerness as she began to unbutton his jeans, but he didn’t stop her, not at that moment. The frantic undressing continued until they were practically naked together.

“Lil,” Harry gasped, breaking the kiss, “Are you sure you…” he trailed off when he saw her stomach and back, “Who the hell did that to you?”

“Harry,” Lilly muttered, “Don’t ruin the moment.”

“No,” Harry said, staring at the scars that covered her body. They mostly looked like small burn marks, but there were a few long, thin scars that looked like they were from knives, “Who did this to you Lilly?”

Lilly fixed him with a cold look, “Harry, my parents were junkies. What did you expect? A bit of mental damage and no physical signs of it?”

“Don’t call it damage,” Harry said as he glared at her, “You are not damaged.”

“So this is normal?” Lilly asked, clearly ashamed and embarrassed.

“Lilly,” Harry said, “I don’t care, I mean I do care. I want to kill your parents for doing this to you. But what I mean is I don’t care that you have scars. I have scars, and I’ll have more by the time this war is over, mark my words. Look at Draco and Hermione, he’s so badly scarred…and she still loves him.”

“But can she still sleep with him?” Lilly asked coolly.

“Oh I’m sure she will,” Harry said with a smile, “That’s the thing about love. You fall in love with a person, you fall in love with their laugh, and their smile, and the sparkle in their eyes. You fall in love with their kindness, and their humour and their intelligence. You don’t fall in love with immaculate skin that has no scars.”

Lilly smiled weakly, and her eyes took in the scars on Harry’s body.

“Come here,” Harry said gently, taking her face in his hands and kissing her again. It wasn’t so fast, frantic and desperate this time, it was slower and Harry could savour every second of it which he fully intended to do.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When Draco opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed was that the sun was shining brightly through the window. He frowned slightly, he could hear every single sound around him. The scraping of a cauldron being stirred, the whistle of birds singing outside the window, the rustle of the bed sheets around him. As his eyes adjusted he looked down at his hand, Hermione’s hand lay on top of it, and another familiar hand was gripping Hermione’s.

“Mother,” Draco mumbled in confusion as he looked at the two women by his bedside, they were both asleep but they groggily opened their eyes at his voice.

“Draco!” They said in unison.

Draco looked at them uneasily, and winced at the loudness of their voice, “I must have been really close to dying…or you two would not be here, together…touching,” he croaked.

Hermione took a cube of ice from the bucket by his bed and pressed it to his lips, “You shouldn’t talk, and yes, you were very close to dying.”

Draco just watched her silently, and opened his mouth when his lips were moist enough to do so. Hermione watched him carefully and only handed him a glass of water after the cube had melted in his mouth.

“Why is everything so loud?” Draco asked quietly.

Hermione and Narcissa looked at each other uncomfortably.

Draco watched their exchange, “I’m a werewolf, aren’t I?”

“No…you’re only half werewolf,” Narcissa said quietly.

Draco frowned, “Can you please just explain? I’m not great at picking out cryptic comments right now.”

“When you…when Greyback attacked you,” Hermione said as calmly as she could, “He was in human form, so you won’t be a full werewolf. Your case is the first like this in the UK, so we can’t tell what consequences there will be…not until the first full moon.”

“Remus said you would maybe get grumpy, and aggressive around the full moon,” Narcissa said gently.

Draco’s eyes flashed, “Aggressive?”

“It’s only a possibility,” Hermione said, “And a diluted form of wolfsbane might ease the monthly symptoms.”

“And the hearing? Is that part of it?”

“I think so,” Hermione said, her hand still gripping his firmly, “He also said you may acquire a taste for rare meat from now on.”

Draco scoffed, “It’s the best way to eat steak anyway. If it doesn’t have blood coming from it then it’s not worth the ridiculously high price they charge.”

Despite it all Hermione smiled and said, “You really do have French blood in you.”

“Blame his Father’s side,” Narcissa said.

Draco managed a weak smile and he winced in pain as it pulled on the cuts. He frowned slightly, “Why did that hurt so badly?”

Hermione and Narcissa shared another uncomfortable look. 

“What’s wrong with my face?” Draco asked quietly.

“You have some cuts,” Hermione whispered, “Remus says they’ll probably never heal fully…”

Draco’s expression was immediately bitter, “So that’s what the look on your face is then. You’re disgusted by me…I guess it really was goodbye the other night then.”

Narcissa frowned slightly, and Hermione narrowed her eyes at him, “Do you really think I’m that shallow?”

Draco didn’t say anything, he just stared into her eyes.

“It may have escaped your notice Draco, but I’ve sort of gone and fallen in love with you, and it’s going to take a hell of a lot more than some scratches to take that away,” Hermione said firmly.

“I’m sorry Hermione,” Draco mumbled.

Hermione shook her head, “This isn’t an easy thing to deal with.”

“Show me them,” Draco said.

Hermione bit her lip, “They look bad right now, they haven’t fully closed up yet and-”

Draco was already undoing his pajama shirt, his breath caught when he saw his chest. On his left shoulder there was a bite mark, which was slightly yellow and oozing at the moment.

“It’s supposed to do that, it’s a good sign,” Hermione said quietly. 

Having seen the circular bite mark, and the numerous other scars she doubted Draco felt optimistic. He also had three puncture wounds just below his right shoulder blade, and from those puncture wounds there were three deep, long scars that stretched to just below his belly button. 

The bitter expression was back on his face as he hastily buttoned his shirt back up, “Well Granger, I bet you’re glad you slept with me while I was still in one piece.”

“Draco, you’re still in one piece,” Hermione hissed.

“Yeah but it’s a damaged piece!” Draco exclaimed.

“Excuse me,” Narcissa said firmly, “But you are both far too young to be having a sexual relationship-”

Draco threw his head back against the pillow, “Mother, would you please shut up? That is not the relevant point right now!”

“Draco, don’t tell your Mother to shut up!” Hermione exclaimed.

“Yes, Draco, do not tell your Mother to shut up,” Narcissa said calmly, “You two are not married, and you should not be leading Miss. Granger astray!”

“Mother!” Draco exclaimed, “How do you know she didn’t start it?”

“Draco!” Narcissa said firmly, “She is far too sensible a young lady to be doing such a thing, and you - sometimes you are far too much like your Father!”

Draco looked at Hermione in disbelief, and she couldn’t help but giggle as a tapping at the window distracted them all. Narcissa frowned when she saw the black owl, “It’s from Azkaban,” she said quietly.

“Father,” Draco said darkly.

Narcissa walked to the window and took the letter from the owl, it was addressed to Draco, and she handed it slowly to her son.

Draco opened the letter, his hands shaking a little as he did so. He sighed, and let his hand drop, and the letter slide away from him. Hermione picked it up, and scanned it quickly.

“Draco,

I have been informed that, due to the events of last night, you are now no longer the pure-blooded son that I raised, but instead some filthy half-breed. I have therefore informed my lawyers that you are to be cast out of the family and formally disowned. You will no longer have the right to use the name Malfoy, any of its rights, properties, or benefits. You have no claim to the family estate, and your account under my name in Gringotts bank will be sealed permanently. Gringotts will be in touch in due course with further details, as will my lawyers.

Yours Sincerely,  
Lucius Malfoy.”

Hermione handed the letter to Narcissa, and looked to Draco’s pale face. 

“That bastard, how dare he!” Hermione said angrily.

Draco hastily wiped his eyes, “Hermione, calm down. I expected this the moment you told me what happened, he’s right, I am a filthy half-breed.”

“If you’re a filthy half-breed then I’m a dirty little mudblood!” Hermione hissed.

Draco’s eyes flashed angrily, “Don’t call yourself that!”

“Then don’t call yourself a filthy half-breed!” Hermione practically shouted, “And so far you’ve only focused on the bad things, look at your arm, you idiot.”

Draco frowned, “What?”

“Your left arm, look at it,” Hermione urged.

Draco rolled his sleeve up, and stared silently at the burn mark on his arm, “How?”

“You have werewolf blood,” Narcissa said calmly, “The Dark Lord designed the mark so that it would not imprint itself on someone who he deemed of a status too low for him. You are no longer are a pure-blood, so the magic of the mark no longer controls you.”

Draco turned to Hermione, hope gleaming in his eyes, “I can run.”

“You can run,” Hermione said, grasping his hand, “You can come with us.”

“And you must,” Narcissa said, “Do not take the Hogwarts express from school. They will expect this, apparate, or leave in some other way.”

“Won’t you come, Mother?” Draco asked with a frown, “You won’t go back to him, will you?”

“For the moment he is in Azkaban, but soon the Dark Lord will make sure he is free,” Narcissa said gently, “And I must return to him Draco. It is too late for me to change my life, I made the wrong choices too long ago. It is not too late for you, there is time for you to ensure that you do not become your Father.”

“But...”

“It is the way it must be, Draco,” Narcissa said, “You have been disowned, that may explain why you have not immediately returned to the Death Eaters. This should buy you some time. I must go, I fear I have stayed here too long. The Ministry men will question me if I remain much longer. Take this, but do not open it until your birthday tomorrow.”

She placed a small box on his bedside table, and leant down, kissing him on the cheek, “Good luck Draco, I love you.”

“I love you too Mother,” Draco said as she turned and clicked nosily out of the hospital wing.

“She’s a wonderful woman,” Hermione said as she watched her go.

“Yes,” Draco said softly, “She is.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sometime around midday Harry and Lilly walked into the hospital wing hand in hand and joined the small gathering around Draco’s bedside. At present Hermione, Neville, Susan and Daphne were all there.

“Hey,” Harry said, sitting down in the last chair and pulling Lilly onto his lap, “How is he?”

“He’s better,” Hermione said in an undertone, “He’s coping alright with everything…considering.”

“Considering his face is ripped to shreds,” Draco mumbled, opening his eyes and smiling very slightly at Harry, “Hey Potter.”

“Hey Malfoy,” Harry said, almost fondly, “Good to see you back in the land of the living again.”

Draco laughed weakly, “Have you heard the good news? I’m not a Death Eater anymore.”

“He’s also on pain potions,” Hermione chuckled, as she pushed Draco’s hair out of his face, “But he’s right, the fact he is now part werewolf basically meant the magic of the mark wouldn’t work anymore. He’s got a burn where it should have been. He can come with us, when we run away.”

“I wish all 7 of us could go,” Daphne whispered, “But I’m sorry, I have to stay here.”

“No, we understand,” Harry said honestly, “You and Ron will both stay here. I know you have your differences, but I need you to run the DA together and keep an eye on things.”

“For the sake of the wizarding world I’m sure Weasley and I will be able to work together,” Daphne said with a smile.

“What happens now, Mione?” Draco mumbled.

Harry raised an eyebrow at her, “You didn’t let Krum call you Mione.”

Hermione shot him a half-heartedly glare, “He’s finding it hard to speak. It’s easier for him.”

“Of course,” Susan chuckled.

Hermione glared at her friend, but her heart wasn’t in it.

“In answer to your question, Malfoy,” Harry said, “That’s what I want to work out. I mean technically, the last day of term is the 27th of June, but I’m not sure if that’s going to be the case. There’s talk of closing the school, and sending students home early.”

“I fully expect we’ll all be sent home after Dumbledore’s funeral,” Hermione said quietly, “Narcissa warned Draco not to get on the Hogwarts express, she said the Death Eaters would expect it and would be waiting for him.”

“Some of us have to go on with our life as normal, and others don’t,” Lilly whispered, “Harry has to go back to his muggle family, until the trace breaks.”

Hermione nodded, “You have the blood protection of your Mother there Harry, Lilly is right.”

“I know she is,” Harry said, “And I will. The order will have a plan to come and get me the second the trace breaks no doubt.”

“I need to go home too,” Hermione whispered, “I have to alter my parents and send them away…and then I’ll come to pick you up with the order, and we’ll go to the Burrow.”

“Lilly’s coming too,” Harry said, “As my date to the wedding. Ron already cleared it with Mrs. Weasley.”

“I have to go home,” Daphne said slowly, “My brother was killed in our house, I can’t leave Astoria alone and unprotected there. So I’ll go home, and live out the summer as normal, and then I’ll return to school and communicate with you in September.”

Harry nodded, “Perfect. That leaves…Susan and Lilly not tied down to anything.”

“I don’t have a home,” Lilly shrugged, “I stay in youth hostels around London normally. I mean, I do have a house but it’s condemned so…”

“Where is it?” Harry asked.

“In the East end of London, Hackney,” Lilly replied.

Harry looked thoughtful, “What about you, Susan?”

“Well I have a home, but I don’t get the train home,” Susan replied, “I live in Bones Manor, I own it…ever since my Aunt died. It’s not too far from here, so I get a Thestral drawn carriage home.”

“Is it safe?” Harry asked as Remus, who had been sticking around for Draco’s sake began to walk towards them.

Susan frowned, “My Aunt was the secret keeper, and she’s dead so it’s not protected at the moment. But Lil…well Lil could cast a Fidelius charm, I think.”

“I could,” Lilly said.

“Where are you casting a Fidelius charm?” Remus asked.

Harry glanced around at the others, “Bones Manor. We need somewhere to hide Draco over the summer, so that his wounds can heal and he can…get used to…”

“Being werewolfy?” Draco joked weakly.

Remus smiled, “You have got the right idea Draco, making light of it is the best way to deal with it. As for your plan, I think it’s very wise. If you are all agreeable I would like to stay at the Manor too, Draco will need advice and moral support for the first few full moons.”

Hermione glanced towards Draco, “Would that be okay Draco? We all trust Remus, he would help you through the first few full moons.”

“I heard him Hermione,” Draco said weakly, looking at Remus with blurry eyes, “And I think it’s a good idea. You could make sure I wouldn’t be…aggressive…at the full moon?”

Remus nodded, “I could.”

“Then yes, I think it’s a good idea,” Draco said again.

“Well, at least I won’t be alone this year,” Susan said, seeming genuinely happy about this.

Remus chuckled, “Harry, there is a plan in place to take you from the Dursleys to the Burrow after midnight on your birthday. After that, what do you intend to do?”

“We’ll go to the wedding,” Harry said, “And by then Draco should be well enough to come with us and we run.”

“To where?” Remus asked.

“I don’t know,” Harry admitted, “I thought Grimmauld Place would be a good place to start.”

“Dumbledore is dead, and Snape knows about Grimmauld Place,” Remus told him, “The Order are no longer using it as a base. It is no longer safe.”

“Well I think we might have to take our chances,” Harry said, “But we’ll work that out in time. For now, let’s just focus on what we’re doing after Dumbledore’s funeral.”

Remus bowed his head, “Communication will have to be scarce between you all to avoid Voldemort finding out about a connection.”

“We know Remus,” Hermione said, “And we’ll be careful, so long as you let Draco write to me.”

“Of course,” Remus said with a soft smile, “And I will also bring Tonks to visit the Manor every so often, so that you are not surrounded by sweaty werewolves all the time Susan.”

“Hey speak for yourself,” Draco mumbled, “I’m only a half werewolf.”

Harry laughed, but his expression quickly darkened, “There is something else we have to talk about…Remus, Dumbledore gave us a mission…Voldemort has horcruxes, do you know what they are?”

Remus’s eyes widened, “Horcruxes? As in his soul has been split more than once?”

“Dumbledore destroyed one,” Harry said, “And I destroyed another. We’ve found the third and we need to destroy it. But we think there are three more out there.”

Remus breathed out slowly, “He split his soul into 7…of course…the most magically powerful number…”

His words sparked something in Harry, and he reminded himself that he would have to tell Hermione and Lilly what Dumbledore had said about the founders at some point.

“Look, the point is, they have to be found and destroyed before Voldemort can be killed,” Harry told his basically Godfather, “And when I was away with Dumbledore last night we were retrieving one.”

“So you did get a horcrux,” Hermione said.

Harry shook his head and pulled the fake locket from his pocket, “It’s a fake, somebody else had already taken the real horcrux…they left this note…”

He read it aloud to them all and noticed that Remus’s brow was knitted into a frown.

“Remus,” Harry said slowly, “Do you know who R.A.B is?”

“Sirius’s brothers initials were R.A.B,” Remus said, catching Harry’s eye, “He was Regulus Arcturus Black.”

“Didn’t he die?” Harry asked with a frown.

Remus nodded, “Back in 1979, the year your parents were married…he was a Death Eater. He was obsessed with the Death Eaters in fact, Sirius and I snuck into his room once and found the walls covered in newspaper articles about Voldemort.”

“He must have been very young when he died,” Hermione said, doing the math in her head.

“He was 18,” Remus said, “He was 16 when he took the dark mark, the same age as you were Draco.”

“Why would he betray Voldemort if he was so crazy about him?” Lilly asked with a frown.

“I don’t know,” Remus said slowly, this was clearly bringing up memories from his past.

“Remus,” Harry said, “What happened to Regulus?”

“We never knew,” Remus said, “Sirius always assumed he’d gotten scared and tried to back out, and had been killed for it. But they never found a body…they often didn’t in those days when the Death Eaters were involved. There were mysterious disappearances, we put it down to Voldemort building an army of Inferi.”

“If he switched the lockets, he would have been killed for being a traitor,” Draco croaked.

“Shh, have some water Draco,” Hermione said gently.

Harry shook his head, “No, if Voldemort found it and killed him then why would he leave the fake locket there? He can’t have known…if Regulus was killed by the Inferi he must have had an accomplice…someone who switched the lockets and got out…”

“So we’re back to square one,” Susan said, “We need to find the accomplice to track the locket.”

Hermione was frowning as she looked at that locket in Harry’s hand, “I’ve seen that before.”

“Where?” Harry asked in surprise.

“In Grimmauld Place,” Hermione said, looking at Remus, “It was in one of the cabinets full of dark magic we were clearing out…”

Remus cursed loudly, “Dammit! Mundungus bloody Fletcher! He pawned everything in that place, it could be anywhere right now.”

Draco whined slightly, “Guys, wolfy hearing is not fun. Can you please not shout?”

“Sorry, Draco,” Remus said sheepishly, “I forget how loud everything is it at first. Don’t worry, it will fade with time.”

“Thank Merlin, Hermione has a tendency to screech,” Draco mumbled.

“Jeez thanks Draco,” Hermione joked quietly.

Remus chuckled, “As complicated as this all seems, we know a lot of valuable information and as hard as it must be, you must put this out of your mind for the moment. For now, I must go. But I will be back for the funeral, and we will put proper plans in place. Until then, keep an eye on him.”

“We will,” Harry said, looking at Draco as he drifted off into sleep once more.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“I’m sorry your birthday has been so miserable Suse,” Daphne said, handing her friend a present late on the 1st of June.

Susan smiled, they were all still in the hospital wing, “Thanks Daph. I’ll be honest I didn’t expect to spend my 17th sitting by my ex-boyfriend’s hospital bed.”

Daphne chuckled, “I bet. It’s been a tough few days though, for Hermione and Draco in particular.”

Susan looked at them, Draco was asleep, and Hermione was now curled up next to him on the small bed, she did not lie her head on his chest, for fear of hurting his scars.

“Do you ever wonder if anyone will love you like they love each other?” Susan asked softly.

“All the time,” Daphne said honestly, “And I’m sure we’ll both find that person one day.”

“I might have already found him,” Susan said, her eyes flicking to Neville, “But don’t quote me on that one.”

Daphne raised an eyebrow at her best friend as she opened her present, “When did that happen?”

“He asked me out the night before the battle,” Susan said with a slight smile, “And I said yes.”

“Well, would you look at that, everybody’s loved up,” Daphne said, with a touch of bitterness.

“Hey you never know, you might fall in love while we’re all off hunting horcruxes,” Susan chuckled as she finally broke into the present. It was a necklace, with a badger etched onto a charm.

“Read the back, Suse,” Daphne said softly.

Susan turned the necklace around and smiled at the message, “Your size doesn’t determine how loud your roar is.”

“Remember that, when you’re away,” Daphne said, a little tearfully.

Susan nodded, swallowing hard, “Put it on me?”

Daphne did so silently, and then Susan turned to face her. Daphne bit her lip, like she was thinking of saying something.

“Spit it out Daph,” Susan teased.

Daphne made the decision quickly, and grabbed Susan, pulling her into a bear-like hug, “I’m going to miss you so much Suse.”

Susan got a lump in her throat as she hugged her friend, “I’m going to miss you too Daph.”

“We’ve been like sisters since we were kids,” Daphne said, pulling back and wiping her eyes, “I don’t know what I’d do if you…”

“I don’t know what I’d do without you either,” Susan said, also crying, “But we’re both fighters, right? We’ll see each other when this is all over, and I’ll buy you the biggest firewhiskey I can find.”

“Deal,” Daphne laughed tearfully.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Suse?”

“I’m still awake,” Susan said rolling onto her side to see Lilly.

“I brought your presents, everything was just so hectic earlier,” Lilly whispered, climbing onto her bed and depositing a small pile of presents there.

Susan smiled gratefully, “Thanks Lil.”

“Go on then, open them, before Pomfrey finds out that I’m out of bed,” Lilly said eagerly.

Susan laughed and tore into the presents. There was a box of Honeydukes chocolate from Harry, nothing from Draco but Susan did not expect anything. Hermione had given Susan a pretty cloak clasp, and that left just two gifts to open. She knew they had to be from Lilly and Neville.

“This one is mine, open it first,” Lilly whispered as she handed a small box to the redhead.

Susan did so, and smiled at the ring in the box, it had a tanzanite stone inside it and etched on the inside was the word “has”.

“Daphne’s is an emerald ring and it says friendship, Hermione has a ruby ring which says no, and mine says boundaries,” Lilly said, showing Susan her sapphire ring.

“Friendship has no boundaries,” Susan mused, “That’s more appropriate than ever now.”

“I know,” Lilly said with a smile, “And I’m sorry that your birthday sucked.”

“It’s okay,” Susan said, “At least I’m not going to spend my 17th as a half-breed. As much as hes joking about it, Draco must be taking that hard.”

“I don’t know, I think he’s just grateful to be alive and to be free of Voldemort,” Lilly whispered as she kissed Susan on the cheek, “Don’t open that one till Nev comes over. He wants to see you open it, alone.”

Susan raised an eyebrow at her friend and Lilly winked as she tiptoed back to her own bed. Almost as soon as she had Neville soundlessly walked over to Susan.

“Hey.”

“Hey yourself,” Susan whispered, “You’ve barely spoken to me since the battle. Are we okay?”

“I don’t know,” Neville whispered back, “Are we? You’ve been watching Hermione and Draco constantly, I was getting a bit worried.”

Susan laughed weakly, “Worried, about me and Draco? Don’t be stupid, that’s all in the past. I just…well, watching them together makes you wonder doesn’t it…if you and me could ever love each other that much.”

“That’s a bit heavy for day 3 of a relationship,” Neville joked.

“I’m serious Nev,” Susan whispered, “It’s inspirational. I never thought love like that existed.”

“I knew it did,” Neville said, climbing onto her bed and pushing her over a little, “My parents had quite the love story.”

“Did they?” Susan asked.

“They did,” Neville said with a soft smile.

“Can you tell me it?” She asked.

“After you open your present, yes,” Neville replied, “Go on, I want to make sure you like it.”

“Alright,” Susan said, pulling the lid off of the box and removing the tissue paper to reveal the present inside. It was a locket, a simple heart-shaped silver locket.

“Open it Suse,” Neville whispered.

Susan did, and her breath caught in her throat. He had charmed it, so that when the locket was opened the picture inside projected itself into the air. It was simple, it was a picture she had gotten Harry to take on Christmas day after the snowball fight. She, Daphne, Hermione and Lilly were all standing together smiling and laughing, covered in snow and soaking wet.

“I know it’s not much, and it’s not romantic,” Neville told her, “But we’re going into a war and I thought you should have something to remind you when things get tough that there were good times.”

Susan smiled and threw her arms around him, “It’s perfect Neville, and there is more than one kind of love you know…there’s romantic love, family love and friendship love…and I think they’re all as important as each other.”

Neville smiled and kissed her lightly on the lips, “I think you’re right,” he whispered, his face close to hers.

Susan’s smile was genuine as she hugged him again, “Stay here tonight?”

“Pomfrey will go mental,” Neville whispered.

Susan laughed, “Live a little Nev, you’re the Gryffindor! Come on I want to hear the story of your parents!”

TBC :)


	28. Funerals & Farewells

“Draco…”

“Hmm?”

“It’s your birthday.”

Draco opened an eye and looked at Hermione sleepily, “What time is it?”

“It’s 10am, you lazy sod,” Hermione chuckled, “You’ve got lots of presents here, I collected them from the Slytherin dorm.”

“You went into my bedroom?” Draco asked, his eyes widening.

Hermione laughed, “Under the invisibility cloak, nobody saw me, don’t worry. I did see your posters though.”

Draco’s face turned scarlet, “They’re not mine, they’re Blaise’s!”

“They are on your bed Draco,” Hermione grinned, “Who knew you had such a taste for the Holyhead Harpies.”

Draco tried to glare at her, but his heart really wasn’t in it. 

“Happy 17th,” Hermione said as she kissed him gently on the lips, carefully so as not to touch his healing wounds.

“I did not think I would come of age as a nameless half-breed who is dating a muggle-born and spends his spare time in a hospital bed playing chess with Harry bloody Potter,” Draco murmured.

“The most pathetic part is that you play chess with Harry,” Hermione teased, “He’s dreadful. Even I can beat him in under 5 minutes.”

Draco hummed in amusement, “I told him I would teach him to play better.”

Hermione smiled at that, “Well that’s very generous of you. Now, do you want to try and wake up a little so you can open your presents?”

Draco nodded and pushed himself up, hissing in pain as he did so.

“Draco! You should let me help you,” Hermione told him.

“I need to learn to do things for myself Hermione,” Draco said, prying his eyes open, “I won’t let you help me sit up.”

Hermione sighed, “I don’t want you to cut open the wounds, they’re finally starting to close properly.”

“I know,” Draco said, “I should still be on the pain potions.”

“Why aren’t you?” Hermione asked in disbelief, “It’s only been a couple of days, you should be on pain potions for at least a week!”

“You can get addicted to them,” Draco said, “And I need to learn to cope with the pain. Remus said the scars would hurt like this every full moon, they’re cursed.”

“You should still think about using them when you need them” Hermione said gently.

“I do, I use them to get to sleep,” Draco said with a weak smile, “But I don’t use them during the day, that way I don’t drift off to sleep all day.”

“Alright,” Hermione said with a smile, “There was news this morning. Dumbledore’s funeral is on Friday, the Hogwarts express leaves an hour after the funeral. Pomfrey said you will be in the hospital wing until then, and you will have to be moved carefully afterwards.”

“Are the others still here?” Draco asked.

“Lilly, Daphne and Susan were discharged this morning, but Neville’s stuck here for another couple of days, his wound was infected.”

“That sucks,” Draco said, now sitting upright, “I am so hungry this morning…”

“That’s good,” Hermione said brightly, “Your appetite is coming back. What do you fancy?”

“Bacon…”

“You didn’t eat bacon before you got attacked,” Hermione pointed out.

“I know, but I just really want bacon right now,” Draco said.

Hermione laughed, “I’ll tell Pomfrey and see what she can do. But for now, open your presents. This one is first, it’s the one your Mother left you.”

Draco took the present hesitantly.

“What’s wrong?” Hermione asked.

“Traditionally you are given your Fathers watch on your 17th,” Draco said quietly.

“I highly doubt that’s what it is,” Hermione said with a raised eyebrow, “And you will never know if you don’t open it so go on.”

Draco sighed but opened the present, as commanded. There was a pocket watch inside the box, it was an old bronze one with initials etched into the back, “C.P.B.”

“See, it’s not your Fathers,” Hermione said.

“No, it was my Grandfathers,” Draco said as he ran his fingers over the initials, “Cygnus Pollux Black.”

“Your maternal Grandfather?” Hermione asked in surprise, “That’s how you’re related to Sirius, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Draco said, “My Mother was a Black…I’m starting to think that was the better side of the family.”

“Well, from what Sirius said, they weren’t exactly the best people, but that might have just been his branch of the family,” Hermione said with a shrug.

“Probably…my Mother said she didn’t have a typical pure-blood upbringing apart from in the sense that her sisters and she were forced into arranged marriages. My Aunt Andromeda refused and married a muggle-born…she was disowned, like me.”

“You didn’t marry a muggle-born, and I’m far too young to be proposed to,” Hermione teased.

Draco laughed at that, “Anyway, apparently Sirius’s mother, Walburga was batshit insane, so maybe that’s where that comes from.”

Hermione laughed loudly at his description and handed him another present. He did have quite a pile. He worked his way through them methodically, opening every box slowly and reading every note and card. He got a few small gifts from family members that clearly didn’t care about the wolfish aspect, including a hip flask from Tonks. Then Hermione handed him a present with a tag that said, “We all combined together on this. Happy birthday Draco - Daph, Suse & Lil.”

Draco frowned as he opened the gift, which was a wizarding photo album. It was leather bound and a deep red. He opened the first page and smiled so widely it hurt his cuts, but he didn’t care. The first picture was of Hermione pecking him on the lips and running away on Christmas day after they had been stuck in the barrier together. He turned the page and saw a moving photograph of he and Hermione starting the snowball fight on that same day, the third page had a photograph of himself and Hermione entering Slughorn’s party together. The pages after that were blank but the fourth page had the heading, “For the rest of your adventures.”

“That’s so thoughtful of them,” Draco said.

Hermione’s eyes widened, “Are you crying, Draco?”

“No,” Draco said with a frown, “No, my eyes are just leaking because of the…cuts.”

Hermione looked down and hid her smile in her hands, with the ruse of grabbing the second last present and handing it to him.

Draco opened the small square package which was a cardboard box full to the brim of Honeydukes ‘feel better’ brand of chocolate. There was a little note stuffed into the box.

“For the ‘wolfy’ times as you so charmingly call it. Trust me, it helps - Remus.”

Draco laughed out loud at the note, “A supply of wolfy chocolate.”

Hermione was laughing too, “You’re taking this so well,” she admitted as she handed him the final present, “This is the last one, it’s from me.”

“Oh, so no present from Potter?” Draco joked, “Some friend he is.”

“He does have a present,” Hermione said, “He just wants to give it to you in person.”

“That sounds dangerous,” Draco said as he held the final present in his hands.

“It’s not,” Hermione laughed, “Now will you open my present please?”

“If you insist,” Draco said, lifting the lid on the box. Inside was a silver ring, on a chain.

“I thought you said we were too young for proposals,” Draco joked.

“We are, it’s not that kind of ring. I just thought that I could get you something that you could wear around your neck if you wanted, or on your finger, if you wanted,” Hermione said, “Take it out and have a look at it.”

Draco did so, and as he inspected the ring he smiled. There were three etchings on the outside, a snake, a lion, and a moon.

“I added the moon myself last night, so if it looks a little crude, sorry,” Hermione said sheepishly, “There’s an inscription in the centre too,” she said, almost shyly.

Draco read the inscription, smiling like a bloody idiot as he did so.

“I will love you through it all.”

“Did you add that too?” Draco asked, looking up at her.

“No,” Hermione admitted, “It just turned out to be even more true than I thought.”

Draco smiled and said, “Come here, I want to give you a kiss.”

Hermione leant in closer and kissed him semi-properly for the first time since the attack. She had been too afraid to hurt him, but as his right hand found the back of her head she let herself deepen the kiss. However, she realised quickly why she had been avoiding it, she subconsciously touched his face and he hissed in pain.

Hermione pulled back, guilt flooding her face, “I’m sorry, I…I forgot,” she panicked, “That’s why I haven’t…I don’t want to hurt you.”

Draco sighed and fell back against the pillows, “I know, and I’m frustrated. I want to be myself again, I don’t want to be stuck in here, stuck in pain all the bloody time!”

“Alright wolfy, chill out,” Harry said, stalking into the hospital wing with his chess set under his arm.

“I wish you would stop calling me wolfy,” Draco said irritably, “I’m only half a werewolf.”

Hermione chuckled despite herself, “Look, I have to go and sort some things out…”

“What do you have to sort out?” Harry asked.

“The horcrux,” Hermione whispered, “I thought we could let Daphne destroy it, since she won’t be coming with us. The sooner the better…I thought while everyone was still distracted by Dumbledore’s death we should get rid of it.”

Harry nodded, “Good idea, do it in the Room of Requirement.”

Hermione nodded back, “Are you okay if I…take the lead on this one?”

Harry smiled proudly at her, “Of course I am, I’ll stay here and keep wolfy entertained.”

“Potter,” Draco hissed.

Hermione laughed and waved to Draco, “I’ll pop back in after dinner, if you’re lucky Pomfrey might let you have cake.”

She left, and Draco shook his head, “I don’t want cake, I want bacon.”

“Thought you might want some meat,” Harry said, opening the chess set and pulling from it a platter of various meats from the kitchen, “Go wild, wolfy.”

“I swear Potter, I am going to punch you the moment I can swing my arm,” Draco muttered halfheartedly as he shoved a bit of raw bacon into his mouth.

Harry grinned, “So, when do my chess lessons start?”

“As soon as possible, you’re fucking awful,” Draco remarked.

Harry laughed as he set the game up.

“So, Hermione tells me you have a present you want to give to me in person,” Draco said.

“I do,” Harry said sincerely, “I’ve been thinking about this whole nameless thing. I mean at the moment you are just Draco, aren’t you? I mean I keep calling you Malfoy, but you aren’t.”

“Correct,” Draco drawled.

“So, I got to thinking. Can’t you become a member of another family?”

“Not easily,” Draco replied, “The Head of the family would have to take me in, and I doubt I’d find any heads of families willing to do that right now.”

“Well, just out of curiosity how does that work?” Harry said, making his first move.

Draco narrowed his eyes at the Gryffindor, “The Head of the family says that they swear to take me in under whatever relation they chose, and I make a blood vow with them.”

“And then you’re part of that family?” Harry mused, “You can use the name, access the property and the money and all?”

“Yes,” Draco said suspiciously, “Potter, why are you asking me this?”

“Well, I’ll be head of the Potter family when I come of age next month-”

“No,” Draco said quickly, “No way, I am not becoming a Potter.”

Harry grinned, “So this is your birthday present. I, Harry James Potter, hereby claim that I will take Draco, formerly Malfoy-”

“Potter, no, no, no!” Draco said, “Do not make me a fucking Potter!”

Harry’s grin widened as he continued, “And swear him as the Head of the Black family, to which I am currently the head.”

Draco’s eyes widened, “What?”

“I’m the head of the Black family,” Harry said, “I was left the title by my Godfather, I inherited everything when he died. But I don’t need it, I’ll be head of my own family next month. You need a name, and a home, and money and I can give you it all.”

“Why would you do that?” Draco asked in disbelief.

“Because believe it or not I actually like you, Draco,” Harry said in amusement, “And Hermione loves you, and being half werewolf suits you. I think Sirius would be happy to have a half werewolf Black as head of the house…he and Remus were always so close.”

“You’re seriously offering this to me, for nothing?” Draco asked.

“I think you deserve it,” Harry said, cutting his hand with a knife he had pulled from his pocket, “So are we making a blood vow?”

Draco stared at the dark-haired boy for a minute and held out his hand with a slight smile.

“Déjà vu,” Harry said as he made the slightest cut in the palm of his hand.

“Tell me about it,” Draco said, clasping Harry’s hand in his own, “So now you just swear me in as the relation you want me as and don’t say brother, this is not a blood brothers thing.”

Harry laughed, “I swear Draco, formerly Malfoy, into the Black family as my cousin and the Head of the noble and most ancient house of Black, together with all of the liberties that come with that title and role.”

Their hands locked together, so that they could not pull them apart even if they wanted to. Their hands then glowed red and then it was over.

Harry smiled, “Draco Black…has a ring to it.”

Draco nodded thoughtfully.

“And you have a far stronger claim to it than me, your Mother is a Black,” Harry added.

“That’s true,” Draco said.

“I’ve just beaten you by the way,” Harry pointed out as his queen killed Draco’s king.

Draco’s eyes snapped to the game, “What? You fucking cheat! You didn’t even say checkmate.”

“Well you were so distracted, maybe I did and you didn’t hear me,” Harry smirked.

“Oh screw this, that does not count. I want a rematch!”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“If Voldemort could see four teenage girls destroying one of his precious horcruxes I wonder what he’d think,” Susan mused as she sat on a moth-eaten sofa.

“He’d be horrifically embarrassed, I bet,” Lilly said, jumping onto the sofa next to her and causing dust to blow out of it and make them sneeze.

Hermione sighed, “We don’t know how dangerous this could be. It could try and defend itself…”

“Probably not,” Daphne said thoughtfully as she casually leant on the sword of Gryffindor, “I mean they are probably designed to hurt you or influence you if you do the right thing with them. Like a locket might change you if you wear it around your neck, or a diadem might affect you if you wear it on your head.”

“But not if you try and kill it,” Lilly said thoughtfully.

“It might still be a bit…well I don’t think it will just snap in half,2 Hermione said as she climbed the small pile of junk to join them on the moth-eaten sofa.

“Well we’ll find out in a second,” Daphne said, raising the sword a little and taking a deep breath. She had dipped it in basilisk venom, just to be on the safe side and as she brought it down on the diadem she could have sworn it tried to hop out of the way. She hit it though, and it did snap in half but it didn’t just break. There was a high-pitched scream that made them all cover their ears as the diadem disintegrated into a dark smoke. From the dark smoke a bright white light shone and shot through them, disappearing through the roof in seconds. The scream continued until the black smoke finally dissipated, but it had them all choking by the time it was gone.

“What the hell was that,” Daphne rasped.

“That was the part of Voldemort’s soul being pissed that we killed it,” Susan choked out.

“But the white light,” Hermione said.

“Was the spirit of Ravenclaw, I think,” Lilly said, “So pure…and trapped? Harry told me he heard wailing, when he held the horcrux. I think because it was such a powerful object that had been damaged by dark magic the light and dark forces were fighting inside of it.”

“And we just freed Ravenclaw,” Susan said thoughtfully.

“Maybe,” Daphne said, glancing at the roof, “It’s a nice thought, even if it’s not true.”

“Well, one down, three to go,” Hermione said as she linked her arms through Susan’s and Lilly’s, Daphne linked onto Susan’s other side, “I think we should go tell the boys the good news.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When the girls reached the hospital wing the game of chess had become a four-way with Neville assisting Draco, and Ron assisting Harry.

“Well, I never thought I would see the day,” Hermione said as they walked up behind them.

Ron turned around and smiled at his friend, “Well, he’s not a Malfoy now, is he? He’s a Black, so no family feud rules apply.”

Hermione frowned, “He’s a Black?”

“Harry made me his cousin, and instated me as Head of the house of Black,” Draco said, sounding very grateful, “I am no longer nameless.”

Hermione grinned, “That’s the surprise present you were talking about!”

Harry smirked at her, “It was.”

She hugged him, “Oh thank you Harry!”

Harry laughed, “Did you do it?”

“Daphne did,” Lilly said happily.

“She made it look effortless,” Susan laughed, “She was just leaning on the sword so casually, and then she sliced it in half and it screamed.”

“I thought it might do something like that,” Harry admitted.

“So you killed another?” Ron asked eagerly, “At this rate this war will barely last a few months.”

“Don’t count on it,” Harry said, “There are three more, and we know Voldemort keeps at least one by his side all of the time. As for the other two…we have no idea where they are.”

“When you put it like that, it sounds depressing,” Ron admitted.

“Hey you’ve got the easy job,” Neville snorted, “You get to stay here and chill out with Daph while you both act as bodyguards for your baby sisters.”

Ron turned to look at Daphne, “Is that why you’re staying?”

“Well I can hardly leave her alone after Death Eaters killed our brother and warned us that she was next,” Daphne shrugged.

Ron nodded thoughtfully, “Well I’m staying for Gin. I don’t care how much she thinks she can protect herself, she’s still my little sister.”

“It’s an older sibling thing,” Daphne said, sitting down on the empty bed behind Draco’s, “It’s called being massively over-protective.”

Ron laughed loudly at that and Hermione and Harry shared an amused, if slightly bemused look. They had never shown any signs of getting on until now.

“Maybe I was wrong about you two,” Harry said, “I thought you’d kill each other being left here together to lead the DA but you might actually make a good team.”

Daphne scoffed, “I wouldn’t go that far Potter. I’m working with him because you asked me to, he’s still a Weasley.”

“And as polite as I can be, she’s still a snake,” Ron retorted.

Hermione shot Draco a grin, and he merely sniggered as Remus appeared with cake and they all said, “Happy Birthday Draco!”

“Why is that cake mostly brown with one pink slice?” Draco asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Because, as we have established, in the first few months of part-werewolfness you can become rather fond of meat,” Remus said in amusement, “So your slice is bacon flavoured, and since everyone else is relatively normal, the rest of the cake is chocolate flavoured.”

Draco grinned, “Bacon flavoured birthday cake. Nice one Potter.”

Harry raised his hands, “Don’t look at me, it was all Hermione’s idea.”

Draco turned to Hermione in amusement, and she smirked, “Surprisingly I do know you pretty well, even this new wolfy you. Now blow out your candles and make a wish.”

Draco leant a little closer to her and kissed her, “Thank you, and I don’t have to make a wish,” he whispered as he looked around his bed, “I already have everything I need right here.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Over the next few days the group began to get their plans in place. Harry and Susan used the tunnel to Honeydukes and hid the sword and basilisk venom in Susan’s private carriage which would take her home in place of the Hogwarts express. Neville was discharged from the hospital wing, but he was still in there often enough to keep Draco entertained. His cuts had been gradually closing over the course of the week and by Friday morning they were looking much better.

The mood was anything but happy when they all gathered around his bed that morning.

“So, Pomfrey has said you can come to the funeral,” Hermione said quietly, straightening her black dress robes, “But you can’t walk yet, the condition is this.”

Draco looked disdainfully at the chair she was pointing to.

“You got mauled by a werewolf last week Draco,” Neville said, placing his hand on Draco’s shoulder, “You’re lucky to be alive, if your issue is that you don’t want to seem weak with Hermione pushing you around in it that’s fine. I’ll push you.”

“Look, I just don’t like relying on people,” Draco said angrily, “This is the first time people will see me since it happened and I don’t want to be the weak pathetic guy in a wheelchair!”

“Just be thankful you’re alive Mal - I mean Draco,” Harry said irritably.

Draco sighed, “Fine, I’ll get in it but under the condition that only Neville can help me in and out, and push me.”

Harry raised an eyebrow at Hermione at this development.

“Okay,” Hermione agreed with a smile, “We’ll wait for you outside.”

Draco gave her a brisk nod, and she left, along with the rest of their little procession. The group of 7 friends had grown slightly to 9, with the addition of Ron and Ginny. They seemed to have given Draco the sympathy vote since his little werewolf incident as he called it.

“Come on then Longbottom, I don’t bite,” Draco joked.

Neville shook his head in amusement, “Please don’t tell me I have to dress you too,” he said as he helped Draco out of his bed and into the chair.

Draco scoffed, “Don’t be ridiculous, pass me my wand and I’ll transfigure my clothes.”

Neville fixed him with an amused look, “No, Pomfrey said no magic. I’m not telling you where your wand is, I’ll transfigure your clothes. What do you want?”

“Black dress robes,” Draco grumbled.

Neville did the transfiguration with ease and gripped the back of the wheelchair, “Any reason why you won’t let Hermione help?”

“She fell in love with a mysterious sexy badass Slytherin guy,” Draco said quietly, “Do you really think she’ll still love a pathetic half-werewolf who can’t do anything for himself?”

“I think she’ll love you whatever Draco,” Neville said honestly, “She’s not some fickle teenage girl, she’s…well she’s Hermione isn’t she? And, in an entirely not homosexual way, I think she’ll find a half-werewolf as sexy and badass as a mysterious Slytherin.”

Draco made a face, “Alright, this is getting a bit weird now Longbottom.”

“Yeah,” Neville agreed hastily as he pushed the wheelchair out of the hospital wing where the others were waiting for them.

Hermione shook her head in amusement, “I need to cut your hair,” she said, pushing it out of Draco’s face. 

Draco gave her a small smile and they began to walk towards the entrance hall. The great hall was packed with people having breakfast, but barely anyone was eating and nobody was sitting in the throne-like chair that had always been Dumbledore’s. When they walked into the hall they were stared at, especially by those at the Slytherin table. Hermione and Draco had decided that it was pointless to hide their relationship, the news of Draco’s attack and subsequent disownment had already spread like wildfire.

Draco scoffed, “Hasn’t anyone seen a half werewolf before?” he muttered.

Hermione sighed and put her hand on his shoulder as they split into their separate houses.

“Daph, you’d better wheel me over since I apparently can’t stand by myself,” Draco drawled.

Daphne smiled at Neville and took the handles of the chair from him, “See you at the funeral,” she said quietly as they all walked towards their separate tables, and sat down. 

The group at the Gryffindor table were silent as they pushed food around their plates without touching it. Eventually McGonagall stood and told them to follow their Head of House from the school. Slughorn had taken over from Snape, and the world now knew the circumstances of Dumbledore’s death. McGonagall had ensured that Draco’s name was kept out of the story. Instead the headlines had loudly shouted things like, “SEVERUS SNAPE’S BETRAYAL!”

The Gryffindors left the hall first. There were hundreds of seats in the sunlit grounds, and half of them were already filled by witches and wizards from around the world, and from all different walks of life. He spotted members of the order, and he grabbed Hermione’s hand and nudged her when he saw Remus and Tonks sitting together, with the rest of the order. Hermione let her face slip into a slight smile, Tonks had bright pink hair once more, and she was holding Remus’s hand.

“About time,” Ginny whispered happily.

There were shopkeepers from Diagon Alley, and Hogsmeade. There were famous people, members of the Weird Sisters for example. Madam Maxime was there too, as were the castles ghosts. Hermione, Harry, Neville, Ron and Ginny all sat down in one of the rows nearest to the front, they left an empty seat next to Hermione, and shortly after they had sat down Draco and Daphne joined them. They switched so that Hermione sat on the end of the aisle next to Draco’s wheelchair. She grabbed his hand, and he squeezed it back in an attempt to comfort her. Lilly and Susan slipped into seats on the other side of the row, with Luna. 

Everyone was here, Fudge…Scrimgeour, who Harry really couldn’t stand. Even Umbridge, his hand clenched into a fist when he saw her. But then he was startled when he heard some strange, distant music begin to play.

“It’s the Merpeople,” Neville whispered, looking towards the lake.

Harry’s heart jolted, he could just see them beneath the surface, and he flashed back horribly to the Inferi…with their dead bodies floating just beneath the surface of that lake. He didn’t have long to focus on them though, because Hagrid walked down the aisle between the two sets of chairs, and he carried Dumbledore’s body, wrapped in purple velvet fabric, towards the marble tomb at the front.

Someone began to speak at the front, but they could not hear what he was saying. Hermione reached across Daphne and grabbed Harry’s hand, pointing in the direction of the lake and the forest beyond.

Draco looked too, and they saw that the Merpeople had risen to the surface. The edge of the forest was lined with centaurs, they were just lurking in the shadows, they did not come out into the open. Hermione, Harry and Ginny were all crying, the others were a little more stoic. But Harry had viewed Dumbledore as a father figure. And wasn’t that odd? All of his parental figures were dead. They had stood in front of him one by one, and died, for him. His Father, his Mother, Sirius, Dumbledore…who was next? Remus? It was the most depressing thought of the entire day.

The man at the front had stopped speaking and resumed his seat. Dumbledore’s body burst into flames, and he was entombed in the marble tomb. Arrows flew through the air, although none landed anywhere near the crowd, and the centaurs having said goodbye to Dumbledore retreated into the forest. Hermione was practically sobbing now, and Draco looked like he was in agony as he put his arm around her, it was clearly tugging on his cuts but he wanted to comfort her.

It was all over, and people gradually began to get up and leave.

“Let me walk a little bit on my own,” Draco said, getting up from his chair, “Come here Potter, you’re short enough to be a crutch.”

“You’re an arse,” Harry said half-heartedly as he wiped his eyes hastily and supported Draco.

“God, you’re going to kill yourself!” Hermione exclaimed tearfully, “Pomfrey said you need the chair, Draco.”

Draco looked like he was in agony, “I also need to use my legs, Mione,” he half-spoke, half-gasped.

“She’s right, you’re struggling,” Harry said with a frown.

“Because he’s lopsided, here,” Ron said, standing on Draco’s other side.

Draco breathed a little easier, “Thanks Weasley. Look I don’t want to go far, just to the oak tree.”

“Alright,” Harry said, looking at Hermione in amusement. She seemed stunned that Ron had helped his old enemy. All the same she hooked her arms through Daphne’s and Ginny’s and they followed the boys as Neville walked alongside with Draco’s empty wheelchair. 

“Everything is going to be different now,” Ginny sighed.

Hermione nodded, “We’re relying on you two and Ron to hold the fort here, and lead the DA.”

“I know,” Ginny said with a small smile, “We’ll man the home front while you are out fighting the battles. It makes me feel so useless.”

“Me too,” Daphne said, “But somebody has to stay to protect the castle.”

They reached the oak tree and Draco sat under it, in the shade. They all sat, or lay on the grass as Susan and Lilly walked over and joined them. 

“I never thought I’d see Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley supporting Draco Malfoy,” Susan teased as she flopped onto the grass next to Neville.

“Black,” Draco corrected her.

Ron laughed, “Doesn’t seem important now, does it? Stupid schoolboy rivalries…I mean, we’re at war…people are going to die.”

“I know,” Harry said, staring around at his friends.

“I know what you’re thinking Harry, and it’s depressing,” Lilly said, recognizing the look on his face.

“What’s he thinking Lil?” Daphne asked, “We can’t all read his mind like you.”

“He’s thinking this might be the last time we’re all together,” Lilly said with a glance at Harry, “As morbid as it is.”

“Well he’s right,” Draco said, “It’s only a matter of time until Hogwarts falls to Voldemort. You won’t be as safe here as you should be…and as for us, we have no idea how much danger we’ll be in on the run.”

“I can’t believe you aren’t coming back,” Ginny said sadly, “Hogwarts will seem lonely without you all.”

“Not getting on that train on the 1st of September is going to feel weird,” Harry admitted, “But that’s just the way it has to be. I’m not safe here, and by association neither is Hermione.”

“You’re lucky you and Harry had a falling out,” Daphne said to Ron, “You’ll probably be questioned but you’re not directly associated with him.”

Draco sighed, “Even if I wanted to I couldn’t come back, I disobeyed an order and now I’m a half-breed. They’d kill me.”

“The rest of us don’t have an excuse,” Susan said in amusement.

“No,” Neville said, “We do, we want to protect our friends, that’s a good enough excuse for me.”

“Me too,” Susan said softly.

“Hear, hear,” Lilly said, lying on the grass with her head in Harry’s lap, “Does anyone have a camera?”

Susan pulled hers out of her bag, “Good idea,” she said, levitating the camera into the air.

“Okay everyone,” Lilly said, “Bunch up so we all fit into the frame.”

Draco was in the centre, leaning against the tree, with Hermione sitting next to him, his arm around her shoulders. On Draco’s other side was Harry, with Lilly lying in his lap. Next to Harry was Ron, and next to him was Daphne who were now sitting quite closely together which made the others snigger. On the end was Ginny. On the other side of Hermione was Neville and Susan ran in and sat between his legs once she had clicked the timer on the camera.

“3…2…1…Smile!” Susan said cheerfully.

And they all did, capturing the moment eternally.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

They eventually had to catch the Hogwarts express. Susan and Draco were leaving them at the gates, to get into a carriage to Bones Manor, along with Remus and Tonks. The others were to bundle themselves into carriages to Hogsmeade station.

They had about 5 minutes to say their goodbyes. There was a lot of hugging, and a brief kiss between Susan and Neville.

“Right, take care of yourself then Draco,” Neville said somewhat awkwardly.

“You too Longbottom,” Draco said, “And you Potter.”

Harry just nodded at his old enemy, Hermione leaned down and kissed him gently, “Write to me?”

“Promise,” Draco smiled, he lowered his voice, “Love you, Hermione.”

Hermione smiled back, “I love you too Draco,” she said, kissing him again before taking a step back.

Draco was then helped into the carriage by Pomfrey who reminded him to take pain potions if he needed them to get to sleep, and to rub the powdered silver and dittany ointment on his wounds daily for the next few months. Her parting words were not to do anything strenuous until the wounds had entirely closed. 

As the carriage left the others split into two carriages, and reconvened on the train where they grabbed a compartment big enough for all six of them.

“Weird to think we’ll never be back here again,” Neville said as the train pulled out of the station and they saw Hogwarts high up on the hill.

“It’s depressing,” Harry added.

“The whole world is depressing at the moment,” Ron said as he watched the world pass by through the large window. 

They tried to pass the time normally, by playing games and talking, but underneath the false normality was the truth. Everyone was scared, and everyone was feeling down. They found themselves splitting into smaller groups and having whispered conversations throughout the train journey. The first of which was between Harry and Hermione.

“I’ve been meaning to tell you Hermione, looks like you’re going to be the last out of our trio,” Harry said with a grin.

Hermione frowned, “The last to do what?”

“Remember last summer, when we betted you’d be the last one to…you know,” Harry whispered, “And then Ron was first with Lavender.”

“So you and Lilly then?” Hermione whispered back.

Harry nodded, Lilly was engaged in conversation with Ginny so she wasn’t paying attention, “The night after it all happened, the battle and everything. It just sort of…happened.”

“I hope you used the proper precautions,” Hermione said in a warning sort of tone.

“Of course we did, well Lilly did,” Harry said, backtracking a little.

Hermione shook her head in amusement, “And for your information I am not the last, you were.”

Harry frowned, “What?”

“Draco and I,” Hermione’s cheeks turned scarlet, “Said goodbye, the night before he let the Death Eaters in. We thought he was going to die, so we…said goodbye.”

“Said goodbye?” Harry asked a little too loudly, “Are you seriously telling me I was last?”

“Well, you are the youngest,” Hermione reasoned.

“What are you two whispering about?” Daphne asked in amusement.

“Nothing,” Harry and Hermione replied in unison.

“Anyway,” Harry said, clearing his throat and raising his voice before he could be questioned any further, “I needed to tell you something, well Lilly and Hermione specifically.”

“Go on then,” Lilly said pointedly.

“Yeah, don’t leave us in suspense,” Ginny joked.

“Well, I don’t know if I told you guys about this,” Harry said, to Ron and Ginny, “But Lilly found out that the Potters, Longbottoms, Bones’s, Greengrass’s, and Malfoys are descended from the founders.”

“Seriously?” Ron asked, “That’s pretty cool.”

“I didn’t think it meant anything, but Dumbledore mentioned it,” Harry admitted, “Before he died. He said, 7 friends, 7 descendants of founders.”

“But Hermione and I are muggle-borns,” Lilly said, “We can’t be descended from the founders.”

“Yes, you can,” Daphne said, “I mean, if my theory is right. I told Hermione about it months ago when we first became friends. Magic doesn’t just appear out of nowhere, muggle-borns have got to come from somewhere. I bet if you traced your family back you’d find a squib somewhere a few generations down, and that’s where the magic went dormant.”

“Dumbledore said that exact thing,” Harry admitted, “So you might have something with that theory if you ever publish it.”

“Let’s see if I live through the war first,” Daphne said darkly.

“Don’t say that,” Ginny said, “You will, we all will. Anyway, what were you and Ron whispering about earlier?”

“Tactics.”

“Recruitment.”

They answered simultaneously, Daphne rolled her eyes, “We were just making some plans, about the DA and exchanging addresses so we can correspond this summer.”

“You realise you can’t talk about the DA in letters, right?” Harry asked in disbelief, “The Ministry will check them, the Voldemort ministry.”

“We’re not stupid Harry, we just meant normal letters,” Ron said, looking a little sheepish.

“Oh yeah?” Lilly grinned.

“Well we need to get to know each other,” Daphne said calmly “We’re going to be leading the DA together next year.”

“Of course,” Hermione smiled, she mumbled to Harry, “That’s what she said to you when you were going to Slughorn’s party together right?”

Harry smirked and nodded, Hermione whispered, “And she had a crush on you then.”

“I know,” Harry chuckled, ignoring the glare from Daphne. She was watching them, but she had no idea of what was being said.

“Anyway,” Harry said, “As I was saying, Hermione and Lilly are descended from founders, Dumbledore said he knew they were but not which founders they were descended from.”

“Not that being descended from them makes a difference,” Hermione said.

“I don’t know, it might,” Lilly said, “I mean we’re all quite magically powerful…maybe the more founders descendants you have together, the stronger the magic?”

“Maybe,” Harry said, “But either way, Draco isn’t a Malfoy anymore.”

“Not in name,” Daphne said, “But his Father is still his Father. He can’t change his blood. You might have made him a Black using a blood vow but he will still always have Malfoy blood as much as he’ll hate that.”

“I don’t think it can mean anything,” Neville shrugged, and Harry was inclined to agree with him. They brushed the issue off, and started to play exploding snap. The game got so loud that Hermione and Lilly could no longer read their books in peace so they resorted to gossiping instead.

“Harry told you about me and him sleeping together earlier, didn’t he?” Lilly asked in amusement.

Hermione nodded sheepishly, “Sorry, we do kind of talk about…everything.”

Lilly shook her head, “I’m not bothered, I wanted to talk to you anyway. It was pretty obvious that you and Draco did it the night before the battle. The sexual tension was coming out of your pores when he was fixing the vanishing cabinet.”

Hermione’s cheeks turned even pinker at this, “Yeah, a day apart…I guess Harry and I do have more in common than I thought.”

“You’re like twins,” Lilly said with a shake of her head, “It’s the weirdest thing, I’ll tell Harry something and then I’ll tell you and you’ll say the exact same thing.”

Hermione laughed, “How awkward was he then?” she joked.

“Not at all actually,” Lilly whispered, “No offence, but I thought he would be. He sort of stumbles over his words and stuff all of the time. How much of a suave git was Draco?”

“He totally wasn’t,” Hermione admitted, “I mean it wasn’t even his idea, it was mine. He was quite a gentleman about the whole thing.”

“Really?” Lilly asked in surprise, “I never thought Draco would be the thoughtful kind…”

Hermione leant closer to Lilly, who was sitting next to her and whispered, “He really was, thanks to him it wasn’t even painful.”

Lilly raised an eyebrow, “If you tell me he used a soothing charm I’m going to be weirded out.”

“He did. Why is that weird?” Hermione asked.

“Because Harry did the exact same thing,” Lilly whispered.

Hermione snorted in amusement, and Lilly burst out laughing. Although they got on, Draco and Harry still protested that they were totally different which made it all the more funny.

“What are you two laughing about?” Harry asked suspiciously.

“Nothing!” Hermione said, as she wiped away tears of laughter.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The train journey was over far too quickly, it always seemed to fly by but this time it had been even worse. They were all quite miserable as they got off of the train and said their goodbyes.

“Well there’s my Uncle,” Neville sighed, “I am not looking forward to spending summer with him.”

“It’s not for long,” Harry said with a smile, “Just last until the 2nd of August and make sure you meet us at the rendezvous point.”

Neville nodded, “Right, well bye then,” he said. He hugged Hermione and then waved goodbye as he walked over to his short, squat, Uncle. 

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley reached them just as he left, she did the rounds and hugged them all, telling Harry and Hermione how much she had missed them at Christmas.

“But we’ll see you all for the wedding won’t we?” Mrs. Weasley asked.

Harry nodded, “We wouldn’t miss it for the world Mrs. Weasley. Are you sure that you don’t mind Lilly coming along too?”

Mrs. Weasley smiled knowingly, “Oh no, of course not Harry! She wouldn’t want to miss your 17th after all!”

Harry smiled and grinned at Lilly.

“Thank you Mrs. Weasley,” Lilly said politely, “I’m really grateful.”

Mrs. Weasley shook her head, “The more, the merrier,” she said cheerfully. 

“See you then,” Ginny said, hugging them all, apart from Ron of course.

Ron nodded at them, “See you,” he said. He hugged Harry and Hermione as usual, and Lilly hugged him too much to his embarrassment and Hermione’s amusement. He and Daphne simply nodded at each other. 

The Weasley’s left, and Daphne sighed, “I’ve just seen Astoria, so I had better go.”

“Good luck next year Daph,” Hermione said, hugging her friend tightly.

As soon as she let go Lilly launched herself at Daphne and hugged her, “I’m going to miss you so much, I’m sorry about being angry over the whole Harry thing.”

Daphne smiled, “Don’t worry about it,” she said honestly, “It’s forgotten.”

Harry smiled a little sadly as he hugged Daphne, “Take care of yourself next year, and keep in touch.”

“I will,” Daphne promised as she turned to watch her sister, “I have to go, good luck.”

They watched her go, and Lilly sighed, “I hate goodbyes,” she said, linking her right arm in Harry’s and her left in Hermione’s.

“I’m not exactly keen on them either,” Harry said miserably as they walked through the wall and made their way into the main waiting area of Kings cross. 

“Where are you going then Lil?” Hermione asked her.

“Surrey,” Lilly said matter of factly, “I’ve got a couple of job interviews there and there are plenty of youth hostels. I’ve got just enough money to tide me over for the first couple of weeks until I find something.”

“How are you getting there?” Harry asked.

“Oh, I was just going to get the bus,” Lilly said.

Harry scoffed, “Don’t be stupid, I’ll get my Aunt and Uncle to drive you.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Lilly said with a frown.

Harry grinned, a little evilly, “It’s a great idea! Hermione, are your parents here?”

Hermione scanned the station and saw them, “Yeah, I should go. I’ll see you for your birthday, Harry, and you Lilly.”

She hugged them both, and kissed Harry on the cheek, then she walked through the station to her parents who she greeted a little tearfully.

“Ah, there they are,” Harry said, finally spotting his Aunt and Uncle, Dudley wasn’t with them today, “Come on.”

“Harry…” Lilly said cautiously as he took her hand and led her over to them.

“Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia,” Harry said happily, “This is my girlfriend.”

Vernon narrowed his eyes at her, “Is she…one of your lot?”

“She’s a muggle-born, like my Mum,” Harry said simply, “She’s staying in Surrey. Can we give her a run home?”

Vernon’s face began to transition towards red and looked as if he was trying to puff himself up. Petunia looked a little flustered, “I’m not sure we have time-”

“She’s staying nearby,” Harry said, “Aren’t you Lilly?”

Petunia’s face paled, and Lilly nodded, “Oh I’m just staying in Weybridge. But it’s okay, I can get a bus.”

“No, don’t be silly. We’ll give you a lift, won’t we Vernon?” Petunia said weakly.

Vernon looked at her incredulously, but Petunia just placed her hand on his arm, “Come on, let’s go to the car.”

Vernon let her lead him away and Harry shot Lilly a triumphant grin as they pulled their trunks out of the station and loaded them into the car.

TBC :)


	29. Summer Dreams, Ripped at the Seams

The carriage trip to Bones Manor was around 2 hours long, and Draco was grateful that the carriage was charmed to avoid bumping around on the bad, single carriage lanes they were using. Draco spent most of the trip dozing on Remus’s shoulder, after taking a pain potion to deal with the tough journey. He woke up and heard odd parts of conversations between Susan, Remus and Tonks but he was pretty much out of it as the carriage trundled along by the mountains of the Cairngorms, and eventually came to a stop somewhere in rural Perthshire.

“Draco,” Remus said, nudging the boy on his shoulder, “We’re here.”

Draco woke up, trying to shake the dopey feeling induced by the pain potion. He ate a bar of chocolate that Remus had handed him and then he accepted the older man’s help getting out of the carriage and back into that damned chair. 

Draco had been here before of course, he had visited Susan the previous summer when they had been dating. Bones Manor was quite a spectacular building, it wasn’t as large or gothic as Malfoy Manor, but it was also far less evil looking. It had the appearance of a quaint, ivy covered country house and it was in the middle of nowhere like most wizarding houses were. The carriage had stopped right in front of the house, but all around them were vast gardens filled with animals, magical and otherwise. There were also two out-buildings which were practically cottages in their own right, and then there was the barn as well. Remus pushed Draco into the entrance hall of the Manor which was lovely and cool after the boiling summer day heat outside.

Remus looked around the grand entrance hall with a smile. There were stained glass windows with the Bones crest at the top, and the names of each family member, the sun was streaming through them onto the cool marble floor. The Manor had four floors, and a large square staircase with varying landings just off of the entrance hall that connected them all.

“Right,” Susan said, “Draco, you’ve been here before but I’ll give you both a quick tour-”

“I don’t need a tour,” Remus said fondly, “Good old Bones Manor. The last time I was here was…oh ’77 I think it must have been.”

Susan stared at him in shock, “You’ve been here?”

“Yeah, did your Aunt never mention me?” Remus asked the redhead.

Susan frowned, “Uh…no. Why? Should she have done?”

“Oh I suppose not, she did like to keep secrets,” Remus said thoughtfully, “Amy had the biggest ball here for her 17th that summer…”

“Amy?” Susan asked in disbelief.

Remus seemed snapped out of his reverie, “Yeah, we dated back in Hogwarts.”

“What?” Susan barked, Draco winced at the sound, “How could she not have told me that? I mean I was talking to her about you when you were our teacher in 3rd year!”

“Well, maybe she didn’t want you to find out,” Remus reasoned.

“Find out what?” Susan asked anxiously.

Remus fixed her with a long look, “You’re actually our daughter Susan, your parents adopted you.”

Susan’s eyes widened, “What?” she barked.

“Yeah, what?” Tonks echoed in disbelief.

Draco sniggered in the background and Remus grinned, “Oh come on, I was a Marauder. I still need to pull some pranks.”

Tonks laughed in a relieved sort of way, and Susan blew out a breath, “Jeez, what did I let myself in for this summer?”

“Don’t worry I’ll stick around,” Tonks laughed, “I think you’ll need the help.”

Susan shook her head in amusement and clicked her fingers, making two house elves appear, “Mistress Susan is homes!”

“Dabbles, Gabbles, we have some guests staying with us for a month or so,” Susan said kindly, “This is Remus, Tonks and Draco. Guys, my house elves Dabble and Gabble.”

“Gabble will-”

“- And Dabble-”

“- Shall prepare missy Susan’s rooms-”

“- We was not expecting guests missy Susan-”

“- No, we was not but we will make three-”

“- Two, Gabble!”

“No three Dabble! There is three peoples here-”

“- But those two is togethers Gabble!”

“Stop bickering,” Susan cut in as she looked to Remus and Tonks in amusement, “So, is it a room each or a double room?” she asked in amusement.

Tonks and Remus looked at each other in amusement (in Tonks case) and embarrassment (in Remus’s case).

“Well that’s up to you, Remus,” Tonks said, ignoring Draco’s laughter from behind them.

Remus cleared his throat, “A double room please, Dabble and Gabble.”

“Yes, of course!” They said in unison, disappearing with a crack.

Susan shook her head, “Sorry, they’re siblings so they are always like that. But as I was saying, welcome to the manor. Feel free to make yourself at home while you’re here.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Their summer holidays were longer than normal this year, not that it was a holiday as far as Harry was concerned anyway. They had left Hogwarts around three weeks early, because of Dumbledore’s death. Harry had to admit though, these holidays had been more bearable than any other holiday so far. Vernon had gone mental at him when they got home for the stunt he had pulled with Lilly, and he had been locked in his room again. He heard his Aunt getting roared at for what had happened too, but he was sure he heard her shouting back for once. For the most part they left him alone, and although he knew there were order members babysitting him he still went out for walks and Lilly came to visit as often as she could. It was on one of these visits, towards the end of June that Petunia decided to get herself involved.

“So, how is work?” Harry asked conversationally as they lay on the grass together in the back garden of privet drive, eating choc ices they had nabbed from the freezer.

“It’s work,” Lilly shrugged, “It pays the bills you know? But I couldn’t be a waitress forever.”

“What do you want to do?” Harry asked her curiously, rolling onto his front so he could look at her properly.

“I don’t know,” Lilly admitted, “I always wondered about the Ministry but it’s so corrupt now. I still like the idea of the Department of Mysteries though.”

“There’s some dark stuff down there,” Harry warned her, “You’d get caught up in all kinds of shit that shouldn’t be going on…like bringing the dead back to life, and trying to figure out time travel.”

“You don’t believe in that?” Lilly asked.

“I used to wish for my parents back more than anything else,” Harry said honestly, “But when people die they should be allowed to rest…we shouldn’t pull them back and we can’t change time. I tried once with a time turner, it just makes everything confusing.”

Lilly hummed thoughtfully as Dudley wobbled into the garden with a tray. There were four glasses and a jug of lemonade on it, “Mum said to bring this out,” he mumbled, putting the tray onto the grass.

“Stay out with us Dudley,” Lilly said kindly as Dudley turned back towards the house, “We were just talking about time travel, don’t you love all that stuff? Doctor Who and all?”

Dudley’s eyes lit up and he nodded, “You know Doctor Who?”

“My Dad had all the box sets,” Lilly laughed, “My favourite is Tom Baker. Who’s yours?”

“John Pertwee,” Dudley said, sitting down on the grass, “He’s my favourite. Do you like James Bond?”

Lilly shot Harry a triumphant smile, “Who doesn’t like James Bond?”

“Pierce Brosnan is great, don’t you think?” Dudley asked eagerly.

“He’s good,” Lilly agreed, “I loved Timothy Dalton though.”

Harry watched their exchange in amusement, and surprise as Petunia walked into the garden, looking equally as shocked to see them getting on. Lilly was laughing about something Dudley had said as she poured out lemonade, when she saw Petunia she looked up with a smile.

“Oh, would you like a glass Mrs. Dursley?” She asked politely.

“Yes please Lillian,” Petunia said, she always called Lilly by her full name. Harry knew Lilly would ask Harry why at some point, and when she did he would explain. 

Lilly handed her a glass and Petunia sat down close to them on the patio, “What are you three talking about?”

“Oh just TV,” Lilly said honestly.

“Lilly likes Doctor Who and the James Bond films too, Aunt Petunia,” Harry said.

“My Dad loved them both so I grew up on them,” Lilly said.

“Do you live with your parents in Weybridge?” Petunia asked conversationally.

“No, my parents are from Hackney,” Lilly said, “I’m staying and working in Weybridge.”

“Oh, which hotel are you staying in?” Petunia asked.

Lilly looked down awkwardly, “I’m just staying in a youth hostel, actually.”

Petunia looked down, seemingly torn between what to do or say. She had been different during the days while Vernon was at work, especially when Lilly was around and even Dudley seemed to be making more of an effort.

“Well, food in youth hostels can be appalling,” Petunia said eventually, “You must come for dinner next Friday. My husband has a business dinner so we will not be disturbed.”

“You mean so he won’t get angry,” Dudley said quietly.

“Yes, well you know what he thinks of Harry’s friends,” Petunia said diplomatically, “Would you be willing to join us, Lillian?”

“Uh, yeah, I would love to Mrs. Dursley,” Lilly smiled.

Petunia gave her a small smile in return and continued to sip from her glass of lemonade while Harry watched in amazement.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Harry’s mirror from Sirius had been broken, but Hermione had fixed it a little. She had gotten rid of the sharp edges so that it was a circular mirror, encased simply in silver so that it could be held. She had made one for every single person who was ‘in on it’ as it were; herself, Draco, Harry, Lilly, Neville, Susan, Daphne, Ron, Ginny, and Remus. They all looked the same, and they could all be used to communicate easily. Harry’s mirror was also linked to the Room of Requirement because Daphne, Ron and Ginny had been ordered to destroy their mirrors before they went back to school.

To operate the mirrors all you had to do was say the password which was as simple as “Motley crew”, which Hermione had come up with and Lilly had laughed loudly at. After that you spoke the name of the person you wished to speak to, and their mirror would vibrate. If they picked it up and said yes, the communication was open.

“So she’s coming for dinner on Friday,” Harry was telling Hermione via the mirror.

“What?” Hermione asked in disbelief.

“Yeah, my Aunt invited her when she found out she was staying in a youth hostel,” Harry said.

“Is your Uncle going to be there?” Hermione asked.

“No, he’s got a business dinner, thank god,” Harry said, “It’s going to be awkward enough. Petunia’s actually started treating me better this summer for some reason though. Maybe she just feels sorry for me since I’m probably going to die.”

“You’re not going to die,” Hermione said firmly, “How is Lilly?”

“She’s fine,” Harry said, “Same old Lilly. Have you had word from anyone recently?”

“I was talking to Draco last night,” Hermione said in amusement, “Apparently Remus and Tonks are sharing a room in Bones Manor.”

Harry snorted, “Maybe Remus will be in a better mood if he’s getting some.’

Hermione grinned, “You’ve certainly been in a better mood since you’ve been getting some.”

“Hermione!”

Hermione smirked, “It’s true-”

“Hermione, dinner’s ready!”

Hermione laughed, “Lucky you, I have to go. Catch up later?”

Harry laughed, “Bye Hermione,” he said, ending the ‘call’.

He had not long stopped talking to Hermione when the mirror buzzed. He had been emptying his school trunk to figure out what he could leave here and what he needed to take with him when he left. He grabbed the mirror, and saw that it was flashing up with Remus’s name, Harry grinned as he said, ‘yes’, to open the communication.

Remus’s face appeared in the mirror, he was smiling, “Ah, I caught you. Are you alone?”

“Yep,” Harry said, sitting down on his bed, “Just me and these four walls, which Dudley can listen through. How are things at Bones Manor?”

“Fine,” Remus replied, “Everyone is getting on well, Tonks has been teaching Susan all sorts of dangerous jinxes recently. You won’t want to piss her off.”

Harry laughed, “And how is Draco?”

“Still bound to his bed or the chair,” Remus answered, “And not happy about it either. But his cuts are practically closed, so he’ll be out of it by the end of the week with any luck.”

“And he’s coping alright?” Harry asked.

“He’s coping fine,” Remus smiled, “He’s missing Hermione, Susan was saying yesterday she’s sick of him whining.”

Harry laughed and Remus said, “On that note, the order members that have been trailing you reported that you’ve spending a great deal of time in the house with Lilly.”

“And?” Harry asked.

“Well,” Remus began awkwardly, “You two are still very young and you shouldn’t be…uh…active-”

Harry’s cheeks burned red, “Remus, this better not be the talk. I’ve never had parents so I never thought I’d have to go through this.”

“Exactly, and I feel I should warn you of-”

“Oh my god, no, please stop talking,” Harry said in disbelief, “I’m not going to get her pregnant, she’s 17, she can use magic.”

“Right,” Remus said, clearing his throat, “So you two are actively-”

“Remus!” Harry exclaimed, “You are not my Father, please stop talking.”

“Alright,” Remus said, looking thoroughly embarrassed, “I will just say one thing though Harry. Be extra careful, we’re going into a war…we don’t want accidents to happen.”

“Okay, okay, no accidents,” Harry said, unable to look Remus in the eye, “Can we drop this subject now?”

“Yes, let’s,” Remus said, clearing his throat again, “Tonks wants to talk to you.”

There was rustling as the mirror was passed to Tonks who grinned, “Sorry about the awkwardness of that Harry, it was my idea. I was a little worried.”

“It’s fine,” Harry said, still incredibly red-faced and embarrassed.

“Is it true that Lilly’s going to have dinner with your family?” Tonks asked.

“Uh yeah, how did you hear about that?” Harry asked, “That literally just happened today.”

“Your neighbor told me,” Tonks said offhandedly, “She was on Potter watch.”

“That’s what you call it?” Harry asked in disbelief.

“Yeah,” Tonks said brightly, “Tell Lilly to give us a buzz if she’s struggling with what to wear. I’ve got way too many dresses.”

“I doubt they’d fit her Tonks, she’s like 5 foot,” Harry laughed.

“Shrinking charm,” Tonks winked as she cut the connection.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When Friday came Lilly took Tonks’s advice (passed on via Harry). She had gone through her entire wardrobe, which was quite minimal really and then she had thrown herself onto the bed in frustration. She was staying in a youth hostel so she shared a room with 5 other girls, meaning she couldn’t just start talking to a mirror without looking insane. So she slipped into the bathroom and locked the door, then said the password and Remus’s name.

His face appeared after a few seconds.

“Hi Remus, is Tonks there?” Lilly asked.

“Yeah I’ll grab her, she’s just re-dressing Draco’s bite at the moment,” Remus said conversationally, “Are you in a bathroom?”

“Yeah I’m sharing a room in a hostel with 5 muggle girls so I’m taking precautionary measures to avoid the loony bin,” Lilly laughed, “What did Draco do to have to get his bite re-dressed?”

“He was allowed out of the chair today,” Remus said with a long-suffering look, “He got startled by a peacock in the garden so he pulled his wand out, and ripped open the bite on his shoulder at the same time. Everything else is healing up nicely, but that’s still a little delicate.”

Lilly shook her head, Remus was clearly walking through the house to find Tonks, “Does Hermione know?”

“No,” Remus said, “And we’re not telling her, under Draco’s orders. She’s worried enough about him as it is.”

“Well, he did just get mauled by a werewolf a few weeks ago,” Lilly said, “He’s got to take it easy.”

“We all know that, but he still hasn’t accepted it,” Remus said, “Ah here she is. Tonks, it’s Lilly.”

“Ooh, give the mirror here,” Tonks said, literally jumping into sight, “It’s the big night!”

Lilly laughed, “I’m taking you up on your advice, I have nothing to wear! His Aunt is always so well dressed, and my cupboard is made up of jeans and my school uniform. I have one dress and it looks like something you would wear to a funeral. In fact I did wear it to Dumbledore’s funeral.”

Tonks laughed, “I have loads you can choose from. You can’t floo can you?”

“No, but I can apparate, I’ve passed my test,” Lilly said.

“Perfect, apparate to Kenmore as soon as you can, it’s the closest village. I’ll meet you in the town centre,” Tonks said.

“Alright,” Lilly laughed, “See you soon.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

An hour later Lilly walked into Bones Manor arm in arm with Tonks.

“Lil!” Susan exclaimed, running across the entrance hall to hug her, “I’ve missed you!”

Lilly laughed, “It’s only been a couple of weeks Suse,” she said.

“I didn’t even know you were visiting,” Susan said.

“I wasn’t,” Lilly said, “But Harry’s Aunt invited me to dinner tonight and I need a dress.”

Susan snorted, “And you have none.”

“I would have asked you, but you’re more a skirt and crop top girl, so Tonks said she has a load of dresses I could pick from,” Lilly explained.

“I own two dresses,” Susan admitted, “One is my funeral dress, and the other is the dress I wear to weddings.”

“Oh god, the wedding,” Lilly said with wide eyes, “I’ve no idea what I’ll wear to Bill and Fleurs wedding!”

“I’ll sort you out,” Tonks said with a grin, “Come on up, our room is on the 2nd floor.”

“Is Draco still sulking?” Lilly asked as she and Susan went upstairs with Tonks.

“Not anymore, he’s with Remus,” Susan said, “They’re playing chess, but he’s bed bound again because of the bite opening up.”

“He won’t let Hermione visit,” Tonks added as they walked into a large double bedroom with a huge wardrobe and Lilly dropped onto the sofa.

“She told me, and she’s going mad with worry,” Lilly said irritably, “Why won’t he let her?”

“As much as Draco loves Hermione he can’t stand the thought of her always seeing him so weak,” Tonks said as she opened her wardrobe, “I think he wants to be stronger, and more like himself before he lets her come round.”

“At least he’s still talking to her via the mirrors,” Susan said, “It would be worse if he was just ignoring her.”

“He’s struggling to come to terms with it, isn’t he?” Lilly asked them knowingly, “Everyone is lying when they tell Harry, Hermione and me that’s hes fine.”

Tonks bit her lip and sat down next to her on the sofa, “Lilly, it’s hard to understand. I never did, not until these past few weeks with Remus. I know Draco isn’t a full werewolf, but he has changed, he’s dangerous.”

“He’s not dangerous,” Lilly scoffed.

“He destroyed the bed in his room last week,” Susan told her friend, “He got frustrated and lost control of his magic.”

“Everything changes when you are bitten by a werewolf,” Tonks said gently, “Full, or half, it enhances everything. His magic is more powerful, he has more strength, his hearing is better, he can smell everything around him. He’s scared because he doesn’t want to hurt Hermione and I’m not sure he entirely trusts himself yet.”

“He couldn’t hurt her, he loves her too much,” Susan said, “But he doesn’t know that yet.”

“He needs to see his first full moon,” Tonks said, “Once he knows what he has to deal with it will be easier for him. He’s terrified of the unknown at the moment.”

Lilly sighed, “I know, I know it must be horrible for him…but I just know how much Hermione misses him. If it had been Harry, and I had to spend all these weeks away from him…”

“They’ll be fine,” Susan smiled, “They’ll just snog for hours when they do eventually see each other.”

Tonks laughed and got to her feet, walking towards the wardrobe once more, “Alright, so dinner with your boyfriends family…you want something classy.”

“Yeah,” Lilly said, “Nothing too fancy.”

“I think I have the perfect dress,” Tonks said as she showed Lilly a white sundress patterned with multi-coloured flowers.

“Oh, that is perfect Tonks!” Lilly said gratefully.

“Pop it on and I’ll shrink it to size,” Tonks said happily, “Do you have any shoes to match?”

“I have white dolly shoes,” Lilly said, “They’ll go perfect.”

Susan smiled, “I’ll do your hair Lil, if you want?”

Lilly grinned, “Of course Suse.”

Tonks smiled at them both and Susan sat down next to Lilly and began on her hair, saying, “Remus and Tonks are fast becoming the Mum and Dad of our motley crew.”

Tonks laughed, “Mum? Do you know something crazy? I’m closer in age to you two than I am to Remus.”

“Really?” Lilly asked in surprise, “How big an age gap is there between you two? If you don’t mind me asking?”

“I don’t mind at all,” Tonks said honestly, “I’m 24, and he’s 37, so 13 years.”

Lilly’s eyes popped, and Tonks noticed with a laugh, “I know, he’s way too old for me, right?”

“No,” Lilly said sheepishly, “He just looks younger.”

“I’ll tell him you said that,” Tonks said, helping Lilly into the dress and zipping it up at the back. It swamped her, and Tonks laughed, “Harry was right, you are tiny.”

“Pocket rocket he calls her,” Susan chuckled.

Tonks did a simple shrinking charm and told Lilly to say when the dress was tight enough, and short enough. She did and Tonks looked at her handy work, “You look lovely in it. You might as well keep it, I haven’t worn it in years.”

“Really?” Lilly asked in surprise.

“Of course,” Tonks said, “If I’m the Mum then the least I can do is lend you my clothes.”

Lilly hugged her in a flash of emotion, “Thank you so much, I was so nervous that she would look down on me tonight. She’s quite posh, Harry’s Aunt, and I’m from the East end of London.”

“There’s nothing wrong with the East end of London,” Tonks said, “And posh people are overrated,” she winked at Susan.

“I know,” Susan joked, “I’m a spoiled little bitch remember?”

“Oh come on, I was 13 when I called you that,” Lilly cringed.

“I told you I’d never let you forget it,” Susan grinned.

Lilly shook her head, “I should head back, I’m due at Harry’s house in half an hour.”

“I’ll go back with you,” Tonks said, “I’m on Potter watch tonight.”

Lilly snorted, “Potter watch?”

“We couldn’t think of a better name,” Tonks grinned.

“I’m just going to nip in to visit Draco first,” Lilly said, “Which room is his Suse?”

“He’s just upstairs,” Susan said, “I’ll show you.”

They walked onto the landing and towards the top floor of the Manor. The roof here began to slant and the wooden beams supporting the roof were exposed. Susan knocked on one of three doors leading off of the landing.

“Yes Lilly you can come in.”

Susan rolled her eyes, “He’s doing that all of the time at the moment.”

Lilly chuckled and walked into the room where Draco was currently sitting up in his bed topless with a large white bandage on his shoulder, it was stained with blood.

“You were listening to our conversation then?”

“I told him to tune out, it’s rude to eavesdrop,” Remus said with a pointed look at Draco.

“I didn’t listen to all of it,” Draco admitted, “But I heard enough to figure you’re having dinner with Potter’s muggle lot tonight.”

“Yeah,” Lilly said, “Which I am not looking forward to. Look, I can’t stay long, I was just going to say that I think you should explain to Hermione why you aren’t letting her see you. She’ll understand, but she’s worried that you’re worse than everyone is saying.”

“What about what I want?” Draco asked, “I don’t want her to see me like this Lilly. Look at me, I have all these ugly oozing wounds, and I’m a wreck. I am a weak, pathetic wreck, she’s not seeing me like this.”

“Just tell her the truth, that’s all I said,” Lilly said with a disappointed sort of look, “I have to go, Tonks is taking me to Harry’s. I’ll see you Draco.”

Draco gave her a brisk nod and she left, after hugging Susan and promising to try and visit again.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Uh Tonks, what are you doing here? And you look fantastic by the way Lil.”

Tonks smirked, “I’m on Potter watch tonight, so I thought I’d get Lilly here safely.”

Harry shook his head, “You got this shift on purpose so you could spy on our dinner didn’t you?”

Tonks grinned, “I’d never do something like that Harry,” she winked.

Harry laughed, “Are you coming Lil? We’re eating out on the patio.”

Lilly nodded, and Harry could tell she was nervous as they said goodbye to Tonks who turned herself invisible. Lilly hooked her arm through Harry’s and they walked through the gate into the back garden. Petunia and Dudley were already at the table.

“Oh, Lillian, perfect timing,” Petunia said with a smile, “Would you and Harry like to sit?”

They sat down, opposite Petunia and Dudley and Petunia told them to serve themselves and start eating. Harry served Lilly, and then himself and shot her a smile, grabbing her hand under the table.

The evening went well to begin with, they made small talk about the things that they liked. Lilly and Dudley talked a little more about TV, and Petunia was asking Lilly about her hobbies which led Lilly to tell her that she played the guitar and had always wanted to play the piano. The conversation turned to family as Petunia talked about what Dudley had been like as a child.

“So is Dudley your only child?” Lilly asked.

“Yes,” Petunia replied, “He was quite a handful when he was little, weren’t you Dudders?” 

Dudley’s face turned scarlet.

“And then we had Harry from about a year old onwards,” Petunia added, “So we decided not to have another. Do you have any siblings, Lillian?”

Lilly’s façade began to crumble and Harry noticed instantly.

“I had a brother,” she said weakly.

“Lil-”

“I…I just need a bit of air,” Lilly said, getting up from the table and making for the gate. She knew her excuse made no sense because they were already outside.

Petunia’s eyes widened, “Did I say something wrong?”

“No, Aunt Petunia,” Harry said as he got to his feet, “She’s just had a pretty tough upbringing. I’ll go after her, it’s alright.”

Without waiting for her to say anything else he darted out of the gate and jogged up the road after Lilly.

“Do you know where you’re going?”

“No,” Lilly said tearfully.

Harry grabbed her hand and pulled her into an alleyway, “Come with me, I know a quiet little place.”

Lilly nodded wordlessly and allowed Harry to lead her to the small park where he had roamed the summer after Cedric’s death. They sat down on the swings, and swung silently for a little while.

“Lil, are you ever going to tell me about your family?” Harry asked her, “Because you know everything about me, but I don’t know anything about your pre-Hogwarts years.”

“I don’t like talking about it,” Lilly muttered.

“I know Lil,” Harry said, “But I feel like there’s this huge part of you that I don’t know.”

Lilly looked down at her feet, kicking herself further onto the swing, “I have a brother.”

“You’ve never mentioned him before,” Harry said.

“That’s because I’ve not seen him in years,” Lilly said angrily, “He’s in foster care.”

“Oh, because of your parents…”

“Because of their drug abuse, yes,” Lilly said angrily, her anger was directed at her parents though, not Harry. 

“His name is Bobby,” Lilly said, “My Mum is called Kat, and my Dad is called Alfie. There, you know three things about me now.”

“Lilly, it scares me,” Harry admitted, “I think about it all of the time, I think about the horrible things that could have happened to you. Whatever they are, they can’t be worse than the things I’m imagining.”

Lilly looked at him, her blue eyes glazed with tears, “It’s pretty bad.”

“Come here,” Harry said gently.

She looked at him hesitantly and then walked over to him, sitting down on his lap as he gently swung backwards and forwards.

“I’ve always thought you looked underfed,” Harry said honestly, “I mean, look at me. I’m finally starting to get some bulk this year, but only because I’ve been training myself. When you’re underfed for years it’s hard to shake that. We’re both built like seekers because we both struggled growing up, aren’t we? Lack of food stunts your growth, and I know for a guy I’m small but you are tiny.”

Lilly looked down at her hands, she wore two rings. One was her sapphire friendship ring, the ring that had three friends in Hermione, Daphne and Susan. The other ring was a simple gold band, “This was my Grandma’s wedding ring. She died, when I was 4…that was when I had to start feeding myself.”

Harry frowned, but didn’t say anything as Lilly stared into the distance.

“She fed me my bottle, and put me onto solid foods…she used to come by while my Mum was working and look after me. But she just stopped coming one day, and I found out later she’d had a heart attack. My Dad left when I was little and he sort of came in and out of my life until I got my Hogwarts letter. But my Mum was…she….”

Lilly shook her head, “She worked in some sleazy club. She tried to stay clean when I was small, but it didn’t last very long. When I was 5 my Mum had another baby, but there was never a man involved, not that I ever saw anyway. She called him Bobby, and she practically left him to die. He wouldn’t have gotten fed, I had to steal milk bottles from doorsteps after the milkman had been and I had to feed him with a spoon because we didn’t have any bottles…”

Harry gripped Lilly tightly, he knew things had been hard for her, but he had never realised quite how hard.

“So, I fed him, and I looked after him. But I had to leave him alone all day when I was at primary school. The house was a mess, there were needles and empty sachets everywhere and Bobby was just a baby so he wanted to put everything in his mouth,” Lilly said quietly, “My mum always had some kind of man around…they forgot to put food down sometimes, we were like dogs to them…and sometimes they’d be gone for days.”

“I’m sorry Lilly, I shouldn’t have made you talk about this,” Harry said. Tears fell down Lilly’s face as she spoke, but she wasn’t sobbing. It was like she hadn’t noticed them falling. 

Lilly shook her head, “The cuts and burns were from my Dad, when he was around. I did weird things that they couldn’t explain. I moved things, I made a knife fly at him once…it stabbed him in the leg. When I got angry my hair billowed like there was wind, and they called me a demon…he said I was possessed so he burned me with his cigarettes…he cut me after I stabbed him. It was his revenge.”

Harry was frozen in horror as he heard her story. She didn’t seem able to stop now she had begun to speak. 

“The first time I really lost control with accidental magic was when I was 10,” Lilly said, her voice catching in her throat, “My Dad wasn’t in our life then, he’d fucked off like he always did so my Mum had one of her many boyfriends round at the flat. She went out, and I put Bobby to bed...then he tried to…he did things he shouldn’t have done to a 10 year old,” Lilly said her face ablaze with anger, “And all of a sudden everything in the room started to fly at him, and he ran out, screaming.”

Harry’s eyes were icy, “How dare they call themselves parents and let that happen to their daughter. I can honestly say that the thought of having to kill Voldemort…I still struggle with it, the thought of having to take someone’s life makes me doubt my morals. But I would quite happily murder those animals for what they did to you.”

“Harry,” Lilly said quietly, “If you murdered them I would lose you, because you would lose yourself. You’re not a cold-blooded murderer, I could never let you murder someone for me. It would destroy you.”

Harry leant into her, resting his head on her neck, “How can you be so normal Lilly? After all that you’ve been through?”

“I’m not normal,” Lilly said, “Underneath the surface this is always bubbling…I’ve lost everything. I don’t know where my parents are and I don’t care either. But I lost Bobby, and that was my fault.”

“How can it have been your fault?” Harry asked.

“He was taken into foster care,” Lilly said, her voice now very choked, “Because I went to Hogwarts. I raised him, I was the one who fed him, who clothed him, bathed him, took him to school. He called me Mum, and he only ever called our real mum Laura. When I got my Hogwarts letter I was an 11 year old kid who had spent the last 6 years being a Mother to a little boy. I wanted a normal life, I wanted school, and friends, and parties. I didn’t want to spend my life raising a child when I was a kid myself.”

“Of course you felt that way,” Harry said, “That doesn’t make you a bad person.”

“Yes it does!” Lilly snapped, “I picked the selfish option. I went to Hogwarts for me, thinking my Mum might pick herself up for Bobby. But I knew deep down she wouldn’t…the day I left he stood there on the doorstep and stared up at me, this little 6 year old boy with his big brown eyes and he said, ‘Don’t leave me,’ and I just turned around and left…I didn’t say goodbye, I just walked away from him, and he needed me…he was taken into foster care a month later, and I’ve not seen him since I walked away that day.”

Harry held her closer, and stroked her hair as she sobbed, “Shh Lil, this is going to be okay.”

“How is it ever going to be okay?” Lilly practically cried as she rubbed her tears away angrily, “How am I ever going to have kids Harry? How can I raise a child when I left one?”

“You didn’t leave a child Lilly,” Harry said angrily, “You should never have had to look after your brother, and your parents should never have put you in that situation! But he wasn’t your child, he was your brother. It would be different, you wouldn’t…you wouldn’t be able to leave a baby that had been part of you for 9 months, a baby you had given birth to.”

Lilly looked up at him, her face stained with tears, “How do you know?”

“I just know,” Harry said honestly, “Everybody says it, you’ll never know true, unconditional love until you’ve had a child of your own. I know you feel guilty about your brother, but you were an 11 year old vulnerable girl then, and that letter…god I know what that letter feels like, it feels like your dreams are coming true, like the fairytales you dream up in your head are happening, and for the first time ever you understand why you’re different, and you have a chance to be in a place where you can be normal. God, Lilly, that feeling…that feeling is irresistible.”

“But I left him Harry,” Lilly said, “I just left him!”

“You were a kid,” Harry said, “It doesn’t matter how much you had gone through, you were still a kid.”

Lilly nodded weakly, and Harry held her close to him as she began to breathe normally again. 

“I’m taking you to Bones Manor tonight Lil,” Harry said quietly, “I don’t want you to be alone.”

“I’ll be fine,” Lilly said, “And you can’t apparate.”

“I know, but Tonks can and she’ll be on patrol somewhere nearby,” Harry said, “I think you need to stay there tonight, I think you need someone you love to be with you.”

“I love you Harry,” Lilly said, in an almost child-like way.

“I know Lil,” Harry said, kissing her on the head, “But I can’t leave Little Whinging until the trace breaks, and you know my Aunt would never let you stay the night. She’s far too old fashioned. Promise me you’ll let Tonks take you to the manor?”

“I promise,” Lilly said as she got to her feet and wiped her tears away. She cleared her throat, “Come on let’s find Tonks.”

TBC :)


	30. Teenage Drama

When Lilly walked into the entrance hall of Bones Manor with Tonks she felt numb, and exhausted. She honestly wanted nothing more than to curl up under a blanket and go to sleep. She fully intended to do so, until Susan walked down the stairs and asked one simple question.

“Oh hey Lil. How did it go?”

For whatever reason the second she saw Susan she started to cry, and when she asked that question Lilly completely broke down and half-spoke, half-sobbed, “Horrible!”

Susan’s eyes widened as she put her arm over her tiny friend, “What happened?”

“I’m not good enough for him Suse,” Lilly said through her tears, “Why did I ever fool myself into thinking I was? He’s Harry Potter for Gods sakes!”

“And?” Susan asked firmly, “You’re Lillian Moon, that’s just as awesome.”

Tonks stepped in, “Come on Lilly, I think you need a blanket and a cup of hot chocolate,” she said gently.

“We can go to my room,” Susan said, leading Lilly up the stairs, and being careful not to talk as they passed Draco’s door. When they did reach Susan’s room Lilly flopped down onto the bed on her stomach and hid her face.

“I’ll sort out that hot chocolate,” Tonks said as she quietly slipped from the room.

“Where has this come from Lilly?” Susan asked, sitting down on the edge of her bed.

Lilly looked up, her eyes bloodshot and her face stained with tears, “He’s Harry bloody Potter, he’s this chosen bloody God! And I’m just some fucked up muggle-born with way too many issues.”

“You’re not fucked up,” Susan said briskly, “Did he say that to you? Did you tell him about your family?”

Lilly nodded glumly, “And he was perfectly supportive like he always is.”

“So why on earth are you having a mental breakdown?” Susan asked in disbelief.

“Because he’s too good for me Susan!” Lilly exclaimed, “He is this amazing person, and I’m a selfish liar!”

“You are not a liar,” Susan said, “You’re as honest as a Hufflepuff.”

“No,” Lilly practically sobbed, “I’m not! Do you know…I think he really wants kids someday, and he thinks I’m in it for the long haul, and I don’t.”

“You don’t think you’re in it for the long haul?” Susan asked in surprise.

“No, I don’t mean that,” Lilly cried, “I mean…I don’t want kids Susan.”

“Lilly, you’re only 17,” Susan said gently, “You don’t need to make decisions like that yet.”

“But he has, he wants kids Susan! It’s obvious!” Lilly exclaimed, “And I can’t…I can never have kids, I’d be the worst Mother in the world.”

Susan sighed, “Look, let’s call Hermione. She knows Harry better than anyone, would that put your mind at ease?”

Lilly nodded weakly, and sniveled. 

Susan grabbed her mirror, said the password and then said, “Hermione.” Her face appeared in the mirror seconds later.

“Hey Susan! Everything okay on your end?”

“Not really,” Susan said, positioning the mirror so Hermione could see both her and Lilly.

“Oh Merlin, are you alright Lilly? You look like you’ve been crying!”

“Hermione,” Lilly said weakly, “Does Harry want kids?”

Hermione frowned, “Oh, one day yes. Why?”

“I mean does he want kids desperately? Is it a deal breaker?” Lilly asked.

Hermione bit her lip, “What is this about Lilly?”

Susan shot Lilly a look, and mumbled, “I think you should tell her the basics.”

“I can’t talk about it anymore,” Lilly said, her voice catching, “You tell her.”

Susan sighed and turned to the mirror again, “In short Hermione, Lilly’s parents were useless so when her Mum had another baby when Lilly was 5, she basically raised him. And when she got her Hogwarts letter she left, and he was put into care. So she doesn’t think she will ever be able to have kids because she will be a bad Mother, which I think is nonsense but there you have it.”

“I’m sorry Lilly,” Hermione said, surprise shining in her eyes, “I never realised how hard things must have been for you.”

“Just tell me Hermione, how badly does Harry want kids?” Lilly asked, a little more forcefully, “I thought we’d be alright, I thought because of his shit childhood he wouldn’t want kids either.”

“It’s the opposite really,” Hermione said sheepishly, “He never knew the love of a parent, and he has longed for the bond between a parent and a child. Harry doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life, but one thing he knows is he wants to have a family.”

Lilly shook her head, “I can’t do that, I’m too selfish.”

“Lilly-”

“No, I mean it!” Lilly said, raising her voice, “I’ll have to end it, I can’t lead him on if that’s what he wants from me!”

“That’s your choice Lilly,” Hermione said, although she looked a little irritated, “But I have to go, my parents are in the room next door and they’ll go mad if they hear me talking.”

Lilly nodded glumly and said goodbye to Hermione. Susan ended the communication and put the mirror down. The redhead turned to her best friend, “You are being ridiculous.”

“Yes, you are,” Tonks said, walking into the room with three mugs of hot chocolate, each topped with cream. She handed Lilly one and she cupped it with her hands but didn’t drink from it.

“I put a shot of Baileys in each one, I thought we needed the boost,” Tonks said with a small smile as she sat down next to Lilly, “Now Lilly, I have to give you some serious advice.”

Lilly looked up at the pink-haired woman curiously.

“When I was 17 I was in a very similar situation to you,” Tonks said calmly, “I had a long-term boyfriend at Hogwarts. We started dating when we were in 4th year, and I eventually broke it off not long after we left school. I wasn’t much older than you, but he was from a big family with lots of siblings and he wanted a family badly.”

“And you didn’t,” Lilly said tearfully.

“No, I wanted to be an Auror,” Tonks said, “And that required a year’s tough training just to get qualified. I couldn’t be a Mum, and I didn’t want to be. I told him that I didn’t think I could ever have kids because I was too selfish a person to love them completely.”

“What did he do?” Lilly asked.

“He said that he would always want kids, and I broke it off because I didn’t think we would ever work out our differences,” Tonks said honestly.

“How is this supposed to make me feel better? Are you telling me to break up with Harry?” Lilly asked, tears spilling from her eyes.

“No,” Tonks said with a smile, “The point is, when I was 17 and even when I was 18 I didn’t want kids, or maybe I just didn’t want kids with him, I don’t know. But everything happens for a reason, he turned out to be gay and I’m 24 now. I’ve been a fully trained Auror for 5 years and I’m dating a man 13 years older than me. And do you know what I want more than any career? I want a family, with him.”

Lilly smiled weakly, “You and Remus are sweet together.”

Tonks laughed, “My point is Lilly, you can’t say what you might want, or not want, in the future, when you’re only 17. Things change, priorities change, you might want a career now, but in 5 years all you might want is a family with Harry.”

“You’re so wise Tonks,” Lilly said, hugging the older woman, “I wish my Mum had been like you.”

Tonks smiled as she hugged the girl back, “Hey, we’re all a little bit messed up and lonely in this motley crew, aren’t we? You know I’m always here for any of you, no matter what happens.”

Susan smiled and hugged Lilly from her other side, “And so am I, and so is Daph. Even if she’s in isolation at the moment.”

“I can’t believe she managed to get grounded 2 days into the holidays,” Lilly laughed, a little tearfully.

“Of course she did, she threw a fit when her Dad confiscated her mirror,” Susan said in amusement, “He’s too protective, he was worried she had joined Voldemort and was communicating with him.”

“Well we’re all a little protective at the moment,” Tonks said as she looked between them, “These are dangerous times, none of us want the people we love to get hurt.”

Before anyone could respond to that comment there was a knock at the door. 

Tonks looked at Lilly, “Can whoever it is come in?”

Lilly nodded, wiping her tears.

“Come in,” Susan called.

Draco sheepishly poked his head around the door, “Are you sure?”

“You might as well,” Lilly said, “You’re one of the few who knows how much of a mess I am.”

Draco scoffed, “You’re not a mess, but I am sorry…I did hear most of the conversation. I tried not to listen, I swear! But this hearing thing is so hard to control and you were shouting…”

“It’s alright Draco, calm down,” Tonks said with a smile.

Draco leant against the door and said, “So, since I accidentally listened, can I give my input?”

Lilly raised an eyebrow at him, “That depends if you’re going to be arse or not.”

Draco smiled, “I’ll try not to be. It doesn’t matter what you think about kids, or the future. The best thing you can do is talk to Potter about the whole thing, tell him and then work out where to go. At the moment you’re just seeing the worst case scenario.”

“That’s rich coming from you,” Susan snorted, “You won’t even tell Hermione the truth about why you won’t let her come round here!”

“I know,” Draco sighed, “And after hearing you lot tonight, I’ve decided I’m going to tell her the truth. I might even ask her to come round.”

Tonks smiled, “It’s about time,” she admitted.

Susan was chuckling too, until she realised her mirror was buzzing. She picked it up and looked at Lilly, “It’s Harry.”

Lilly nodded, “Answer it.”

“Yes?” Susan said, as Harry’s anxious face appeared in the mirror, “Is Lilly alright?”

“I’ll let her tell you herself,” Susan said.

“Thanks Suse, oh is Draco there? If he is, tell him that I think Hermione wants to speak to him. He hasn’t been picking up today,” Harry said quickly.

“I know,” Draco called, “I’ll talk to her Potter.”

Susan gave the mirror to Lilly, and said, “Look, we’ll clear off and give you two a chance to talk. Draco, turn the wolf ears off!”

“I’ll try,” Draco whined as he left the room with Susan and Tonks, “But everything is just so loud.”

Lilly chuckled as the door snapped shut and they all walked away. She looked into the mirror, and into Harry’s worried eyes.

“What’s going on with us right now Lilly?” Harry asked calmly.

“I just…I don’t know how…how compatible we’ll be,” Lilly said.

“It’s because of what I said about kids, isn’t it? I freaked you out,” Harry said knowingly.

“You really want them, don’t you?” Lilly asked quietly.

“Yeah, one day, if I survive this war,” Harry said, “But I’m not talking the second it’s over. I mean like 5 or 6 years after it’s over. When I’m in my 20’s.”

“But I’m not sure I want them at all,” Lilly said weakly.

“Lilly,” Harry sighed, “We’re in the middle of a war. I don’t know if I’m going to be alive in a month, or a year. At the moment we have to take every day as if it’s the last. All I know is that I love you, and I want to be with you, and for now that’s enough.”

“Okay,” Lilly said tearfully, “I’m sorry I ruined dinner.”

“You didn’t ruin it,” Harry said softly, “My Aunts worried about you, she’s taken a bit of a shine to-”

“WHO ARE YOU TALKING TO BOY? YOUR FREAK GIRLFRIEND FROM THAT FREAK SCHOOL OF YOURS? WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT ACTING NORMAL IN MY HOUSE?”

Lilly’s eyes widened as Harry ducked, to avoid a swing, he appeared briefly on the mirror again, “Gotta go Lil, love you!” he said, as he cut the communication.

Lilly frowned at the blank mirror as the door opened and Susan slipped back in, “I heard the tail end of that, sorry. But, you know, you aren’t the only person who’s had a shit home life. I know your parents neglected you, and that’s the worst thing…but Harry’s Uncle actively hates him. Can you imagine that, being a 3 year old boy who is despised by his own family?”

“No, but I can imagine being a 7 year old girl whose family think she’s possessed,” Lilly said quietly as she handed Susan her mirror back, “I guess Tonks is right. We are all messed up.”

“Everyone’s a little messed up Lil, it’s what makes us interesting,” Susan said, thrusting a bar of chocolate into her hands, “I stole it from Draco’s stash,” she grinned.

Lilly laughed and hugged her friend, “You’re the best, Suse.”

“I am, aren’t I?”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Draco!” Hermione beamed when she saw his face on her mirror.

Draco smiled back, “Hey Hermione, sorry it’s so late.”

“It’s okay, my Mum might barge in though,” Hermione said with a laugh, “Your cuts look great, they’re practically closed!”

“I know,” Draco smiled, “My bite did open up a little today. But it’s closing again, so nothing to worry about. I’m out of the chair now, though.”

“That’s great, Draco,” Hermione said cheerfully, “Does that mean I can pop round?”

Draco nodded, “I need to be honest with you. I was purposefully keeping you away, I didn’t want you to see me so weak…I wanted to wait until I was a bit stronger.”

“I knew exactly what you were doing,” Hermione said with a knowing smile, “I was just hoping you would come to your senses.”

“You know me too well,” Draco said fondly.

“There are still a lot of things I don’t know about you,” Hermione pointed out, “I can’t wait to come round and see you. I’ve really been missing your company.”

Draco smiled, “Pomfrey gave me the okay for walking, today. She reckons I’ll be good for using magic within a week.”

Hermione smiled too, “That’s fantastic! I have so much to tell you, I mean I had the most awkward talk with my Mum yesterday. She was grilling me, and when I told her I had slept with someone, and that I had a boyfriend she sat me down for three hours and made me watch muggle sex education films.”

Draco snorted, “You think that’s bad? Potter got the talk from Remus.”

Hermione reluctantly laughed out loud and covered her mouth, “I’m guessing you never had the misfortune of having that talk?” she whispered.

“Oh, no, my Father had it with me in 4th year,” Draco said with a shake of his head, “He told me, sleep with whoever you want. But don’t contaminate yourself with muggles or muggle-borns, and especially don’t get them pregnant.”

“Well you didn’t get me pregnant, so you only broke one rule,” Hermione said in amusement.

“I was tempted, just to piss him off,” Draco joked.

“I’d have killed you,” Hermione said through her laughter, “And my Dad really would have killed you.”

Draco sniggered, and the door to Hermione’s room opened. Draco briefly saw her Mother walk in a dressing gown.

“Who are you talking to at this time of night? Is it this new boyfriend of yours?” She asked, noisily.

“Mum,” Hermione cringed, “Just leave, please.”

“Give me that phone Hermione-”

“It’s not a phone Mum, it’s a-”

“Give it to me!”

Hermione handed her the mirror sheepishly and she appeared, looking into the mirror with narrowed eyes.

“Who do you think you are, young man?”

Draco smirked, “Lord Draco Abraxas Black, of the most ancient and noble wizarding house of Black, and your daughter’s boyfriend, Mrs. Granger.”

“Draco,” Hermione hissed from beside her Mother, “Don’t be a smart arse, she’ll hate you more!”

“What are your intentions with my daughter Mr…I mean, Lord Black?”

“Well,” Draco grinned, “I intend to continue to court her, in the hope that we will continue to be compatible. Then I intend to send a marriage contract for you and your Husband to peruse, and give your permission to. Then I will expect a suitable heir of course, a strong, healthy male.”

Hermione’s Mother stared at him incredulously.

“Draco!” Hermione groaned.

“In all seriousness, Mrs. Granger, we are just dating,” Draco said with a smile.

“Well, I do not have much time for arrogant, over-confident boys like yourself,” Mrs. Granger said, “However, as you are a Lord, I understand that some measure of respect is required, and I would be honoured to invite you to our home for dinner next Saturday. So that my husband and I can get to know you a little better.”

Draco looked like he was trying desperately not to laugh and Hermione was despairing.

“I would be honoured to join you, Mrs. Granger,” Draco said, with a smile.

“Perfect!” Mrs. Granger said happily, she turned to her daughter, “We will have to get you a nice dress of course, Hermione. You never wear dresses, and you look so lovely in them.”

“You do Hermione,” Draco said, grinning wickedly, “You really ought to wear them more often.”

“Shut up Draco,” Hermione said, her cheeks bright red as she glared at him through the mirror.

“Now Hermione, don’t talk to Lord Black like that!” Mrs. Granger scolded her.

“Mum! He’s not Lord Black, he’s just Draco,” Hermione said irritably, “He only became Lord Black a couple of weeks ago when my best friend gave him the title! Before that he was Draco bloody Malfoy!”

“That’s an interesting middle name,” Mrs. Granger joked.

“Mother,” Hermione groaned, “Don’t try to be funny.”

Mrs. Granger gave her daughter a warning look, “And what do you mean your best friend gave him his title?”

“Well, he would have been Lord Malfoy, when his Father gave up the title,” Hermione explained, “But he was disowned so he didn’t have a name. Harry was going to be Lord Black and Lord Potter when he came of age because he inherited his Godfather’s title. But Draco’s Mother was a Black, so Harry gave him his title.”

“Oh, so your best friend is a Lord as well?” Mrs. Granger asked.

“Uh, yes,” Hermione said, “I mean, not right now he isn’t. He will be, when he comes of age in about a month.”

“Then why don’t we ask him to join us on Saturday, with his girlfriend, what did you say her name was Hermione, Lucy?” Mrs. Granger said.

“Lilly,” Hermione corrected her.

“If you don’t mind of course, Draco?” Mrs. Granger added.

“No, of course not, Mrs. Granger,” Draco said politely, but Hermione could see the smirk in his eyes.

“Perfect!” Mrs. Granger said, “In fact, why don’t we just invite all of your friends? Are they all…nobility?”

Hermione looked at Draco despairingly, “I’m not sure, Draco knows more than I do about the system.”

“Our friend Neville is also a Lord, or will be when he comes of age next month,” Draco replied politely, “And his girlfriend Susan is technically Baroness Bones. Our other friend Daphne is Lady Greengrass at the moment.”

“At the moment?”

“Well, she is the eldest of her family, and when her Father passes the title on she will become Countess Greengrass,” Draco replied.

“What about your friend Ronald, and his family?” Mrs. Granger asked curiously.

“Oh they are just, normal,” Hermione said sheepishly, “And they are very busy planning their brother’s wedding so we shouldn’t bother them.”

“Of course,” Mrs. Granger said, “Oh, how exciting. My daughter dating a Lord! Can you imagine…Lady Hermione Black.”

“Mum!” Hermione exclaimed, clutching her face in embarrassment, “Can you please get out of my room?”

Draco was laughing under his breath now, unable to help himself as Mrs. Granger said, “Lovely to talk to you, Lord Black.”

“You too, Mrs. Granger,” Draco said, bursting into laughter as the door snapped shut.

“I hate you, Draco!” Hermione said, “That was bloody torture! She loves class and status, if she had it her way I’d be marrying Prince bloody Harry!”

“Who?” Draco asked blankly.

“Muggle royal family,” Hermione said with a shake of her head, “And now I’m going to get dragged out dress shopping. Jesus, save me.”

“Sorry, Mione,” Draco grinned.

“You are not,” Hermione said in exasperation.

“No you’re right, I’m not,” Draco laughed, “Mind you, she’ll let you come over and visit me now since I am Lord Black.”

“Which I will never call you,” Hermione said, “You’re still Malfoy to me.”

“Alright, Granger,” He said almost seductively.

There was a bang on the wall, “Get to sleep, young lady!”

“Yes, Mum!” Hermione called, looking to Draco in amusement, “Goodnight Draco, I love you.”

“Love you too Hermione,” Draco said as the connection was cut.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The following morning Tonks was awoken by the door to her and Remus’s bedroom creaking open. She opened a bleary eye as the curtains were pulled open, to allow the sun to stream into the room. Remus smiled at her as a he placed a tray in front of her with a full English breakfast on it, along with a steaming hot cup of tea.

“What did I do to deserve this?” Tonks asked with a smile.

“Well, you were up so late dealing with all that teenage drama last night,” Remus said as he sat down next to her, “I thought you would appreciate it.”

“Did you cook it yourself?” Tonks asked in amusement.

“Yes,” Remus lied, badly.

“You liar, the house elves made it, didn’t they?” Tonks teased.

“Actually no. Susan did the eggs, Draco did the bacon and Lilly did the sausage. I did heat the beans up, and I carried it up here without spilling a thing,” Remus said cheerfully.

Tonks shook her head in amusement, “You are so much like Sirius sometimes.”

Remus raised an eyebrow at her, “I know your Mother was a Black, but that’s still a little wrong considering he was your cousin, and I’m your boyfriend.”

Tonks shook her head, smacking him with a cushion, “You can be such an arse Remus.”

Remus grinned, “I’m sorry.”

“You’ll do,” Tonks said with a smile.

“I wanted to talk to you, about what you said last night,” Remus said, “About children.”

Tonks stared at him, “There is no way you could have heard that. You were two floors underneath us!”

Remus said, “Wolf hearing.”

“You told Draco that it faded with the years,” Tonks said slowly.

“I know, I lied,” Remus admitted, “It can be hard to deal with the long-term consequences, especially at first. It does get easier to control, it’s psychological you see? If he thinks it will fade with time, then it will.”

“And you never thought to tell me about this?” Tonks asked in disbelief.

“There was never a right time,” Remus admitted.

Tonks was still staring at him, “So when I practically confessed to Molly that I was in love with you, at the burrow, you heard that?”

“Yes.”

“All of it?”

“Uh, yes,” Remus replied sheepishly.

“You bloody bastard!” Tonks exclaimed.

Remus actually looked worried for a second, “I’m sorry.”

Tonks shook her head and stabbed a sausage, a little too aggressively, “I just feel a bit exposed.”

“Don’t worry, I don’t do it around you, generally,” Remus said honestly, “I was just worried last night, with all the tears.”

“That was sweet of you, in a creepy eavesdropping sort of way. I can’t believe you tell Draco off for that and then do it yourself,” Tonks said, mostly amused but still a little exasperated. 

“I am a Marauder,” Remus smiled, “Now, on this whole children subject. If you didn’t want kids at 17, what changed your mind?”

“This lot, honestly,” Tonks said, “The bunch of teenagers who helped you make me breakfast in bed. They call us the Mum and Dad of this little motley crew, and I think that’s accurate…it just made me think that actually… I’d love to have children of my own.”

“With me?”

Tonks grinned, “Who else do you think I want to have children with? Of course with you!”

Remus laughed, “I want children too, but I can’t have them…because of what I am.”

Tonks frowned, “It’s not genetic, Remus.”

“I know,” Remus said, “But there is…well any child of mine would still have werewolf blood and that alone could…well it can lead to complications in pregnancy.”

“I have done my research, you know,” Tonks smiled, “Complications can occur, it was a 1 in 100 chance. And, if I remember, the complications generally only occur in women over 30.”

“You read up on it?” Remus asked in surprise and amazement.

Tonks nodded, “I was curious, about our…prospects as a couple. And as far as I’m concerned there’s no reason why we can’t have a baby one day…after this is over. For now, we have to protect our adopted kids downstairs, and the rest.”

Remus smiled, “Yes, we do. But when this is over, I think…we can definitely consider the option of a baby of our own.”

Tonks grinned, “Well, then I suppose I should bring up the other thing I wanted to talk to you about. Since we’re talking about babies…do you want to marry me, Remus?”

Remus’s jaw dropped, “Are you…proposing to me?”

“You weren’t going to propose to me, not for bloody years,” Tonks said through her laughter, “I figured if I wanted anything to happen quickly I’d have to ask.”

Remus smiled weakly, “You want to marry a werewolf?”

“Oh no, don’t start spouting all that bullshit,” Tonks said with a raised eyebrow, “I am not from a respectful family. My Mother was a Black, and as you have so nicely pointed out, they were notorious for screwing their cousins. And my Father is a Muggle-born, I couldn’t get much more lowly than that. I love you, and I don’t give a damn what the world will say about me marrying a werewolf. That’s the end of the matter.”

Remus’s smiled widened, “Alright then, I’ll marry you.”

Tonks grinned again, and Remus laughed loudly, “Merlin, it’s times like this when I wish Sirius was still here. Could you imagine his reaction when he found out you had proposed to me?”

“He’d be rolling about the floor laughing probably, with James,” Tonks said through her own chuckles.

“Merlin,” Remus said, lying back on the bed and shaking his head in amusement, “It’s so wrong…I’m marrying my dead best friends baby cousin. Jesus, you were 5 when I first met you. I feel like a cradle snatcher.”

Tonks was positively beside herself with laughter now, “Hey, nothing wrong with liking younger women Remus,” she teased, “You can’t call yourself an old, worn out werewolf now. Not with a 24 year old spritely fiancé.”

“Oh shut up,” Remus grinned, pushing her breakfast tray aside and kissing her.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“What do you mean we’re all going to Hermione’s for dinner on Saturday?”

Draco smirked, “Her Mother invited us all round. She has a thing for nobility and class, she was all over the place when she found out practically all of us had titles.”

“Didn’t she know you were all spoiled little rich brats?” Lilly teased.

“Apparently not,” Susan said in amusement, “So when you say all of us?”

“She’s invited me, you, Neville, Daphne, Harry and you Lilly,” Draco said as he grabbed a bit of raw bacon and made for his mouth.

“No, raw meat!” Susan said, snatching it from him and putting it back on the plate, “Pomfrey said you have to get used to eating it cooked again.”

Draco rolled his eyes, “Alright, spoil my fun then. So, are you in?”

“I’m in,” Susan said eagerly, “It could be a laugh. Do you think we should wind her up and act like we’re the bloody elite of the wizarding world?”

“Oh yes,” Lilly grinned, “Tell her that you spend your time riding horses and playing wizarding croquet, darling.”

Draco chuckled, “No seriously, she’s a nice person and she clearly loves Hermione. We don’t want to embarrass Hermione, it’s not fair. We’ll tell the truth, but we won’t exaggerate it.”

“When did you grow into such a decent human being?” Lilly asked with a raised eyebrow.

“When Hermione got him wrapped around her little finger,” Susan grinned.

“Pretty much,” Draco laughed, then he made a face, “Oh god no…”

“What?” Susan and Lilly asked in unison.

“They’re having sex upstairs,” Draco said, screwing his face up, “And I can hear every bloody word.”

Lilly snorted, and Draco raised his voice, “Silencing charm Remus! I have wolf hearing and I have heard enough already!”

Susan and Lilly watched in amusement as he kept his face screwed up for a minute, and then relaxed, “All quiet on the western front,” he mumbled, grabbing a bit of raw bacon and shoving it in his mouth before Susan or Lilly could stop him.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Draco was looking forward to dinner with Hermione’s family, but he had to get through his first full moon first. And he was far more worried about that than he was letting on. The dinner seemed to be a good idea, it had lifted everyone’s spirits. Harry had been told that he could slip away for a few hours, because Hermione’s house was warded. The only thing left to sort out now was Daphne, who was still grounded.

On the day before the full moon Draco decided to try and call her. He was feeling very weak, and quite nauseous which Remus told him was standard procedure for the days leading up to the full moon, and the days following it. So, he hadn’t really gotten out of bed much by the time he called her at around 2pm.

There was an answer, but it wasn’t Daphne who answered. It was her Father, Cygnus, who had dark hair like Astoria, and dark eyes. The girls had both inherited their Mothers eyes, and Daphne had also inherited her Mothers blonde hair. 

“Is that you, Draco?”

“Yes, Cygnus,” Draco said, “I probably look quite different.”

“I had heard rumours,” Cygnus said darkly, “And I knew that you had been disowned, of course…”

“Yes,” Draco said, “Even from Azkaban my Father likes to wield his power.”

“Well you will be pleased to hear he will not have it for much longer,” Cygnus smiled, a little wickedly, “Voldemort will break him out, I have no doubt about that. However he will never have the same hold he once had, he will be a mere servant. Whereas you and I are on the winning side, when this is all over we will be the ones with the power.”

Draco nodded warily, he had always gotten a bad vibe from Daphne’s power hungry Father, “I didn’t see myself as having much choice after all that happened. It’s not like Voldemort would want a half-werewolf as his servant, as if I ever wanted to serve him anyway.”

“So you are not a full werewolf?” Cygnus asked, “You do not transform?”

“I don’t know, everyone seems to doubt it,” Draco said calmly, “My first full moon is tomorrow, it’s an experiment.”

“Well, I wish for the best, for you,” Cygnus said, “I assume you were trying to speak with Daphne?”

“Yes, we were invited to dinner,” Draco said, “My…well…my girlfriend’s Mother invited us all to her home for dinner, Daphne included. But I heard she was in isolation.”

“She has been difficult this summer,” Cygnus said with a long-suffering sigh, “Would you believe that I found her writing a letter to the youngest Weasley boy last week?”

“Well, we all have our issues,” Draco said with a slight smile, “Daphne’s are greater than most.”

Cygnus raised an eyebrow, “Oh I do not know about that Draco. You see my daughter told me that this girlfriend of yours was a muggle-born, and the best friend of our golden saviour.”

“Tell me honestly Cygnus,” Draco smirked, “Would you prefer it if your daughter dated a muggle-born or a Weasley?”

Cygnus shook his head, “My honest answer is neither. I had hoped for a good pure-blood marriage for her, she was supposed to marry you, in fact.”

“Well I am not good or pure-blooded,” Draco retorted, “So I’m afraid you might have to accept a Weasley as a son-in-law. Unless you want her marrying a ponce like Nott of course.”

Cygnus rolled his eyes, “You inherited your Grandfathers wit Draco, thank goodness it wasn’t your Fathers abrasive nature. I will return this mirror to Daphne, and I will consider allowing her to attend this dinner you speak of.”

“Thank you Cygnus,” Draco said as the older man cut the connection.

TBC :)


	31. Full Moon Rising

When Draco’s mirror buzzed, saying Daphne’s name, he answered it cautiously in case it was Cygnus again. He was relieved when Daphne’s face appeared.

“Thank Merlin Draco! I don’t know what you said to him but it worked! I was going mad, stuck in my room for weeks!”

Draco laughed, “What did you really do? There’s no way he’d have put you in isolation because he was suspicious about the mirror thing. You must have done something else.”

Draco of course knew about the letters to Ron, but he wanted to hear it from Daphne. 

“He found letters to Weasley,” Daphne admitted, “And he got paranoid.”

“Why? I thought you were just sending generic letters,” Draco teased.

“We were! We were just asking each other questions, and getting to know each other better,” Daphne said honestly.

“Like you do when you’re courting”’ Draco asked in amusement.

“Oh shut up Draco, we’re just friends,” Daphne said irritably, “And even that’s a recent development. I signed the last letter with ‘love Daphne’, out of habit because I sign most letters to Lil, and Suse like that and he saw it. He took my owl and locked my up in isolation!”

“Well you’re getting out, I managed to convince him to let you come to a dinner party at Hermione’s,” Draco told her.

“A what?”

“A dinner party. You know a party where you eat dinner?” Draco smirked.

Daphne glared at him, “Yes, I know what a dinner party is you smart arse. Why is it at Hermione’s?”

“Because her parents want to meet me. So they invited us all around for dinner, me, you, Harry, Lilly, Neville and Susan,” Draco said, “Everyone is coming.”

“Great,” Daphne said in amusement, “Are you alright by the way? You look like shit.”

“Look out your window,” Draco said in amusement.

Daphne did, and saw the full moon, just visible in the early morning light, “Oh shit, it’s your first full moon tonight! Are you alright about it?”

“I’m fine,” Draco lied, “Did Susan not call you yet?”

“No, she’s probably not awake, why?” Daphne asked curiously.

“Oh, I think she was planning to stay at yours tonight,” Draco admitted sheepishly, “It could be dangerous here.”

“Ah, well if she wants to she can, I’m out of isolation,” Daphne said happily, “Anyway I’d better get off and have a shower, I promised Astoria an early morning game of Quidditch out the back.”

“Alright, see you,” Draco said, cutting the connection and sighing heavily. He was lying to Daphne, to everyone, he wasn’t ‘fine’, he was bloody terrified. But he pushed that aside as he walked into the kitchen where the rest of the household was gathered.

Now he had joined them Remus cleared his throat, “Susan, are you certain you have a place to stay tonight?”

Susan frowned, “Yeah, I’m always welcome at Daphne’s. Why?”

“Well,” Remus glanced at Draco, “The first full moon can be…dangerous. I would rather you and Tonks were not in the house tonight. I know it’s a lot to ask because it’s your house but-”

“No, I understand,” Susan said, “I mean, as long as Daphne’s okay with it-”

“She is,” Draco yawned, “I spoke to her this morning, she’s out of isolation. Do you know the real reason she was in it?”

“Because her Dad found letters to Ron,” Susan sniggered, “She asked me not to tell anyone.”

Draco laughed weakly, “I swear if those two end up together I will never let her live it down.”

“I doubt they will,” Susan chuckled, “Aren’t you going to eat anything?”

Draco shook his head, “Nah, I’m not hungry.”

“Try and at least have a bit of toast, Draco, it’s important,” Remus said gently.

Draco sighed and reluctantly picked up a bit of toast which he nibbled at for the next half hour. He went back to bed after eating, because Remus said it would be best if he saved his energy.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Susan was in the library reading a book, with her legs curled up underneath her, when the floo whirred and Neville walked in.

“Hey!” She said, jumping up and hugging him when she saw him.

He pulled back from the hug and caught her lips in a quick, chaste kiss, “Hey,” he smiled.

“This is a nice surprise.”

Neville looked a little sheepish, “Don’t get mad, but it’s not for you. I came to check on Draco, with it being his first full moon.”

“Merlin! You care more about Draco Malfoy than your own girlfriend!” Susan exclaimed irritably.

“He’s called Draco Black now,” Neville corrected.

“Nev! I’ve not seen you since we left Hogwarts and now the first time you come round is to see Draco!” Susan said, “Should I be…concerned? I mean there were always rumours at Hogwarts that you were otherwise inclined…”

“Jesus Susan,” Neville said in disbelief, “I’m not, and even if I was I wouldn’t go for scrawny blonde gits.”

“Oi!” A faint shout from upstairs said.

Neville raised his voice slightly, “Shut your wolf ears, you nosy bastard!”

Susan looked at him, “Are you sure you’re not gay Neville?”

Neville shook his head in exasperation and leant down to kiss her. He captured her lips in a searing kiss, his hands cupping her face as she deepened the kiss and pushed herself onto her tiptoes. Neville broke the kiss and smirked at her, “What do you bloody think?”

“Sorry,” Susan mumbled, “I just had that bad experience with Ernie…”

“Well I did warn you when you took him to the Yule Ball,” Neville said with a shake of his head, “A blind man could tell he fancied Justin.”

“I have the worst luck in relationships,” Susan said with a shake of her head.

“I’m trying to turn that luck around,” Neville grinned, “Now I’m going to take this cake up to Draco, and then we can go for a walk through the gardens, okay?”

“Deal,” Susan said cheerfully, “His room is on the 4th floor, the first door to the right.”

“Thanks,” Neville said, kissing her again and jogging up the stairs. He didn’t bother knocking as he walked into the Slytherins room.

“Still in bed, at 3pm?” Neville joked.

“I feel like shit,” Draco admitted.

“You look like it too,” Neville said, putting the box in his hands on Draco’s bedside table, “I brought you chocolate cake, I put firewhiskey in it. Gran says it will help.”

“Thanks,” Draco said with a weak smile as Neville shut the door and sat down on the edge of Draco’s bed.

“How terrified are you about tonight then?” Neville asked, seeing straight through the façade.

“On a scale of 1 to 10?” Draco asked quietly, “Try 20.”

“Look,” Neville said kindly, “Chances are, you’re not going to turn.”

“I know,” Draco said, “But it’s still fucking terrifying Neville. Even Remus knows there’s a chance, he’s made sure Tonks and Susan are going to be out of the house tonight.”

“He’s just being extra careful,” Neville reasoned, “Greyback was in human form when he attacked you Draco. The odds are in your favour.”

“Even if I don’t turn, I’ve no idea what will happen tonight,” Draco said quietly, “I might lose myself…I might change…”

“Are you taking wolfsbane?” Neville asked curiously.

“No, Remus says I can’t,” Draco admitted, “He says I need to see what my true form is first, and then take wolfsbane next month so that we can assess the difference.”

“There’s no point in worrying about what if,” Neville said honestly, “You may turn, and if you do I’ll be here to help you deal with that. If you don’t, great, you’ll just have to learn to control your…symptoms, and seriously you have got to ease up on the raw meat.”

“Remus reckons the cravings will go away after the first full moon,” Draco told him, looking at him in an odd sort of way.

“What?” Neville asked cautiously.

“Do you know something, Neville,” Draco said quietly, “I think you’re my first real friend. I mean, I’ve had friends, who were girls, who I was also snogging…but I’ve never just had a friend…who was a guy.”

“Well, I’m quite touched, Draco,” Neville said honestly, “I’d hug you but-”

“No, don’t hug me,” Draco said quickly, “That would be weird, Longbottom.”

“And there’s the arsehole back,” Neville laughed, “I better go take Susan for a walk, I hear there are many good make-out spots in these gardens.”

“I’m not giving you tips so you can snog your girlfriend, who is my ex-girlfriend, in the same places where I snogged her,” Draco drawled.

Neville just grinned, “See you later Draco.”

Draco gave him another weak smile, “See you Neville.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The sky began to darken and Draco paced the drawing room of Bones Manor anxiously, his eyes flickering towards the window every few minutes.

“Do you want to go over it again?” Remus asked calmly from where he sat on the sofa.

Draco nodded, “One more time.”

“In a few minutes the moon will appear,” Remus said, “We do not know what will happen to you. You will probably not transform. You will not remember anything until you wake up tomorrow morning when things will seem a little like a dream. That is normal, so do not panic about it. As for me, when the moon comes up I will turn into a wolf and because I have taken wolfsbane I will not be a danger to you. It is very likely I will go and curl up somewhere, and I will not harm you unless you provoke me.”

Draco swallowed, and fixed his eyes on the window once more as darkness fell and the clouds began to shift. His heart was pounding with fear, but he could not take his eyes off of the moon as it began to push through the clouds.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When Draco awoke with a jolt he was aware that he was lying naked, in the middle of the drawing room, which frankly looked like it had seen battle. He awoke gasping for breath, as if his lungs had not functioned for hours, and as the blurred, brightly coloured images of the night before came back to him, he did the exact thing Remus told him not to; he panicked.

His breathing was fast, and harsh as he remembered it all in flashes. 

“Draco,” A soft, familiar voice said, and in his haze of confusion and pain he thought it was his Mother.

“M…Mother…” He choked out weakly.

“No, Draco, it’s Dora,” The voice whispered.

Dora. He knew her as Tonks now, but he hadn’t always known her that way. When Draco had been young things had been different, his Father had often been away doing ‘business’. He knew now that it had been dodgy, illegal business but as a child he had been unaware of that. His Mother, although forbidden to do so, visited her disowned sister. She often took Draco with her, and he vividly remembered being taken out to the garden to explore with his cousin, Dora. She was a lot older of course, but Draco remembered being 4 years old on a summers day, visiting his Mothers ‘secret friends’ as she had called them…he remembered Dora was home from her 1st year of Hogwarts, and she lay outside on the grass with him, telling him everything that had since fascinated him about the school.

“Dora,” He said, his vision blurring in and out of focus.

“I’m going to lift you to bed Draco,” She said softly, “Like I used to when you were little. Is that okay?”

“M’okay.”

“No, you’re not okay,” She said and all of a sudden Draco felt himself being lifted into the air. All of a sudden the hazy pain became sharp and he cried out like a child. The confusion worsened as he was carried somewhere, and tucked into a soft, comfortable bed. Something was slipped into his mouth, and the world went dark once more.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Remus winced as he limped up the stairs after entering the house from the back garden where the early morning sun was beginning to rise. The door to Draco’s room was already ajar when he knocked gently on. 

“Come on in,” Tonks said softly.

Remus did, wincing when he saw the state of the boy in the bed.

Tonks looked up sadly, “He’s in quite a bad way…are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Remus said, sitting down on the sofa in the room.

“Remus, that’s blood,” Tonks said, seeing a faint red stain on his t-shirt.

“It’s just a couple of fresh cuts, don’t worry about it,” Remus said calmly.

Tonks stood up from her perch by Draco’s bed and pulled Remus’s t-shirt up, “A couple of cuts? These are full on gashes! What happened last night?”

“It wasn’t the worst case scenario, but it wasn’t the best either,” Remus said as Tonks began to apply ointment to the wounds, “And don’t do that, Draco’s injuries are far worse than mine.”

“Yes, and I’ve already applied this to all of his wounds. I can’t put it on again until it seeps into his skin properly,” Tonks said matter of factly, “Maybe I should retrain as a healer after this is all over.”

Remus couldn’t even muster a smile at that. 

Tonks lowered her voice, “Remus. He must have transformed, how could you both have gotten injuries like this if he didn’t?”

Remus hissed as Tonks brushed the deepest cut, a large gash in his left side, “He didn’t transform, exactly. I’ve never seen anything like it, from what I can tell he partially transformed. He grew claws, and his teeth sharpened…he put on some bulk which was why his clothes ripped…he was covered very finely in light hair…but you couldn’t call it fur.”

“And his traits?” Tonks asked anxiously.

“That of a werewolf,” Remus admitted, “He was aggressive.”

Tonks sighed, “He’s going to panic when he wakes up.”

“I know,” Remus said as he looked towards the Slytherin boy, “Which is why I am going to make sure I’m here when he does.”

“I’ll be here too,” Tonks said softly, “I’ve applied dittany to your wounds. Did Draco inflict them all?”

“I may have done a few myself,” Remus said as he leant back on the sofa, “But they will all heal in time. You know my healing process is faster than a humans.”

Tonks nodded as she got to her feet and sat down on Draco’s bed again, “Why did he fight you?”

“He partially transformed which meant there was a fight to determine who the alpha of the ‘pack’ would be, so to speak,” Remus said, his eyes sliding shut.

“Who won?” Tonks asked curiously.

“I did,” Remus said, opening an eye to look at her, “But it is only natural. I’m a full werewolf, and Draco is not.”

Tonks turned away from him, “Well,” she said as she applied more of the dittany ointment onto Draco’s cuts, “I don’t think he’s going to see a bright side when he wakes up.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Draco had no idea what time it was when he gained consciousness. All he knew was that the sun was streaming through his window, and that every single movement he made was bloody agony. He forced his eyes open and groaned as he tried to shift into a more comfortable position.

As he blinked he realised that Tonks was sitting on the edge of his bed, and Remus was dozing on the sofa to the right of it. The flashes from last night were clearer in his head now, and his eyes widened, the panic setting in once more.

“Draco,” Tonks said calmly, grabbing his hand, “Try and stay calm.”

“I transformed,” Draco said in a choked whisper, ‘” remember it, I remember the pain…it felt like my body was being ripped apart.”

“It does hurt like that,” Remus said, opening his eyes and fixing them on Draco, “It will always hurt, I’m afraid. That’s the bad news.”

“Bad news?” Draco asked loudly, “You’re implying there’s good news?”

“Yes,” Remus said calmly.

“WHAT IS IT THEN?” Draco roared, “NOTHING ABOUT THIS IS GOOD!”

“Draco, if you stay calm Remus will explain,” Tonks said, in a soft, reassuring voice that brought him back to his senses.

“You are not a full werewolf,” Remus said, “You partially transformed, which is why you remember the pain of it.”

“Partially? How much of me was…”

“You grew claws, and your teeth sharpened,” Remus told him, “You bulked up and you were covered in a light dusting of hair. You also got aggressive.”

“AND YOU’RE TELLING ME I’M NOT A WEREWOLF? THAT SOUNDS PRETTY WEREWOLFY TO ME!” Draco shouted.

“I know it seems bad, but there is a bright side,” Remus said calmly.

“WHAT IS THE FUCKING BRIGHT SIDE REMUS?”

“You know what to expect now,” Remus began, “And you will not fight me to become alpha again, which is part of the reason why you are in such a state this morning.”

“What?” Draco asked with a frown.

“You fought me,” Remus explained, “Because of the fact you partially transformed one of us had to be alpha, of our ‘pack’. You could not suppress your aggressive wolfish nature, which was why we fought. But it was a onetime occurrence.”

“I’m guessing I lost from how wrecked my body is,” Draco muttered irritably. 

“You did,” Remus said sheepishly, “And I am sorry.”

Draco shook his head, “I’m fine, did I hurt you?”

“I have a couple of cuts, nothing serious,” Remus said with a smile, “And there is more good news.”

“Really?” Draco asked sarcastically.

“Because of the extent of your transformation you will be able to take wolfsbane without it poisoning you, or killing you,” Remus told him, “Like me, you will still physically transform, so you will always feel the pain of the transformation I am afraid. But, while I retain my human mind all I am really capable of doing is curling up and sleeping through the transformation. I believe you will be able to completely regain your own mentality, you will not become aggressive, you will probably want to be alone but you could easily sleep through the transformation, or even sit and read a book.”

“With claws?” Draco asked angrily.

“That is a very good bright side Draco,” Remus said, his calm tone flickering very slightly, “You will never become a complete monster like I do. You have a very good chance of having a normal life, I would not turn my nose up at that if I were you.”

“I’m sorry Remus,” Draco said quite ashamed, “I just…I never thought I would have to deal with something like this…I had my life mapped out, and being a werewolf never even seemed like a horrible possibility.”

“We never expect to deal with things like this Draco,” Remus said softly, “But it is how we deal with these things that matter.”

Draco nodded, fighting to keep back tears of anger, shame, and guilt, “I just wish it didn’t hurt so much. I’ve had the cruciatus curse used on me, and the pain from these wounds, and the wounds from Greyback…it’s ten times worse than even multiple uses of the cruciatus curse.”

“Who used that curse on you?” Remus asked coolly.

Draco laughed bitterly, “Who do you think?”

Remus growled slightly.

“Woah, calm down,” Tonks said, with a raised eyebrow, “Is this a pack thing now?”

Remus sighed, “I believe so…but then again, I have never liked Lucius Malfoy much so it’s hard to tell.”

Draco laughed weakly, “Look, I’ll deal with this in my own time and in my own way. Can you just get Neville for me? I need Neville.”

Remus nodded, and got to his feet a little shakily, “Of course.”

“I’ll floo Augusta,” Tonks said with a smile, “She’s always liked me. Now, you go to bed Remus, your wounds at least will heal if you have a long sleep.”

“Draco’s ought to as well,” Remus said, glancing to the boy who he now felt incredibly protective over, “That’s another piece of good news I didn’t tell you. The two cuts on your back, the ones that are hurting when you move at the moment, those are the only cuts I gave you. Because I’m a werewolf they won’t heal. But all of the other cuts are self-inflicted, so give it a few hours and they’ll be gone, they won’t even leave scars.”

Draco contemplated that news, “What would happen, if you’d bitten me, Remus?”

“Nothing, you have werewolf blood now,” Remus said calmly, “You will stay as you are. It will never get any worse. And, before you ask, if you bite someone on a full moon I highly doubt that it would do anything apart from hurt them.”

“Why would I attack myself though?” Draco asked with a frown.

“It was your first transformation,” Remus said, “You actually showed remarkable restraint. Many werewolves kill themselves from injuries sustained from their first transformation. It’s guilt Draco, and shame. Part of you was disgusted by the monster you perceived yourself to be becoming, so you attacked yourself.”

Draco looked down weakly, he nodded, “Alright, just get Neville for me yeah Dora?”

Remus’s eyes flashed in surprise at the name Draco had used. Tonks just smiled and nodded as she got to her feet, “I’ll make sure he comes over as fast as he can.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Why did he call you Dora?” Remus asked his girlfriend curiously as they walked downstairs together.

“Because that’s what I called myself when he first met me, and I told you, go to bed,” Tonks said firmly.

“Not yet, I need some water,” Remus winced, “And once Draco has seen Neville, run him a hot bath and put some essence of dittany in it. He will probably scream with pain when he gets in but it will heal the cuts up much faster.”

“I’ll do that,” Tonks said.

“Why were you calling yourself Dora when you first met him?” Remus asked curiously.

“Merlin, you are nosy,” Tonks grinned, “The first time I met Draco I held him in my arms…he was so…”

Remus was watching her anxiously, “He’s your cousin, and you are both Blacks so I would really like you to finish that sentence.”

Tonks grinned, “Small, he was a baby and I was a 7 year old girl. I do not sleep with my cousins. Sirius on the other hand…he slept with a few.”

“Did he?” Remus asked in disbelief, “He didn’t tell me that.”

Tonks snorted, “Oh yeah, the problem with us Blacks is our family is so big. Do you know how hard it is to not sleep with someone you’re related to? I swear I was tempted to give every guy I dated a questionnaire to fill out, just so I could work out if we were related.”

Remus laughed, “So you saw Draco when he was young then? I thought your Mother was disowned.”

“She was, you know she was,” Tonks said pointedly, “You were 6 years below her at school.”

“Don’t remind me,” Remus said, “Do you know how wrong that is? Marrying someone whose Mother is only 6 years older than you…whose Mother you went to school with!”

“I wish you’d shut up about this whole age thing,” Tonks said as she sourced the floo powder from the cupboard in the downstairs reception room, “And in answer to your question, yes my Mother was disowned. But my Mother and my Aunt Narcissa were close as children, so when Lucius was away on business she used to come and visit us, and when Draco was born he came along too. So I held him as a baby, and then I kept him amused so our Mothers could talk as we got older. He always called me Dora, because when he was little it was the only part of my name he could pronounce.”

“Oh, well that’s almost cute,” Remus teased.

Tonks laughed, throwing some floo powder into the fire, “Now go and get your water and go to bed. I’ll check on you and your wolf brother later.”

Remus chuckled, “Yes boss,” he said with a smile.

Tonks shook her head in amusement and knelt down in front of the fire, giving it the address of the Longbottoms house. She knew that Augusta was home from St. Mungo’s now, so Neville was not stuck at home with only his Uncle anymore.

She stuck her head into the fire, and the Longbottoms kitchen materialized, “Augusta? Neville?” she called.

There was movement from upstairs, a lot of shuffling and then thundering down the stairs. Tonks resisted the urge to roll her eyes, she had clearly awoken Neville. Surely enough he appeared a few seconds later and knelt down in front of the fireplace.

Tonks didn’t want to say too much, because the Ministry could record all floo conversations and she knew that there were spies within the Ministry, waiting to pounce at any given moment. 

“We need you to come over Neville,” Tonks said simply.

Neville’s eyes flashed anxiously, and she knew she didn’t need to say anymore.

“I’ll come through as soon as you end the call,” Neville said simply.

Tonks nodded and disappeared from the fireplace. Surely enough Neville walked into the reception room a few minutes later. He was still dressed in his pajamas.

“How bad is he?” Neville asked.

“Worse than hes letting on,” Tonks replied, “I think you’ll get more out of him than we did.”

Neville nodded and jogged up the stairs, walking into Draco’s room without the knocking. He raised an eyebrow at the cuts covering his face and body, “Well, you’ve done a number to yourself.”

“Werewolves attack themselves apparently,” Draco said bitterly.

Neville’s face fell, “So you transformed then?”

“Not completely,” Draco said miserably.

Neville frowned, “Explain.”

“It was agony,” Draco said, trying to push himself up.

Neville automatically grabbed his arms and helped him, and for once Draco didn’t complain. 

“It felt like my entire body was being ripped apart…like my insides were trying to force their way out…I remember screaming in agony…and it eventually became howling, or wailing…it was a horrible inhuman sound…”

“But you didn’t entirely turn?” Neville asked, now sitting on the edge of Draco’s bed.

“I didn’t turn into a wolf…I grew claws…from my knuckles. I…my teeth got sharper…and I got bigger. It wasn’t like I got taller, I just seemed to put on muscle.”

“So you didn’t get fur?” Neville asked.

“Not exactly, I was covered in really fine hair,” Draco said, staring at a spot on the wall opposite of his bed, “And then I woke up naked in the middle of the drawing room…all the furniture was wrecked and I was covered in cuts and bruises.”

“And you did them all to yourself?” Neville asked in disbelief.

“Apart from these two,” Draco said, wincing as he twisted his body to show Neville the two bandaged up cuts on his back which were still seeping blood. His bite had opened up again too, “Remus did them.”

“I thought he said he wouldn’t hurt you, because he took wolfsbane,” Neville said quickly.

“Because I transformed enough, one of us had to become the alpha,” Draco hissed, “And Remus won the fight.”

“I can tell,” Neville said, looking at the state of Draco.

Draco groaned, “I’m not going to Hermione’s dinner party.”

Neville rolled his eyes, “I was expecting this,” he said honestly, “And you’re being stupid, you know you are. She’ll love you no matter what, you didn’t hear what she said to your Mum when you were unconscious, right after it happened. She said she wouldn’t have cared if you were a full werewolf, because for every other day of the month you would still be you, the person who she fell in love with.”

“But she shouldn’t be in love with me,” Draco spat, “I’m a fucking monster Neville! She deserves better.”

“Draco-”

His anger was waning, and in its place was regret. Hot, angry tears of frustration began to fall from his eyes, “She’s the most perfect person I have ever met. She’s everything I couldn’t have before I was this. And now…I should have just left her to fall in love with bloody Weasley! That was what was meant to happen! Her and Weasley would spawn some ginger brats and live happily ever fucking after! I’ve fucked with fate and now she’s in love with me, and I’m a fucking monster!”

Neville shook his head, “Come here you bloody idiot,” he said, swinging his legs onto the double bed so that he could sit next to Draco on it properly. He put his arm around his old friends shoulder, expecting a fight. The fact that there wasn’t one proved how much of an emotional wreck Draco really was at the moment. 

Neville sighed as Draco began to sob, and he murmured healings charms as the cuts on his back began to bleed heavily again.

“I know it seems like there’s no light at the end of this tunnel right now, but there is,” Neville said softly, “There’s always wolfsbane, isn’t there? And that means this full moon was horrible, but the rest won’t be.”

“Yes they will,” Draco said, his body now shaking with the force of his sobs, “Because I’ll always look like one. How could she ever love a monster?”

“You are not a monster,” Neville said firmly, “I’ve known Hermione since we were 11 and I’ve known you for even longer! You are no monster, you were a bully and you were forced into a lot of shit because of your Father’s lifestyle, but the little kid that hugged me because my pet dog died the day before my birthday, he’s still in there.”

Draco shook his head, “No…he isn’t. That little kid was beaten out of me a long time ago. There is no good left. There’s only bitterness and anger, for Merlin’s sake Neville I am dangerous! Hermione cannot be with me!”

“Last time I checked that was her choice, not yours,” Neville said firmly, “Hermione is one of my best friends, and she is one of the most amazing people I have ever met. You know what she’d say right now as well as I do. Like I said earlier, for every other day of the month you are the person she fell in love with, she tells me everything Draco. I don’t think you could call a guy thoughtful enough to use a soothing charm because it was their girlfriends first time, a monster.”

“I wasn’t a werewolf then,” Draco said, “And she shouldn’t have told you that.”

“Well do you want to know the hilarious part? Harry did it too, with Lilly,” Neville said.

“What?” Draco spluttered. 

“Within 24 hours,” Neville joked, trying to take Draco’s mind off of his werewolf problem, “I guess you two are more alike than you think.”

“He’s not a werewolf.”

“No, but he battles with himself every day to stay on the right side,” Neville said, “And this has to be kept between you and I. He’s on the verge of being on either side, he wouldn’t join Voldemort but his potential to turn dark…well, sometimes it scares even me. He sees Voldemorts dreams, and his thoughts, he sees through his eyes sometimes and every day he tries to make sure he doesn’t become like Voldemort.”

“Well that sucks…and I didn’t know that,” Draco said with a sigh, “But it doesn’t help me does it? My life is still ruined.”

“You aren’t a werewolf, you’re just a little bit of a werewolf,” Neville said, trying to inject some humour into the situation, “And you’ll live a normal life.”

“I’ll never live a normal life, I can’t become a Quidditch player, I can’t become a teacher because let’s face it who would let this be around children?” Draco said angrily, “The Ministry will never hire me. What future do I have with Hermione? I’ll never be able to provide for her, I’ll be poor and in rags like Remus! And as for children, do you think I can ever put them through that? The shame…the hatred…they’d be treated like shit at Hogwarts! They’d be afraid of me, I could hurt them, I could kill them!”

The tears had begun again, and they really were out of frustration more than anything else. Draco punched the bed angrily, pulling open two more scars on his chest that had been closing.

Neville sighed in a long-suffering way and picked up the ointment from the bedside table, “Lie down and shut up. You’ve done your whining, it’s my turn to talk.”

Draco, for all his faults and irritants, obeyed Neville without a word. 

As he began to rub the ointment onto the open wounds Neville spoke, “Here’s the thing. You think you can’t do anything that you once wanted to do. Well, that’s only partially true, yes there are some things I doubt you will ever be able to do. For example, your Quidditch playing dream is over. But as far as Hogwarts goes, well that’s entirely dependent on who the Headmaster or Mistress is, so that’s never entirely out of the window. The Ministry, that’s another interesting one, you may not have noticed but you have some pretty powerful friends, if anyone would be able to get you a job it would be Harry bloody Potter, who as it so happens actually quite likes you. Merlin knows why, I mean you’re a whiny pain in the arse.”

Draco smiled very slightly, “Way to make me feel better.”

“Well you’re almost smiling, so clearly it’s working,” Neville said matter of factly, “Now. Kids. Would you hurt them? No, partially because I think you’ll be perfectly normal on wolfsbane, but also for the same reason that I don’t think you could ever hurt Hermione. People who you love have hurt you in the past Draco, your Father being a key example. I don’t think you could ever hurt someone you love, not Hermione and certainly not your own flesh and blood.”

“Are you done?” Draco asked weakly.

“Not yet,” Neville answered, “As far as them being disgusted by you, or embarrassed by you…well if it bothers you so much I’ll build a wolfy basement into my house for the full moon and stay with you every night, if that’s what it takes to help I’ll do it. I meant it when I said if you turned I’d be here to help you cope with the consequences. We were friends from the moment we could both speak, and regardless of the fact that changed when we went to Hogwarts, I’m still always going to see that scared little kid who flinched when his Dad moved his cane too abruptly. Whatever you see in the mirror, or whatever you think of yourself, to me you are still that person and as long as you are that person, I will be here.”

Draco had stopped crying, but his face was still swollen with tears, “Thanks Neville,” he said weakly, “You’re my best friend, and I’m sorry for all the shit I put you through at Hogwarts. I don’t deserve you…or Hermione…I deserve a lifetime of loneliness.”

“Oh stop with the pity trip, you deserve me and you deserve Hermione,” Neville said simply, “The reason for that is because you are still that person that I became friends with. You have a few more scars, physically and mentally, but fundamentally you are still him. You might not see it yet, but I do and so does Hermione, even Harry does. That’s why we care, Draco.”

Draco sighed, “Please don’t tell anyone that I had a mental breakdown and cried on your shoulder, especially not Hermione.”

Neville grinned, “I’ll keep it in the blackmail segment of my mind. It would be great for a wedding speech.”

“If I ever get married I’m not making you best man,” Draco joked weakly.

TBC :)


	32. The Dinner Party

Draco had been avoiding Hermione, again. For the better part of the week he had been trying to avoid talking to her, or talking about her. He had been ignoring Susan’s attempts to get him to call her, and he had subtly told Remus and Tonks to leave the issue alone and let him deal with things on his own. He had been ignoring calls from almost everyone in fact. The only person who he was still speaking to was Neville, who was insisting that he was taking a ridiculous stance on the whole issue. 

As it was, Draco couldn’t avoid her forever. She showed up the day before the dinner at her house was supposed to happen. His full moon wounds had healed, apart from the ones Remus had given him but even they were healing faster than the scars from Greyback had. Remus told him it was because he had extra strength now, he said he would heal faster because he had transformed at least once. As a whole Draco had been feeling better, he wasn’t so weak or moody. Even his bite was now healing nicely, he could walk, he could jog he could even fly for a little while as long as he didn’t push it. The pain was virtually gone, and he felt far more like himself, physically at least. Mentally…he was a wreck.

“Draco!” Tonks called, walking through the house to try and find him, “You have a visitor.”

Draco emerged from the drawing room, which he had gradually been putting back to normal for Susan who had gone mental and introduced Draco to several new swear words when she had seen the state of it.

He didn’t actually see who his visitor was until he emerged from the staircase into the entrance hall, and when he saw her he froze. She looked as beautiful as ever, her skin lightly tanned from the warm summer they were having. She stood there, in denim shorts and white vest top, her curly hair falling around her face, her hazel eyes taking him in.

Before he had a chance to speak she sprinted across the hall to him and although he meant to hug her, he found himself kissing her, lifting her feet off of the ground as he did. She let out some sort of squeal, and he placed her back down on the ground, deepening the kiss as his hands got entangled in her hair. He didn’t realise how much he had missed her, but everything flooded him in that moment, her smell, her sweet taste, and the soft touch of her hands on the back of his neck. When they broke apart, Hermione said.

“I really hate you Draco.”

“You deserve to,” Draco sighed, resting his forehead against hers, “I’m sorry.”

“I’ve been worried sick about you,” Hermione said as she glared at him, “I thought…I thought you’d…”

“You thought I’d transformed,” Draco finished for her.

Hermione nodded.

“Let’s go for a walk,” Draco said, taking her hand and leading her out of the back door into the sunlit gardens. She curled her fingers around his tightly as they walked away from the house.

“What would you do if I told you that I had transformed?” Draco asked her quietly.

“I would deal with it,” Hermione answered immediately, “We would deal with it. Did you?”

“Not entirely,” Draco replied, “I…half transformed.”

“So you got the most obvious werewolf traits,” Hermione said thoughtfully, “Claws…sharp teeth…anger?”

“And my body changed,” Draco said, taken aback by how calm she was, but then he thought to himself, why? Why was he surprised? She was Hermione, she was amazing, of course she was dealing with this with ease.

“I got bigger, sort of bulked up…and I was stronger…”

“Fur?”

“Not really, just a light dusting of fine hair,” Draco replied, “Are you…are you freaked out?”

“No,” Hermione replied honestly, her hand still in his, “We will need to work out the technicalities of what will happen when we’re on the run of course. But I doubt you’ll be a danger, not when Tonks finishes her latest batch of wolfsbane anyway.”

“How can you be so okay with all of this?” Draco asked her.

Hermione smiled at him, “Because I love you. Do you know something? When I saw you today I didn’t think, oh look he’s got some new cuts, or Jesus, how can I date this guy when he might have turned into a werewolf last week. I thought…wow, he looks amazing, his cuts have practically healed, hes standing up, hes walking, hes alive! I just wanted to run to you and kiss you, and never stop.”

Draco couldn’t help the grin that came to his face as he turned to her and captured her lips again and pulled her close to him, mumbling between kisses, “I…didn’t…do…anything…to…deserve…you.”

“Just think of yourself as lucky then,” Hermione smiled, “And don’t be an arse at dinner tomorrow.”

“Would I really do that?” Draco teased.

“You know you would, I swear I could have killed you for what you said on the mirror,” Hermione said with a shake of her head, “Mum was talking to me this morning about a bloody noble wedding in Westminster Abbey. I really bloody hate you.”

“Don’t worry, I don’t bite,” Draco winked.

“Oh so now we’re making jokes about the werewolf thing?” Hermione asked with a raised eyebrow, “Last I heard you just cried to Neville about it.”

Draco’s cheeks miraculously transitioned from their ordinary colour to bright red, “He told you that? I told him not to tell anyone!”

“He didn’t tell me,” Hermione smiled, “He said he was worried about you, and I put the pieces together. I had no idea you were so close.”

“Yeah well I have known him since I could walk and talk,” Draco said hastily, “And I was just a bit…”

“- of an emotional wreck?” Hermione finished.

Draco nodded, “I just feel like my life is over Hermione. I know I’ll be me every day of the month apart from the full moon. But people won’t see it that way. They’ll see a werewolf, whether it’s half or full. They’ll just see me and label me as a half-breed. I want to be able to provide for you in the future, I don’t want to be poor and unable to hold down a job like Remus.”

“I don’t want you to provide for me,” Hermione said with a raised eyebrow, “It may have escaped your notice but I’m not exactly your perfect pure-blood housewife. I love this world, and I can’t wait to work in it. If I have it my way I’ll be head of a department within 10 years.”

“I’m not saying I want you to be a housewife, I’m just saying I don’t want to be unemployed, I want to bring something to our life,” Draco said.

“Well, things change all of the time Draco, laws change,” Hermione said honestly, “After the war I have a feeling discrimination is going to become a thing of the past. Remus was a werewolf in the 80’s, and let’s face it, that was one of the worst decades for discrimination against half-breeds. The 2000’s are going to be different, trust me.”

“I do,” Draco said, removing his hand from hers and putting it around her shoulder, “But on a different note…what did your Mother force you to wear tomorrow?”

“She bought me a dress,” Hermione said with a roll of her eyes, “But it’s got multiple uses, it’s for Bill and Fleurs wedding, so I guess that makes it bearable.”

“You’ll look beautiful in it,” Draco smiled, “Just like you did at the Yule Ball.”

Hermione smiled, almost shyly, “Anyway, the issue is you. What are you going to wear? You can’t show up in dress robes.”

“I know,” Draco said offhandedly, “I’m going to wear a suit. Muggles like suits, don’t they?”

“My parents do,” Hermione said with a long-suffering roll of her eyes.

“Do they know about my…eh…problem?” Draco asked sheepishly, “Have you told them yet?”

Hermione bit her lip, “No…”

“Are you going to?” Draco asked.

“Do you want me to?” Hermione countered.

“They will find out eventually, won’t they?” Draco said, “I suppose it’s a good show of trust if you tell them now…”

“How do you broach that subject with your parents?” Hermione asked with a frown, “Hey Mum, Dad, this is my boyfriend, he’s a werewolf but he’s also a lord…in fact, that might actually work.”

Draco laughed, “I’m only a half-werewolf anyway,” he joked.

Hermione shook her head in amusement, “Just don’t make any biting jokes!”

“I’ll be on my best behaviour,” Draco promised, “I swear.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Hermione spent the entirety of Saturday trying to speak to her Mother about Draco’s wolfish problem.

When she walked into the kitchen for breakfast, her Mother had already started cooking.

“Mum, I need to talk to you about-”

“Not now Hermione!” Mrs. Granger said, her voice very high-pitched, “I’m busy!”

Hermione rolled her eyes, “But I need-”

“You need to have a shower so I can get on with food, on you go.”

After her shower Hermione’s Mum had disappeared to the shops, and her Dad was still at work. She attempted to talk to her again in the afternoon when she was back in the kitchen.

“Mum, I really need to talk to you about-”

Mrs. Granger sighed, “I’m busy cooking Hermione!”

“But I really need to tell you-”

“I’m sure it can wait.”

Hermione groaned in frustration and left.

The following two times she entered the kitchen she was told to leave before she even got a chance to get a word out of her mouth. She resorted to putting her dress on, it was a knee length red dress that her Mum had picked, but she had actually liked. Hermione loved being 17 because she didn’t have to try and tame her hair the Muggle way in the holidays, she could quite easily use glamour charms to reduce her frizzy hair to curls. By the time she was ready there was only 15 minutes until everyone was supposed to arrive.

Hermione could have cursed her Mother when she got downstairs to find out from her Dad that she was still in the kitchen.

“She’s just nervous about tonight,” Mr. Granger said with a smile, “She wants it to go well.”

“I know she does but I really need to talk to her before everybody gets here,” Hermione said irritably.

“About what?” Mr. Granger asked curiously.

“About Draco,” Hermione began sheepishly, “He’s…well…you should know now, that he’s-”

They were interrupted by the doorbell and Hermione groaned. She actually stamped her foot as she pulled the front door open.

“Hi Lilly,” Hermione said with a smile, her bad mood slipping slightly.

Lilly smiled back, “Hi! I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever, even though we talk on the mirror all the time.”

“I know,” Hermione laughed, “You look great by the way.”

Lilly was wearing a pale blue dress that made her blue eyes look even more distinctive, “Thanks, so do you. Since we both hate wearing dresses.”

Hermione smiled as she shut the door behind Lilly and brought her into the dining room where her parents were now both standing.

“Mum, Dad, this is Lilly Moon,” Hermione said with a smile, “My friend, and the girlfriend of Harry’s I was telling you about.”

“Oh, lovely to meet you,” Mrs. Granger said happily, “We were so glad when Hermione told us Harry was finally happy. He really deserves it after all he’s been through, doesn’t he dear?”

Mr. Granger nodded dutifully, and Lilly smiled in amusement as the doorbell rang again.

“I’ll get it,” Hermione said, darting into the hall and opening the door. This time Neville was on the doorstep.

“Oh hiya Neville,” She said as she let him in, “I thought you would arrive with Suse?”

“No, she’s coming with Draco,” Neville said in amusement, “Which is a bit weird, considering.”

Considering they used to date, Hermione thought to herself, “Well, it makes sense since they’re living together.”

Neville hummed thoughtfully, “How is my ‘appropriate Muggle wear’ outfit then?”

“A little dated,” Hermione said with a smile. He was wearing brown trousers, a white shirt and a brown tweed jacket, “But it suits you.”

“Why thank you,” Neville said with a grin.

Hermione laughed, “Come on, I’ll take you into the dining room. Be prepared to be questioned about your ‘lordship’ by the way.”

Neville smirked, “Fantastic,” he said a little too eagerly.

Hermione shot him a wary look as they entered the dining room, “Mum, Dad, this is my friend Neville Longbottom.”

“Oh, didn’t you say he was a Lord, Hermione? Should you not give him his full title?” Mrs. Granger asked.

Neville smiled politely, “No Mrs. Granger. I am not a Lord, I don’t receive my titles until I come of age, and even then I have to go and sign a lot of paperwork before its official. Just call me Neville.”

“Of course, Neville,” Mrs. Granger said with a smile.

Ding Dong.

Hermione was beginning to dread this evening already as she opened the door for the third time and smiled at the two people on the doorstep; Draco, and Susan. Susan looked lovely in a simple white maxi dress, with a black belt around the waist, and Draco, as promised looked very suave in a suit. Whatever he thought, in Hermione’s opinion the scars on his face added extra danger and sex appeal.

“Come on in,” Hermione said, stepping aside, and kissing Draco briefly. She knew she wouldn’t get a chance when they went into the dining room.

Susan made a face, and Hermione grinned, “Sorry Susan.”

“You only saw him yesterday,” Susan teased, “And I saw you two snogging on my favourite bench.”

Draco grinned, “Alright then, let’s meet these scary, intimidating parents of yours.”

“Don’t be an arse tonight,” Hermione whispered as she led them into the dining room.

Draco just smiled.

“Mum, Dad, this is Susan Bones, my friend from school. And this is Draco, my boyfriend.”

“Lovely to meet you Susan,” Mrs. Granger said politely, “And you, in person, Lord Black.”

“Draco, please,” Draco said with a smile.

“Draco,” Mrs. Granger said.

“Pleasure to meet you Mrs. Granger, and you Mr. Granger,” Draco said, shaking Hermione’s Fathers hand.

He narrowed his eyes at Draco and moved a little closer to him as they shook hands. He mumbled, so that only Draco could hear, “You and I will have a little chat later.”

Draco nodded, suddenly feeling nervous about the night. He was normally quite good at winning people over, people called him charismatic. But that had been before he was a werewolf…

Ding Dong.

Hermione left to get the door, knowing that it could only be Daphne or Harry. When she opened the door and saw her favourite blonde bombshell on the doorstep she immediately hugged her, and then let her in. She was wearing a very pretty, very Daphne-esque white and red polka dot dress and she looked amazing, as always.

“Woah, what’s going on Granger?” Daphne asked with a raised eyebrow, but she was clearly hiding a smile.

“I’ve missed you!” Hermione said, smiling at her, “I’ve not even spoken to you since the Hogwarts Express with you getting your mirror confiscated! And I call tell you missed me too, you tried not to smile there.”

“Maybe I missed you a little,” Daphne smiled, “You’re growing on me, like a fungus.”

“How nicely put,” Hermione remarked sarcastically, “Come on, everybody’s in the dining room. Apart from Harry, who’s the last to arrive, as usual.”

Daphne laughed lightly, “How did he get away anyway? Isn’t he under strict instructions to stay in blood wardy area?”

Hermione snorted, “Yes, but he was allowed to leave for a few hours. My house is warded, and there are Order members on patrol too. They were worried I would be in danger because of my friendship with Harry.”

“That makes sense,” Daphne said as they stepped into the dining room.

“Mum, Dad, this is my friend Daphne Greengrass,” Hermione said simply.

“Lovely to meet you Daphne,” Mrs. Granger said with a smile, “Is it just Harry we are waiting for then?”

She had gradually been giving out drinks to the guests as they arrived, soft drinks or wine only, even though most of them were 17. 

“Well that’s not a surprise,” Neville smiled, “Harry’s always late.”

“For everything,” Lilly added.

Hermione laughed and nodded, “Yes, his timekeeping isn’t great,” she admitted as the clock ticked to 7.10pm and the doorbell finally rang.

“I’ll go and get him,” Hermione said, walking to the door and opening it. She let Harry in quickly and then shut the door behind him, “Well don’t you look smart?” she grinned. He was wearing a grey suit, with a dark red shirt.

“It’s Remus’s,” Harry admitted sheepishly, “I didn’t have anything except dress robes.”

“He must have had to shrink it a lot,” Hermione teased as she led him into the dining room.

“Oh that’s harsh,” Harry smirked.

“It’s the truth, there’s what, a foot between you two in height?” 

“10 inches actually,” Harry said pointedly. 

Hermione chuckled as they entered the dining room, “Mum, Dad, you know Harry. Harry, you know Mum and Dad.”

“Lovely to see you again Harry,” Mrs. Granger said.

“You too Mrs. Granger, Mr. Granger,” Harry said politely as he was offered a drink and they all finally took seats at the table.

Hermione wasn’t entirely sure how comfortable she was with the fact that she and Draco were the closest to her Mother, and therefore the most subjectable to her probing questions. 

“So, Draco. Where are you from?”

“Wiltshire,” Draco replied, “My family have a manor there.”

“Oh I see.”

“Well they have disowned me now. So, my new home is in central London. My Mother was a Black before she married my Father,” Draco explained.

“Hermione said that Harry gave you the title?” Mrs. Granger said.

“Yes, I did Mrs. Granger,” Harry said.

“And how did you do that? Through the bank I presume?” 

“No, it was through a blood vow, actually,” Harry replied, “It’s a very old, and frankly crude form of magic. But it is the only way to seal certain deals, such as the handover of titles to someone who I am not directly blood related to.”

“Traditional pure-blood marriage contracts are similar,” Draco elaborated, “My parents had to make one, on which they swore to love and obey each other. It’s certainly a crude form of magic, my Mother has no choice but to do as my Father says.”

“That’s horribly oppressive,” Mrs. Granger said in shock.

“The wizarding world is very backwards Mum,” Hermione said, “I’ve told you this before. That’s why they treat people like Lilly and I badly for not having ‘pure’ blood.”

Mrs. Granger sighed, “Well, let us hope that will change.”

Hermione nodded weakly, and she was grateful when the topic of conversation changed towards something less controversial. There had been no problems, in fact everything had been practically perfect, as they finished their dessert. Everybody had praised her Mum’s food, and Hermione breathed a sigh of relief as the after dinner coffee was served. 

But then the wrong question was asked, and her heart sank.

“If you don’t my asking Draco, have you always had your scars?” Mr. Granger asked curiously.

“Oh no, they are very recent,” Draco said with a glance towards Hermione, “Only a couple of months old.”

“That’s dreadful,” Mrs. Granger said, “What on earth happened to you?”

Draco saw the panic in Hermione’s eyes, but he didn’t see how he could avoid answering the question. He caught her eye, and her parents looked between them in bemusement.

“Hasn’t…hasn’t Hermione told you?”

“I tried,” Hermione said in an undertone, “I tried all day Mum but you kept saying you were busy!”

“Tried to tell me what?” Mrs. Granger asked calmly, “I doubt anything you tell me will shock me Hermione. I was an A&E nurse for years before I became a dentist.”

“You wouldn’t have seen this in A&E,” Harry said under his breath.

Mr. Granger frowned, “Could you please explain, Hermione?”

“Draco got his injuries in an attack…a werewolf attack,” Hermione said shakily, “He’s…he’s a werewolf.”

“Half-werewolf,” Harry and Neville said in unison.

Draco smiled at them weakly, “Thanks guys.” 

“A…what?” Mrs. Granger asked as her face paled.

“She said werewolf love,” Mr. Granger said, “And I think I need to get you a brandy.”

Mrs. Granger nodded numbly as Mr. Granger got to his feet and slipped into the kitchen.

“He doesn’t become a wolf Mum,” Hermione said, “He just changes a little at the full moon. It’s, an illness, he’s not…he’s not bad person.”

“But…are you…are you sure he won’t hurt you?”

That was the final straw, Hermione lost her temper. It didn’t happen often, not like this anyway, not Hurricane Hermione as Harry had taken to calling it. But when it did, it wasn’t pretty.

“I’m sure!” Hermione snapped, standing up angrily, “The whole reason he is like this is because of me! The werewolf was going to attack me, he was going to kill me! This happened to Draco because he jumped in front of him to save me! So think about that before you start insulting him!”

Hermione turned on her heel and stalked into the back garden, breathing heavily and swearing under her breath. Draco got to his feet, “Excuse me Mrs. Granger,” he said, hurrying after his girlfriend.

“Hermione.”

“She’s so…argh!”

“Come here,” Draco said gently, pulling her into his embrace.

“Why are you not angry?”

“I’m half-werewolf,” Draco mumbled into her hair, “People are going to act like this around me for the rest of my life. The sooner I get used to it the better.”

“You shouldn’t have to get used to it,” Hermione hissed angrily.

“But I do,” Draco said, a firmness in his voice, “I don’t imagine things changing in the near future. Remus has already told me what to prepare for when this is all over. I’ll have to sign the werewolf register, so they can track me…in case I become a danger.”

“But you aren’t dangerous!” Hermione said angrily, “And you aren’t even a full werewolf!”

“Hermione,” Draco said hotly, “I hate this as much as you but I’m trying to deal with it. So please, let me?”

Hermione nodded a little tearfully, and wiped her eyes.

“Let’s just go back inside, and get on with the evening,” Draco said, kissing her lightly on the lips, “Your parents didn’t mean to bring all of this up.”

“Okay,” Hermione said, taking his hand, as they re-entered the house.

“I am very sorry for what I said earlier, Draco,” Mrs. Granger said, a half-empty glass of brandy in her hand, “Harry and Neville have informed me that I was very rude.”

Hermione raised an eyebrow at her two Gryffindor friends, Harry smiled innocently, and Neville smirked. Draco completely missed this as he shook his head, “It’s alright Mrs. Granger, it was a shock. I understand.”

“Yes, well I would like to thank you,” Mrs. Granger said, “For saving my daughter’s life. She’s all we have and I can’t bear the thought of losing her, it’s just so horrific…”

Before Draco knew what was happening she had hugged him, and he awkwardly patted her on the back while his lovely friends sniggered.

Mrs. Granger drew back and wiped her eyes, and Mr. Granger intervened. The dinner party was moved outside, which led to smaller groups talking. Poor Harry and Lilly had been cornered by Hermione’s Mother and were now stuck in conversation with her.

It gave Daphne a perfect chance to pull Draco aside however.

“There’s something I need to tell you about the night of your attack,” She whispered.

Draco frowned, “What do you mean?”

“I wanted to tell you in person, but Remus thought it would be best to wait until after your first full moon,” Daphne said quietly, “He said you would want revenge, on Greyback.”

“I do,” Draco said darkly.

“Well you won’t be able to get it,” Daphne said cautiously, “Because he’s dead.”

“What?” Draco asked coolly.

“He was killed, that night,” Daphne continued.

Draco didn’t need to ask who had done it. He knew, he knew from the look in her eyes, and from the fact that her right hand was shaking as she held her wine glass. 

“You killed him.”

“I’m sorry,” Daphne said, catching his eye, “He was attacking you, and Hermione was screaming, and she couldn’t find her wand amongst all the blood on the floor…I…I…had to end it. He killed Sal, Draco. I couldn’t let him kill you too.”

“You saved my life,” Draco whispered.

Daphne nodded tearfully, “You broke my heart, but you are still one of my oldest and closest friends. You’re my family now, and you know what the Greengrass motto is, tuitionem nostri familia.”

“Protect our family,” Draco said somewhat sadly.

Daphne merely nodded.

“Was that the first time you used…it?”

Daphne nodded weakly, “It should have been harder. Harry told me that you really have to mean it for those curses to work…but it seemed so easy.”

“You did the right thing Daph,” Draco whispered, “He was a murderer, he killed hundreds of people, he killed children. You did the right thing.”

“I’m still a murderer Draco,” Daphne whispered, so quietly that her words were almost lost on the wind.

“I understand the moral dilemma in your head,” Draco said honestly, “But if you hadn’t done it I would be dead, and I think Hermione would be too. You were perfectly within your rights to do what you did, it was defence.”

“I know that, I know all of that,” Daphne said weakly, “I know it was the right thing Draco and in that situation I would do it again. What I did isn’t what scares me, it’s the fact I did it out of vengeance that does.”

“Look,” Draco said, placing his hand on her shoulder, “He murdered your little brother. I don’t have siblings, but if he had killed any of my friends, even Potter, I would have done exactly as you did.”

Daphne swallowed hard, but nodded as a firm hand gripped Draco’s shoulder.

“Can I have a word, Draco?” Mr. Granger asked perfectly politely.

Draco nodded, stepping to the far side of the garden with Hermione’s Father. 

“I don’t know whether you take me for a fool, or not,” Mr. Granger began, “I know your kind look down on muggles, as you call myself and my wife. But I am no fool, I know the name Draco Malfoy very well. I read it in letters, tearstained letters. I heard it in raging rants, and I heard it through my little girl’s sobs. All the grief she went through at Hogwarts for her appearance, because of her blood, it was because of you.”

Draco’s face had paled significantly, “Yes, it was.”

“Now she’s not stupid, not by a longshot,” Mr. Granger continued, “So why on earth is she with you, after all of that?”

“I will answer that question entirely honestly,” Draco said weakly, “I have no idea. I spent my first few years at Hogwarts trying to be the person that my father wanted me to be, and that was not a nice person. He is a controlling, manipulative, blood purist politician who enjoys bullying people, his own family included. He’s currently in prison for being a Death Eater, and he is fighting on the other side of this war that is coming. For years I looked up to him, because he was my Father, and who wouldn’t look up to their Father? As the years have gone on, I’ve realised how sick he is and your daughter…she saved my life in more ways than one last year. I was sent on a mission, from my Fathers boss, I was supposed to die, to punish my Father for his bad service. Hermione…she saved me, she saved me from myself, and I finally learned to be my own person. She freed me Mr. Granger, from a world that would have killed me in one way or another. And now…well, now I will do anything and everything I can to protect her.”

“From what I understand your life has already changed massively because of what you did to protect her,” Mr. Granger said, his tone softer.

Draco sighed, “Well, my prospects have changed, and I’m going to have to re-think my career options. But it’s a small price to pay to see her smiling every day.”

Mr. Granger smiled, “Okay, you’ve convinced me. There’s a big difference between a child who bullies people because his own life isn’t great, a child who bullies and doesn’t realise there are consequences; and a deliberately cruel and malicious man. As long as you continue to become the man you seem to be becoming I have no issue with you dating my daughter. But if you ever become like your Father, wizard, werewolf or not I’ll introduce you to my golf clubs.”

Draco decided the best course of action was to pretend he understood this and nod, “I understand Mr. Granger.”

Mr. Granger nodded firmly, “Good,” he said simply as they re-joined the main group.

“Everything alright?” Hermione asked cautiously.

They both nodded, and Mr. Granger began to walk away, “Hermione, what are golf clubs?” Draco whispered.

“Dad!” Hermione exclaimed. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

As the night wore on, Hermione’s parents brought up the subject of nobility, again.

“I got a little confused when Draco was explaining titles, and wizarding nobility to my wife,” Mr. Granger said, “Would one of you care to explain it?”

“Of course Mr. Granger,” Susan said with a smile, “Noble families in the wizarding world began as pure-blood families. It began with the ‘Sacred Twenty-Eight’, the 28 noble families within our world. Daphne’s family, Neville’s family and Draco’s Black family, as well as his Malfoy family, were included in these original noble families. There are only 28 titles, at any given point, and some of these original 28 died out, due to failure in the male line.”

Mr. Granger nodded, seeming intrigued.

“So when a family became extinct a new family would join the 28, but it was no longer known as sacred because these families often had several half-bloods which meant that they had bred with muggles, like yourself, or muggle-borns like Hermione. Harry’s family, and my own family are in this bracket. As a result we are known as the new nobility, and the sacred families are known as the old nobility. In theory that means that they should be of higher rank, but it doesn’t always work this way. Harry is the noblest person, in our friend group, as it stands.”

“Am I?” Harry asked in surprise.

Draco raised an eyebrow, “Yes, as much as I hate to admit it…Earl Potter.”

“What?” Harry asked in disbelief.

Daphne laughed, “Your ancestor, the one who got knighted and made an Earl in 1346. He was a member of the Kings household, and unofficially held the post of Royal Wizard. He saved the kings life at the Battle of Crecy, during the Hundred Years War.”

“How do you know that?” Harry asked in amazement.

“We get taught it,” Susan said, “Growing up.”

“As pure-bloods it’s part of our pre-Hogwarts education,” Draco said, “Your family became one of the 28, after the Shafiq family became extinct.”

“Wow, so what are the rest of your titles?” Harry asked curiously.

“Going from the highest, to the lowest. Daphne’s title, if it is ever passed on to her will be Countess Greengrass, so she is technically of the same status as Harry. But as she is female, he is deemed higher,” Susan said, “After that there is Neville, who will become Viscount Longbottom when he receives his titles. There is then Draco, had he not been disowned he would have been just below Harry and Daphne in rank, as Marquis Malfoy. As it is, he is now at a significantly lower rank of Baron Black, along with me. My official title is Baroness Bones.”

“Thanks for reminding me Susan,” Draco said, an amused smile playing on his lips, “Look how degraded I’ve become.”

Hermione elbowed him in the ribs, smiling, “Shut up, your dating a muggle-born, your line is already polluted.”

“So,” Mrs. Granger said slowly, “Draco, if yourself and Hermione, were to get married, for example, she would become Baroness Black?”

“Technically yes, but in most cases people say Lord and Lady, rather than the exact title,” Draco replied politely.

“And Harry, if you were to marry Lilly, she would become Countess Potter?” 

Lilly’s cheeks went scarlet.

“Uh, I think so,” Harry said as he chuckled, “I didn’t know I had a title until tonight though, I just thought I was a lord so…”

“Traditionally this information would be passed down by an older member of the family,” Neville explained, “But as Harry is the last surviving member of his family and he was raised by muggles there was nobody to pass that information on.”

“What about this Mr. Lupin you have been speaking about?”

“He was my Fathers best friend, but he didn’t know everything,” Harry said.

“Wizarding families are generally very secretive about family business around other magical people,” Draco said, “He would not have known any of this.”

“Well, what about this Lord Voldemort that you are warring with?” Mr. Granger asked, “Is he nobility too?”

Draco scoffed, and Harry shook his head angrily, “No, he’s nothing. Nothing but a fraud. Lord Voldemort is a play on words for his real name.”

“He has a claim to the Gaunt name,” Daphne said, “But no titles, and only a dismal shack.”

“The Gaunt’s were one of the 28, but they were believed to be extinct,” Susan explained, “They were once a great family but they fell into disrespect and ruin.”

“I’m sorry, but I’m afraid, on that note, I have to leave,” Harry said reluctantly, he had been enjoying himself, “If I’m away from the blood wards around my home for too long I put myself and everyone around me in danger. Thank you so much for having me tonight Mr and Mrs. Granger.”

“Of course, Harry.”

There were much hugs and kisses on cheeks as the garden, and the house gradually began to empty until finally everybody was gone, and only Hermione and her parents remained.

“I had my doubts, but he’s a good man that Draco Black,” Mr. Granger said, placing a hand on Hermione’s shoulder.

“Even if he’s part-werewolf?” Hermione asked, particularly sending that her Mothers way.

Mrs. Granger sighed, “I accepted you being a witch Hermione, and I can accept this too. It was a shock, but he is a lovely, polite young man.”

“And he loves you very much,” Mr. Granger added, “That was the one thing I gathered from our short conversation. For all of his faults in the past, he wants nothing more than to protect you.”

“I know,” Hermione said, looking out of the window into the darkening sky. She should have been happy, because her parents approved of Draco, they even liked him. But she wasn’t, because she knew it didn’t matter. All she was doing was playing happy families until the time came when she had to send them away. Until the time, which was growing increasingly nearer, came to make them forget. They wouldn’t remember a daughter, they wouldn’t remember her half-werewolf boyfriend. It would all be gone, and they would be safe. But Hermione’s life would never be the same again.

TBC :)


	33. What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger

As July wore on, and the summer heightened, security measures were tightened. The order had advised them all not to leave the comfort of their own home unless they had no choice. The date of Harry’s extraction from Privet Drive grew closer, and tensions were high as another battle was feared. 

Draco’s second full moon came, and this time he took wolfsbane. He was still nervous, and for safety reasons they made sure Susan and Tonks weren’t in the house again. However, the transformation, as painful as it was, seemed easier. He wasn’t sure if that was because he knew what to expect, or because of the potion. He changed physically, but mentally he felt exactly the same. As soon as he saw himself in the mirror he felt disgusted, but he also realised quite how much control wolfsbane gave him. He wished that he claws would go away, and they retreated, to a reasonable size. He shut his eyes and concentrated, and when he opened his eyes and looked in the mirror again he looked almost normal, he had claws yes, but they were manageable. He was bigger, and musclier, but the light covering of hair was gone. His teeth were still sharp, but his canines had retreated slightly. Remus was right, he did have complete control. He actually managed a smile as Remus curled up on the sofa in the drawing room, whining like an oversized dog and shaking as if he was cold. Draco put a blanket over him, and saw appreciation glimmering in his glazed eyes. He felt sorry for Remus, but better for himself as Draco settled down for the night to read a book.

After 10 minutes of trying to read his book Draco threw it onto the floor. It was futile, he was just full of energy, and Remus was no fun, he was snoring loudly on the sofa. Draco spent the next half an hour trying to work out what to do, and then he spotted the mirror sitting on his bedside table and had a brainwave. He looked practically normal, which meant he could call people on the mirror. 

He tried Hermione first, but there was no answer. So he tried Neville, and he didn’t answer either. There was no answer on Lilly’s mirror either, or on Susan’s. Draco didn’t even contemplate calling Daphne, she was probably asleep and if he woke her up he didn’t want to face her wrath. Which left…Harry.

“What do you want Draco?” Harry asked, his face was lit up by a lamp next to his bed.

“Hey Potter!” Draco said eagerly.

Harry frowned, “It’s 2am in the morning.”

“So?” Draco asked with a frown.

“So why are you calling me?” Harry asked.

“Well, you were actually my last resort if I’m being honest,” Draco said, lying on his bed and holding his mirror in front of his face, “Nobody else answered.”

“Well thanks,” Harry said irritably, “They were probably all asleep, like normal people.”

“Why are you awake then?” 

“Because I’m not normal,” Harry yawned.

“Because you’re haunted by the demons of your past?” Draco asked sarcastically.

Harry glared at the blonde, “Yes, actually. I have nightmares about all of the shit in my life every night. Why are you still awake?”

“I’m just so full of energy, and I can’t sleep on the full moon anyway, I’m wide awake until the sun comes up and then I just crash,” Draco said, speaking very quickly.

Harry’s frown deepened, “Well, you were clearly exaggerating about your werewolf traits. You look bloody normal.”

“Not quite, and I can control it anyway,” Draco said offhandedly, “I’m normally covered in light hair, and my teeth and claws are sharper. Look at my teeth!”

He pulled the mirror nearer and showed Harry his canines.

“Wonderful,” Harry said sarcastically.

“And look at my claws,” Draco added, pointing the mirror to them and extending them.

“Alright, what am I Little Red?”

Draco’s confused face appeared, “Huh?”

“Little Red Riding Hood,” Harry said slowly, “It’s a muggle fairytale…the little girl goes to visit her Granny and gets there to find that she’s been eaten by the big bad wolf, and hes pretending to be her. And she’s all, look what big teeth you have, and look what big ears you have and she doesn’t realise her Gran is a fucking wolf…not ringing any bells?”

“Can’t say it is,” Draco said matter of factly, “And that’s a story they tell kids? A bedtime story? That’s fucked up.”

“Don’t say that to Hermione, she loves fairytales,” Harry snorted, “Her favourite is Beauty and the Beast…now that’s ironic.”

“Potter, what the fuck are you on about?” Draco asked, “What the hell is this Beauty and the Beast?”

Harry rolled his eyes, “Fairytale. Really smart girl sort of gets kidnapped by this big evil beast and he keeps her hostage in his castle, and the cutlery and furniture sing which is fucked up. Then she falls in love with him, but it turns out hes cursed and hes not actually a beast he’s a handsome prince but she fell in love with his personality.”

Draco snorted, “Sounds like Granger’s cup of tea. Although I’m slightly concerned that she finds the idea of being kidnapped alluring…”

“I think she finds the idea of forbidden love alluring,” Harry said in amusement, “Not being kidnapped.”

“How many more are there of these fairies tails?” Draco asked curiously, “And which ones does Hermione like?”

“Why?” Harry asked cautiously.

Draco bared his sharp canines in a wicked grin, “Blackmail.”

“I’m not going to help you blackmail my best friend Malfoy,” Harry said in amusement.

“Black.”

“I don’t care, when you’re being a dick you will still be Malfoy to me,” Harry said.

“I do miss aspects of it you know,” Draco said offhandedly, “The name that is. I mean I don’t miss being connected to the absoloute dickhead that is my Father…but I do miss Hermione calling me Malfoy in intimate situations…that weirdly turned me on.”

“That is more than I ever needed to know about your sex life,” Harry said, looking mildly disgusted.

“Oh come on Potter, we both know you’ve been getting way more than me. Lilly is staying in Surrey after all, and you didn’t waste a month of summer lying in bed being all werewolf-y,” Draco smirked.

“You look quite scary when you smirk, with those bloody fangs of yours,” Harry said with narrowed eyes, “And it’s none of your business what I have or haven’t been getting.”

“I heard Remus told you not to get her pregnant,” Draco said with a low laugh that reminded Harry distinctly of Sirius’s, and he felt a familiar pang of pain shoot him in the chest.

“Yeah, that was a fun chat,” Harry said awkwardly.

Draco laughed in that low, barking way again, “That’s rich coming from him mind you. All those two do is have sex, all of the time and because of this bloody wolf hearing I hear it vividly. There’s a visual element in this wolf-pack thing too, so after the full moon I can see his dreams sometimes. I swear I’ve seen way more of my cousin than I ever needed to see.”

Harry grinned wickedly, “Aren’t you Black’s into that? I thought you all shagged and married your cousins.”

“Oh shut up Scarhead,” Draco said with a roll of his eyes, “Not all of the Blacks do that. Just a select few who give the rest of us a bad name!”

Harry laughed quietly, “I’m sure,” he teased, “Sorry to spoil your fun Draco but I’m going to have to go before I wake my Aunt and Uncle up. I don’t fancy taking a beating just to keep you occupied.”

A flash of guilt passed through Draco’s eyes, “Sure Potter. See ya!”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“You better be winding me up Lillian.”

“Don’t call me Lillian,” Lilly said irritably, as she stared resolutely at Harry, “And I’m doing it. Simple as.”

They were sitting in Harry’s bedroom in Privet Drive. It was the middle of July, and Harry was growing anxious, rather than excited, as his 17th neared.

“You are not doing it,” Harry said firmly, glaring at his girlfriend, “There is no way I am letting you do it.”

“Give me one good reason,” Lilly said hotly.

“I’ll give you several!” Harry exclaimed, “Voldemort has tons of spies in the Ministry, you’re a bloody muggle-born and I don’t want you to get chucked in Azkaban or killed!”

“Voldemort may have spies in the ministry, but he hasn’t overthrown it yet,” Lilly said as she pushed herself to her feet, “We would know if it had happened, there would be changes in the Prophet even if it wasn’t reported. Hermione said that, and you trust her, don’t you?”

Harry was also on his feet now, “Yes I trust her, and I also trust you. But it doesn’t matter if he’s overthrown it yet or not, he could do it at any point! It’s dangerous! Why the hell are you doing this?”

“Because it gives us the perfect chance to scout the Ministry out for crying out loud!” Lilly shouted, “I can go in as a casual visitor, with a clear purpose, and I can work out what’s changed, what’s changing, likely spies, the lot.”

“Alright, let’s consider how bad an idea this is,” Harry said irritably, “You go in and get this test done. It confirms what we all bloody know, that you’re a muggle-born. What do you think they’ll do? Just let you walk away?”

“I don’t know what they’ll do, and I won’t know until I try,” Lilly said calmly.

“Well let’s see…what could they do? Put a tracking charm on you? Put a tracking device in you? Arrest you? Kill you?”

“They could do all of that, but they won’t,” Lilly said, “This scheme has been in the making for years Harry. I heard whisperings about it when I did my summer placements in the Ministry after 4th year. It’s not Voldemort-run, granted it will help him when he gets control but I don’t think he’s going to kill all muggle-borns. I think he’s just going to make sure they are removed from the Hogwarts student list, and I’m not going back to Hogwarts next year anyway.”

Harry shook his head in disbelief.

Lilly groaned in frustration, “Harry, it’s a blood test.”

“And how do tracking spells work? Oh yeah, with someone’s blood or an item of theirs,” Harry remarked hotly.

“They destroy it,” Lilly said smugly, “In front of you, and I’d noticed if they copied it. Look, they won’t be able to track me. They’ll do the test, they’ll find out I’m a muggle-born and then when Voldemort does take control I’ll be banned from Hogwarts.”

“You don’t seem to grasp how dangerous this is,” Harry said, still pissed off with her.

“No, I do,” Lilly said honestly, “But I think it’s important. You said it yourself, this could happen at any point, he could gain control tomorrow for all we know. This could be our last chance to scout out the political situation before we’re entirely cut off. You know it’s a good idea.”

“I just wish it wasn’t you doing it,” Harry admitted, his eyes boring into hers, “Why you, Lilly?”

“Hermione can’t, and you can’t,” Lilly began, “You are both high-priority targets which makes it far too dangerous. Draco’s a disowned half-breed who must also be known to be a traitor now, so that rules him out.”

“So why not Susan or Daphne then?” Harry asked, “Or Tonks? She’s still an Auror, if anyone can scout out the Ministry she can!”

“She can’t,” Lilly said, “She only has authorization for her department. And by doing this test I’ll get access to the lower levels that are normally restricted. Tonks doesn’t even know what goes on down there.”

“And you still want to fucking do this?” Harry asked loudly, a little too loudly because Petunia shouted something up the stairs about controlling his language.

“I have to do it,” Lilly said, “The Death Eaters killed Susan’s Aunt, and they know that Daphne’s Father is part of the Order. Harry, I’m just a muggle-born, nobody knows who I am.”

“They know you’re dating me.”

“Do they?” Lilly asked with a raised eyebrow, “Because that only went around Hogwarts, it was never even printed as a rumour in any publication and their spy within Hogwarts is with us now.”

“Oh yeah, what about Snape?” Harry asked in disbelief, “You know, the man who killed Dumbledore? The Death Eater who grabbed you knew you were my girlfriend.”

“And he found out that night and was killed that night,” Lilly remarked, “As for Snape, I don’t think he’s told Voldemort. Think about it, if he had…well…why am I still alive? I’ve been staying in an unprotected youth hostel, there are no wards. Surely he would have sent Death Eaters to kill me by now.”

Harry was silent as he contemplated that.

“See, I’m the only one who can do it,” Lilly said quietly, “Which is why my appointment is booked for 3pm today.”

“What?” Harry barked, his anger bubbling back to the surface.

It was 2.30pm now.

Lilly walked to the door, “I’m sorry Harry, but this is important. This is bigger than me, it’s bigger than you. It’s bigger than us.”

Harry crossed the room before Lilly had a chance to open the door and pressed her against it, kissing her like he hadn’t kissed her before. It resembled those frantic, sweat soaked kisses that night in the room of requirement when they had nearly lost each other. When they broke apart they were both breathing heavily.

“You better be careful,” Harry said, a harshness in his voice, “Because if I lose you Lilly…I really think I will crumble.”

Lilly grabbed his hand and squeezed it, glancing into his green eyes and seeing fear and desperation there, “I’ll see you in a few hours,” she promised confidently as she slipped from the room.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

As Lilly came into the ministry, through the new visitor’s entrance, which she had not been pleased to see was in a bloody toilet, she didn’t immediately notice any differences. The atrium was the same, people were milling about as if things were fine. It was only when she looked closely that she spotted differences. There was extra security by the lifts, extra security by the fireplaces that were whirring in and out of action. The entire place was more heavily fortified, but it was only obvious to someone looking for it.

Lilly kept her eyes open as she got into the elevator and began her descent to the lower floors where the court rooms, and the Department of Mysteries were. She was in an elevator with a few men and two women, and she quickly discerned that none of them were Death Eaters. She had to get something out of this, or Harry would be even more pissed when she got back to Surrey.

Unfortunately nothing useful came from her walk along the lower corridor to the consultancy room because she didn’t see another person there which made her very uncomfortable. In the consultancy room there was only one person, a middle-aged man who looked very suspicious and Death-Eater-ish to her. But it was too late to turn back now, so Lilly just smiled and sat down as he introduced himself as Mr. Runcorn.

“Now you’ve been briefed about the purpose of today?”

“It’s a routine blood test,” Lilly said calmly, “To confirm that I’m a muggle-born.”

“Yes,” Runcorn said, “But there is new legislation. If it transpires that you are muggle-born, as you believe. You will be placed on the muggle-born registry.”

“Oh,” Lilly said, playing dumb like she had no idea about Voldemort’s involvement in this, “What’s that?”

“It’s a register of all muggle-borns. It’s for consulting, to ensure that pure-bloods and half-bloods don’t make marriage contracts and dilute their blood-line.”

“Right,” Lilly frowned, “Okay. Well, can we get it over with please? I’m not exactly looking forward to it.”

Runcorn gave her a slightly creepy smile, “Of course. If you’ll just roll up your sleeve?”

Lilly did so, and she held out her arm to Runcorn as he performed a spell that punctured her arm with a small hole. He then twisted her arm so that the blood dripped into a small jar, and squeezed it. She hissed in pain as the blood covered the bottom of the jar.

“Perfect,” Runcorn said, quickly healing up the little puncture wound and walking over to a cauldron next to Lilly, “Now, when the blood is added to this cauldron it will turn red if you are indeed a muggle-born, yellow if you are a half-blood, and blue if your blood is pure.”

Lilly was silent as Runcorn poured the blood into the cauldron and said, “It normally takes a few minutes.”

“Why are you testing muggle-borns?” Lilly asked curiously, “I mean, why would you doubt muggle-borns really being muggle-born?”

Runcorn smiled at her as if she was stupid, “Well,” he said in a condescending sort of way, “A lot of muggle-borns are actually half-bloods. But they don’t know it because their parents never knew. If their Father wasn’t in their life, he may have been a wizard who abandoned his pregnant muggle girlfriend or wife.”

“Oh,” Lilly said thoughtfully, she had never really thought of that. Her eyes flickered, almost hopefully to the transparent potion as she waited for it to change to red and bring her crashing back down to reality. The colour gradually began to change, but it looked more like a pale blue than a deep red. Lilly frowned and Runcorn moved closer to the cauldron as the colour finally settled. A deep, Ravenclaw blue.

“What?” Lilly asked in disbelief, “That can’t be right. You said blue means pure-blood!”

“It does,” Runcorn said.

“My parents were definitely not magical,” Lilly said in disbelief, “There must be a mistake.”

“The potion can be incorrect,” Runcorn said slowly, “We’ll do another test.”

He took more blood, and refreshed the potion with his wand before pouring Lilly’s blood into it again. There was a silent, tense wait and once more the potion became a deep blue.

Lilly shook her head, “No…that can’t be…how can I be a pure-blood?”

Runcorn smiled nastily, “It looks like you’re adopted, Miss. Moon.”

Lilly was still in a state of shock as he continued to speak.

“I can’t do any further tests. All your blood tells me is that your parents were both magical. In fact, from the deep colour of that potion…I’d say at least one of them was a Pureblood, possibly both of them. I suppose you could do some research on the 28, see if any of them had any illegitimate kids about the right time, but you’ll find a lot,” Runcorn winked and Lilly felt sick.

“Right,” Lilly said, clearing her throat, “Am I good to go then? Since I don’t need to be on the registry?”

Runcorn nodded and opened the door for her, a far different exit from the icy reception, “Have a good afternoon Miss Moon.”

Lilly nodded and left the room, she walked along the hall in a daze and she was grateful that the elevator was practically empty. Her head was reeling, how on earth could she be a pure-blood? How the bloody hell was that possible? She was going on autopilot as she left the Ministry and floo-ed to an alleyway near the Dursleys house. She started to feel sick, what if she was related to Harry, or Draco? That would be wrong, so very wrong. What if her parents were dead? What if they weren’t and they were Death Eaters? What if…what if…

Her real parents floated amongst her thoughts too as she slipped into the Dursleys back garden and knocked on the backdoor. They had treated her like shit, they had been on drugs, they had been alcoholics, they couldn’t have adopted her. No self-respecting care worker would have given them a baby, and if they had adopted her, they would have told her on one of their crazy highs. Either this was all one giant mistake or her parents had no idea that they weren’t really her parents.

“Lil? You okay? You look like you’re going to faint.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Dudley, get me some towels and cold water.”

“Is she going to be okay Aunt Petunia?”

“It’s just the heat, she just needs to be cooled down.”

The world slowly came into focus as Lilly opened her eyes and had a cold hand towel placed on her forehead. She was lying on the sofa in the Dursley’s living room with three semi-concerned people standing over her. One more concerned than the others.

“What did they do to you Lilly?” Harry hissed.

“Nothing,” Lilly said weakly, “I just…the…well, the test didn’t go the way I thought it would.”

“What do you mean, didn’t go the way you thought it would?” Harry asked.

“Uh…well…I’m not a muggle-born,” Lilly said, frowning as the cold compress began to gradually take away the fuzziness of the world.

“What?” Harry asked in disbelief.

“The potion…it was supposed to turn red for muggle-born, yellow for half-blood and blue for pure-blood,” Lilly said quietly, “It went blue Harry, and he said it was such a dark blue it was likely that at least one, or both of my parents are pure-bloods.”

“What…how can you be a pure-blood? You’re a muggle-born, you know who your parents are,” Harry said quickly, aware that Dudley had left at the talk of magic, and Petunia was looking on quietly.

“I don’t understand it either, I made him do the test twice. It can’t be wrong,” Lilly said shakily.

“Look, Lil. It’s not a difficult potion is it?” Harry asked gently.

Lilly frowned, “Intermediate…it takes 2 days in total.”

“That will be a breeze for Draco, and Susan,” Harry said, “They can make it up, and you can try it again. When people you know and trust have brewed the potion.”

Lilly nodded weakly, “Can you call them? I don’t want to deal with this Harry, and I don’t want to tell anyone apart from them until we’ve figured it out.”

“Of course I will,” Harry said as he hugged her, “We’ll work this out between us, I promise.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Alright, I’m here,” Susan said, appearing next to Draco through the mirror, “What’s up Harry?”

“Lilly went to the ministry today,” Harry said quietly, “She got summoned to do that test that Hermione is ignoring. The blood test that figures if you’re a muggle-born or not. I told her not to go but she insisted that it was a good idea.”

Susan sighed, “A dangerous idea though. I take it she’s okay?”

“Sort of,” Harry said, “They did the test and you know how the potion turns a certain colour to show blood status?”

Draco nodded, “Red for muggle-born, yellow for half-blood and blue for pure-blood.”

“Well it turned blue, twice,” Harry said.

“What?” Draco and Susan echoed.

“Yeah I know. Look, she’s pretty shaken up, and I think to put her mind at ease we should double check it,” Harry continued, “I know it’s not a hard potion to make for two people as good as you. And Tonks can make wolfsbane so if you get stuck I’m sure she could lend a hand.”

“Yeah, of course,” Susan said offhandedly, “My Dad’s old lab is totally stocked up so that won’t be a problem. Do you think the ministry tampered with the potion?”

“I don’t know,” Harry sighed, “I don’t know how she can be a pure-blood. She knows her parents, how can they not be her parents? They couldn’t have adopted her, they’re two junkies, who would let that happen?”

“Maybe they kidnapped her,” Draco said.

“Don’t say that, her mind is already all over the place. If you start this potion tonight could you have it ready by the day after tomorrow?” Harry asked.

Draco nodded, “Yeah, I don’t see why not. Unless we run into a complication.”

“We won’t,” Susan said, “Consider it done Harry.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The next two days were difficult for Harry. He tried to distract Lilly, but her mind was all over the place and all she could think about was her parents, her real ones and her not real ones and what was true and what wasn’t true. If the ministry had been trying to fuck with her head, suffice to say it had worked.

Harry couldn’t have been more relieved when Susan called to say that the potion was finished. He wished he could go with Lilly, but he was under strict house arrest now until his birthday. So the best he could do was give her a hug and say good luck.

Lilly dragged herself into Bones Manor and was instantly hugged by Susan and ushered upstairs into the potions lab where Draco was checking on the finished potion in the large cauldron which was currently a deep red. It was only then that she noticed Hermione, sitting a little way away from Draco.

“We tested it,” Hermione said quietly, “I know you didn’t want anyone else to know Lilly. But they needed to test it on someone they knew was a muggle-born.”

“I thought I knew I was a muggle-born Hermione,” Lilly said bitterly.

“She didn’t mean it like that Lil,” Susan said gently, “We all tested it. For me it was a medium blue even though I’ve always considered myself a half-blood, for Draco it was the deepest blue I’ve ever seen.”

“But his Father is the biggest pure-blood arse in the wizarding world,” Hermione said, trying to make Lilly smile.

It didn’t work, Lilly just sighed and said, “Let’s do it then,” as Susan refreshed the potion.

Lilly then sliced her arm open with her wand and let her blood drip into the cauldron. When it was done she crudely healed the wound, leaving a slight mark and she stared at the transparent liquid not knowing what to expect and not knowing what she wanted to see there. For the third time, it turned a deep blue.

“Merlin, that’s as dark as Draco’s,” Susan breathed, “Mine was much lighter, more like aqua.”

Lilly promptly burst into tears, “Then that means I’m related to Draco! I mean that’s so wrong, we dated!”

“Hey,” Hermione said, hugging her friend, “That’s not what it means. You can’t be related closely to Draco, I mean you were only born 2 months apart so it’s not like your siblings.”

“But his Dad could have had an affair! I could be his half-sister!” Lilly sobbed, “I could be Harry’s half-sister!”

Susan grabbed her arms and said firmly, “Calm down Lilly! You’re looking for things where they don’t exist. All that colour means is that your parents were both magical, and that all four of your grandparents were magical. That makes things a lot easier you know, to try and find them. We can really narrow it down.”

“But how are they pure-blood? How can my parents not be my parents?” Lilly cried, “They get so high, and they abuse me for every little thing if I wasn’t theirs they would have said so!”

“Unless they don’t know,” Draco said quietly, “What if they found you abandoned somewhere when they were high and thought you were theirs?”

“How could they not know?” Lilly sobbed.

“Look Lilly, from everything you’ve told me they are so out of it sometimes they lose months, let alone days,” Draco said quietly, “You know it’s possible.”

“Well what am I supposed to do now?” Lilly cried.

Hermione tightened her grip on her, “I know what I would do in this situation Lil,” she said gently.

Lilly turned her tearstained face to Hermione and said quietly, “Go to the library?”

Hermione smiled, “Yeah. There is a big library here, with the most up to date version of the Wizarding Peerage. You could narrow down your options, and I think it would make you feel better.”

“Okay,” Lilly said through her tears.

“Come on Lilly,” Hermione said, helping her friend up, “It’s just across the hall.”

“I’ll get hot chocolate,” Susan said with a smile.

“Put some alcohol in Lilly’s,” Draco murmured to the redhead as he walked past.

The library at Bones Manor was huge, for a private library anyway. The Wizarding Peerage was in volumes, and it took up a whole shelf. There were 10 volumes, each a big, leather-bound book. Hermione settled Lilly at a table with a comfortable armchair, and pulled the latest volume down, it was simply titled, “The British Wizarding Peerage Volume X: 1900-”.

“Now,” Hermione said as she dropped the book onto the table, “This is a magically enhanced book. They are so rare, but it basically updates itself. So it should go up to the current day. It registers all births, but you may not be in here if your parents asked for your birth to be kept secret.”

“But we will be able to find out which men and women are about the right age to be my parents, and we can find out if their parents and grandparents are also pure-blood, then there’s a chance they could be my parents,” Lilly said.

Hermione nodded, rolling out some parchment and keeping it held open with paper weights. She dipped her quill into an ink pot and wrote a heading at the top of the parchment.

“Possible Parents.”

They began their heavy work, sifting through the book which was literally a family history from 1900 onwards, and the editions went back to the Battle of Hastings in 1066. It was in alphabetical order, which made things simpler. Susan brought them hot chocolate and joined them, and so did Draco when he brought them coffee a little later.

Between the four of them they had compiled a list by 6am, and they were all exhausted.

“So,” Hermione yawned, “Purely looking at families…”

“Not considering whether it’s actually possible, just looking at the families which fulfill the pure-blood criteria going back two generations,” Susan said sleepily.

“This is what we’re left with,” Draco said, he was the least tired so he began to read out the list.

“Avery, Black, Carrow, Crouch, Greengrass, Lestrange, Malfoy, McKinnon, Nott, Rosier, Rowle, Selwyn, Slughorn, Travers, Yaxley, and Zabini.”

“Wow that’s depressing,” Lilly said miserably, “Considering practically all of those families are Death Eater families.”

“The superior line of Black isn’t,” Hermione yawned, “Well I mean Sirius wasn’t, and his brother Regulus was but he was young when he died so I doubt it…”

“And Greengrass and Zabini aren’t either,” Susan said.

“No, neither is MacKinnon, although I think they are extinct, and Slughorn isn’t either,” Draco said matter of factly, “But there’s a few I think we can count out anyway.”

“Which ones?” Lilly asked.

“It could be Avery…and then there’s the Black line, the superior line,” Hermione said.

“Regulus was 18 when he died,” Susan frowned, “He’d have been young…but it could be him.”

“And Sirius…he was a known player,” Hermione said, biting her lip, “But I can’t see how Remus wouldn’t have known and said something if he’d have a child.”

“Unless Remus didn’t know, or the woman never told Sirius,” Draco pointed out, “We can’t rule it out. But, it won’t be Andromeda Black-Tonks,” Draco said, “Tonks would have been old enough to notice if her Mum had gotten pregnant. It also can’t be my Mother, since I was born 2 months after you.”

“What about Bellatrix?” Lilly asked anxiously.

“I really don’t see how it could be, she was far too active killing people during the war to have had a kid around that time,” Draco said bluntly.

“So that rules out the secondary Black line,” Hermione said, putting a score through it. 

“Either Alecto or Amycus Carrow could be…” Susan mused, “And Barty Crouch Junior…again, he would have been young but we can’t rule it out.”

“Cygnus is the only Greengrass,” Draco said, “And it can’t be him. He would have had to have an affair. The whole Greengrass family motto is about family, and he’s so devoted to Lareina, it can’t be.”

“That takes us onto Lestrange,” Hermione said, putting a score through Greengrass.

“It could be either,” Draco admitted, “But if either it’s more likely to be Rabastan. I think my Aunt would have castrated Rodolphus if he’d strayed.”

Susan looked at Draco anxiously, “Right…Malfoy.”

“As much as I hate to say it…there’s no reason why my Father couldn’t have strayed from my Mother,” Draco said darkly, “But it would have had to have been with a pure-blood woman on this list. He wouldn’t have gone near Carrow, and I doubt he even knew who Marlene McKinnon was.”

“Yes, but Belladonna Zabini is on this list,” Susan said pointedly.

“Ah,” Draco said slowly, “In that case, you better not rule my Father out, just in case.”

“Alright, Marlene and Matthew McKinnon, brother and sister,” Susan said, “Could be either.”

Hermione nodded, “There’s nothing to say why not. That’s the problem with a lot of these names. Nott…again, it doesn’t work because of Theodore’s birthday but if his Father had an affair…”

“Evan Rosier, Thorfinn Rowle, Edgar Selwyn…all are possible,” Draco said, “But Horace Slughorn? I can’t see it.”

“We can’t rule it out though,” Susan said quietly.

“Thomas Travers, Adrian Yaxley…again, could be…which leaves Belladonna Zabini,” Hermione said, glancing between Draco and Susan.

“Could be,” Draco said honestly, “I mean Blaise has had 6 Step-Father’s and has 7 brothers and sisters, that he knows of.”

Lilly let her head drop onto the table with a loud thump, “So what we’ve established is that my Father is probably a Death Eater and that I’m probably the product of a fucking affair!”

She stormed from the room, into ‘her’ room, the room Susan had designated for her when she came to stay. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Lilly eventually emerged when she smelled food cooking at about 11am, after a decent nap. She trudged downstairs and sat at the kitchen table, with everyone else. Remus and Tonks included.

“What is going on with you four?” Tonks asked before she put the tray of coffee down on the table.

They were all silent.

“I’m not giving you coffee until you speak,” Tonks warned them, raising an eyebrow at the teenagers.

Lilly sighed, “I’m a pure-blood! Okay? The stupid test was just supposed to confirm that I’m a muggle-born, but instead it said that I’m a pure-blood! And not just a normal one, like a fucking pure as hell one, my parents were both pure-bloods and all 4 of my grandparents too! And I’ve no idea who they are but they are probably fucking death eaters.”

“Lilly,” Tonks snapped, she clicked her fingers, “Sit down and drink coffee. You are on edge, understandably I might add.”

“Are you certain?” Remus asked cautiously.

“Yes, I’m certain! We checked, three times!” Lilly said, cupping the mug of coffee that Tonks had handed her. 

“And you’ve no idea who your parents are?” Tonks asked.

“No,” Lilly muttered, “All we figured out is that my parents probably found me somewhere when they were high and then woke up and thought I was theirs.”

Remus looked anxious.

“Go on Remus, tell me the bad news,” Lilly sighed.

“There was a war on when you were born Lilly,” Remus said quietly, “If your parents found you…there are really only a few likely situations…the first being that your parents died, that they were a family of the light. Voldemort wanted to make these families extinct, by killing the young children too. You may be a survivor of such an attack.”

“Or?” Lilly asked bitterly.

“Or a Death Eater had an affair, with someone who was not involved with Voldemort, and you were the product of that, and were therefore hidden,” Remus said slowly.

“Come on Remus, you’re building up to the worst one. Just spit it out, whatever it is,” Lilly practically raged.

“Witches were often kidnapped in attacks,” Remus said very quietly, “And they were tortured by Death Eaters in physical ways…and then left to die. Most did, but some survived and abandoned the babies that were the results of such attacks.”

Lilly slammed her head down onto the table, “And I thought this couldn’t get any fucking worse!”

“Lilly, you’re going to hurt yourself,” Tonks said gently, sitting down next to her, “I can pull in some favours at St. Mungo’s, you have to have a birth certificate even if your parents’ names are under an alias. I know the guy who looks after the records.”

Lilly just sighed.

“How do you know him?” Susan asked curiously.

Tonks smirked, “Ah, tryst behind greenhouse 3. Hogwarts, those were the days.”

“Tonks!” Remus exclaimed, “They’re…they’re children!”

Tonks scoffed, “Oh come on Remus, they’re teenagers, they have sex! They all have boyfriends, I don’t know about Susan and Neville they’ve not been dating as long…”

Susan looked sheepish and Hermione’s jaw dropped, “When did that happen?”

“Not your business,” Susan mumbled.

Tonks laughed, “I’ll add that to my little black book.”

Hermione frowned, “What?”

Tonks grinned, “I have blackmail on you all, so the next time one of you refuses to do the washing up…” she winked.

Hermione laughed, and Susan shook her head, “Tonks, you really are becoming like our Mum.”

“Well someone has to keep an eye on you lot, and I kind of like this whole Motherhood thing,” Tonks teased, “Now Lil, do you want me to go scouting and calling in favours at the hospital today?”

Lilly nodded tearfully.

“Alright,” Tonks said softly, “I think you need to take it easy today, and you’re staying here.”

“Harry’s been calling me all night,” Hermione said, “Can I call him back and fill him in?”

Lilly nodded, “You might as well fill everyone in.”

“I’ll tell Neville if you tell Daphne,” Draco said, looking at Susan.

The redhead shook her head in amusement, “I swear, you talk to my boyfriend more than I do.”

“He’s my best friend,” Draco said defensively.

“Draco Malfoy…I never thought I’d hear you say that Neville Longbottom was your best friend,” Hermione said with a grin.

“It’s Black!”

TBC :)


	34. Finding Ourselves

Lilly locked herself in her room after Tonks left for St. Mungo’s. She would not let anyone in, and she wasn’t answering any calls on her mirror either. 

“Is she okay? I feel useless stuck here!”

“She’s just dealing with it, in her own way,” Susan said, popping up behind Hermione who was talking on her mirror to Harry.

“Yeah well I’d like to be there to help, but I’m stuck in this house unable to do anything,” Harry said irritably.

“Not for much longer,” Hermione said calmly, “Look Harry, she will be okay but this is a massive bombshell. None of us saw this coming.”

“I know,” Harry sighed, “But it must be driving her mad Hermione. I mean the likelihood of her parents being Death Eaters…the hat nearly put her in Slytherin, don’t tell her I told you that. But that can’t be easy, look how I coped when I found out I could talk to snakes, that combined with the fact I was a hatstall…”

“Locking herself up isn’t going to help,” Draco said darkly, “Her thoughts will get darker and darker.”

“I know Malfoy,” Harry bit angrily, “Which is why I’m worried about her!”

“Harry, she’s not going to do anything stupid,” Susan said, “She’s just going to shout and throw things, and wreck the room a bit.”

“Sounds familiar,” Hermione said with a pointed look at Harry.

“Dumbledore forgave me for that,” Harry said sheepishly.

“You wrecked Dumbledore’s office?” Susan asked in disbelief.

“Yeah, well my Godfather had just died and I was pissed off,” Harry said sheepishly, “But he fixed it all…he was good like that.”

“I know you miss him Harry,” Hermione said quietly.

“Frankly, I don’t know how you got away with so much shit at Hogwarts, Potter,” Draco said offhandedly as he got to his feet.

“We’ll keep you up to date on how Lilly is,” Susan said, “Honestly, the second something happens Hermione will call.”

“Alright,” Harry said weakly, “Just keep an eye on her for me.”

“Course we will,” Susan said with a smile, “We care about her too, Harry.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Knock. Knock.

“Who is it?” Lilly asked weakly.

“It’s me, Lilly.”

Lilly perked up slightly as she removed the locking charm from the door, “It’s open.”

Tonks slipped into the room and shut the door behind her. Lilly was lying in bed, the covers pulled up to her chin, almost protectively. There was a cooling charm on the room, and all of the curtains were shut. 

“Mind if I let some light in?”

Lilly shook her head, and Tonks threw open one of the curtains, pushing the window open too. Then she sat down hesitantly on the edge of the bed.

“Did you find anything?” Lilly asked.

Tonks nodded, pulling a small roll of parchment from her pocket and handing it to the dark-haired girl, “I haven’t looked at it, and I want to talk to you a little before you do. That’s your copy to keep, alright? You don’t have to tell me what it says, you can tell anyone or you can tell no one. That’s your choice to make.”

Lilly stared at the parchment, her hands shaking slightly.

Tonks got to her feet and walked towards the door. She paused, “And Lilly, if you need Harry…we’ll get him here.”

Lilly swallowed, “Tonks, stay please,” she said quickly.

Tonks turned to look at the younger girl, “Are you sure?”

“I can’t do this alone,” Lilly said quietly, “And you’re the closest thing to a Mother figure I’ve ever had.”

Tonks smiled genuinely and sat down next to Lilly as she unwrapped the ribbon that was tied around the scroll. Her hands shook more than they had before as she unraveled it and scanned the simple document anxiously.

“BIRTH CERTIFICATE  
This certifies: Lillian Alison Mackie - Female  
Was born to Leena Mackie and  
N/D on Thursday at  
2012 hours this 27th day of March 1980  
At St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies, Classified Ward B.”

“Classified Ward…what does that mean?”

Tonks frowned, “It’s the ward I have to go to after Auror missions if I get injured…you can only get in there with high security clearance. There’s extra protection, so that you can’t be poisoned or killed while in hospital. I’ve never heard of births happening there…”

“Tonks…this isn’t helping,” Lilly said tearfully.

“The good news is,” Tonks said with a smile, “Your Mother can’t have been a Death Eater. You need clearance to be in that ward. She must have been in the Ministry…or maybe the Order…”

“Tonks,” Lilly said cautiously, “You know who she is, don’t you?”

“I don’t know for certain Lilly,” Tonks said, looking pale all of a sudden, “But between us I think we might be able to work it out…if you give me permission to tell the others about this we can get Harry over here and we’ll work this out.”

Lilly nodded, “Okay, I just…I need a minute, or two.”

“Of course,” Tonks said gently, “I’ll get Harry, and you gather yourself. We’ll pool everyone together in the kitchen in about half an hour, alright?”

“Alright,” Lilly conceded.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It was easy to get Neville and Daphne to the house. Daphne apparated, and Neville floo-ed which didn’t look suspicious since he was dating the person who lived there. The difficult person was Harry, who Tonks was trying to communicate with via Susan’s mirror.

“Ideally we need someone to take some polyjuice potion so we can get you over here without anyone knowing you’ve left Privet Drive.”

“Well, I do have a stash,” Harry said, “But it’s not like there’s anyone here who would take it.”

“I’ll do it Harry.”

Harry spun around in surprise, he was unaware that he had left his bedroom door open in his hurry to get to his room and answer the mirror, in case it was about Lilly. As a result he had no idea that Dudley was standing behind him.

“What?”

“It’s the potion that makes you look like someone else, isn’t it?”

Harry frowned, “Uh, yeah. But I mean, why would you do that? You hate magic Dudley, you’re terrified of it.”

Dudley shrugged and looked down at the ground, “I like Lilly…she’s been really nice to me even though I was horrible to you…I want to help her.”

“I…well…uh, I mean…Jesus Christ, Dudley,” Harry shook his head, “Have you bought a new personality or something?”

“I just want to help, for once,” Dudley said quietly.

“Alright,” Harry said with a slight smile, “If you’re here in 5 minutes Tonks, I’ll go back with you.”

Tonks winked, “Perfect Harry, see you in 5.”

Harry awkwardly set Dudley up with the potion and lent him some clothes to change into when his inevitably became far too big for him. Before Dudley took the potion Harry hugged him which took him by surprise.

“Thanks Dud,” He said genuinely.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When Lilly eventually re-emerged from her room everyone was gathered in the kitchen, as Tonks had promised. She sat down and held out the birth certificate to Tonks, “I can’t read it out.”

Tonks nodded, placing a hand on Lilly’s shoulder as she read out all of the information on the certificate and then placed it back onto the table.

“So you don’t know who your Dad is, but there’s a lead on your Mum,” Daphne said with a smile, “That’s good.”

“Except I was born in a classified ward that only people with security clearance can access,” Lilly said quietly.

“That implies your Mother was someone on the side of the light,” Susan said gently.

“Did you know your middle name was Alison?” Remus asked quietly.

Lilly nodded, “Yeah, but my birthday is wrong. I always thought it was the 21st of April, but it’s not…it’s the 27th of March.”

“Your parents must have thought your birthday was the day they found you. You wouldn’t have been far off a year old when you were found,” Tonks said quietly.

Remus frowned and fixed Harry with a look, “Lillian Alison,” he said.

“Lily,” Harry said quietly.

“Alice,” Neville said, catching on the second Harry looked at him.

“Marlene,” Remus practically whispered. 

“For the love of god!” Lilly shouted, “Can someone fill me in before I start fucking hexing people!”

“Lily Evans, Alice Fortescue, Marlene McKinnon and Dorcas Meadowes,” Remus said, his voice a little lost and his eyes very far away, “The three Gryffindor girls in our year at school. Lily, Alice and Marlene were the closest…Leena Mackie is Marlene McKinnon, she’s your Mother.”

“And where is she now?” Lilly asked, although subconsciously she knew the answer already.

“Dead,” Harry said quietly.

“She died in April 1981, just after your 1st birthday Lilly,” Remus said sadly as he glanced at Harry, “Your Mother cried all night when she heard Harry…the whole family was wiped out, Marlene, her brother Matthew, their parents, their grandparents…everyone but you Lilly.”

“Oh I swear to god Remus,” Lilly said in a dangerously quiet and angry tone, “If you start calling me the girl who lived I’m going to fucking kill you. Just tell me, who the hell is my Father?”

Remus and Harry caught each other’s eyes and Lilly glared at them both.

“Sirius?” Harry asked cautiously.

Remus didn’t say anything at first, he just sat down heavily opposite Lilly. He looked her directly in the eye and nodded, “Sirius Black.”

Lilly’s eye widened, and then she let her head fall onto the table with a thump, “The Sirius Black? As in Harry’s Godfather Sirius Black? The Sirius Black who died two years ago?”

Harry nodded, “I’m sorry Lilly-”

“This is fantastic!” Lilly snapped, “So my parents aren’t Death Eaters, but they’re both fucking dead!”

“I know it’s not much, but Lilly, if it helps, I can give you some memories. Of your parents together…so that you can know them, in some small way?”

Lilly nodded, “Yeah…that would help Remus.”

“I can give you some memories of Sirius too,” Harry said gently.

Lilly nodded again, she was struggling to keep it together, she was planning to make an escape. Harry could see it in her eyes.

“Look I’m going to bed,” Lilly said quickly, “Do you mind if I stay here tonight Suse?”

“No of course not,” Susan said, “I’ll go up with you.”

Lilly nodded, and turned on her heel, leaving as quickly as she could with Susan behind her.

Harry turned his steely gaze on Remus once she was gone, “Can we talk in private, Remus?”

Remus sighed and got to his feet, looking exhausted as he and Harry slipped into the study across the hall.

“Did you know?”

“I knew that was what you were going to ask me,” Remus said with a bitter laugh.

“Did you fucking know Remus?” Harry asked angrily, “Did you know that Sirius had a kid?”

“If I had known I would have told you,” Remus said.

Harry shook his head, “Well how could you not know? He was your best friend! How could you fail to notice he’d gotten his girlfriend pregnant?”

“Harry,” Remus snapped, “I didn’t know, because Sirius didn’t know. If he had, he would have told me, and if he hadn’t told me I would have worked it out. I knew him better than I have ever known anyone else. For whatever reason, Marlene never told him.”

“How could she keep that from him?” Harry asked in disbelief, “How do you hide 9 months of pregnancy and then hide a baby for a year?”

“Sirius and Marlene were together, yes,” Remus said with a frown, “But it wasn’t like your parents relationship. Marlene hated the idea of marriage, and Sirius probably even more so. They had practically acknowledged that it would never happen, they didn’t live together. She could easily have hidden her pregnancy with glamour charms and she must have done, because I saw her in January 1980, and I think I’d have noticed if she was heavily pregnant.”

Harry sighed and sat down heavily in one of the armchairs, “But why would she hide it?”

“That, I’m not sure of,” Remus admitted, “Nor do I know why she hid Lilly from Sirius after she was born. Sirius was on a yearlong mission from the Order…he had regular breaks back, to visit your parents, and you…and Marlene. That mission lasted from February 1980, until March 1981…in other words he must have missed Lilly’s birth, and he would not have been around when she was little either…Marlene died in April that year.”

“But didn’t Sirius see the baby when he visited her?” Harry asked in disbelief.

“Marlene lived in a small flat, in London,” Remus said, “She must have hidden Lilly in a secret room. But I cannot fathom why she went to such lengths to hide her from Sirius…he was a fantastic Godfather to you and he would have loved to have a child.”

“And he died, never knowing he had one!” Harry spat angrily as he got to his feet, “All he wanted was a family, that was why he practically adopted me! And she kept it from him, for his whole fucking life!”

“Look Harry, as much as I agree with you, we cannot judge the dead,” Remus said quietly.

“Fucking watch me,” Harry muttered angrily.

“You need to calm down, Lilly needs you.”

“I know,” Harry said, letting his head drop into his hands.

Remus smiled very slightly, “I had a similar conversation with your Father you know…when your Mother told him she was pregnant with you.”

“Why did that make him angry?” Harry asked in confusion.

“Because it wasn’t planned, and they were in the middle of a war,” Remus said honestly, “He didn’t know how he could protect you, and he was angry at himself for letting it happen. But the moment he saw you…everything changed, and he told me he would happily die to save you, because you were the best thing that had ever happened to him.”

“Well he got his wish, everyone has died to save me,” Harry said as he walked towards the door, “Maybe it’s my turn to die for someone else for a change.”

“No,” Remus said calmly, “You’re too important. I don’t know how, but it has to be you. You are the one who has to end this war.” 

“Yeah Remus, I know,” Harry said, pulling the door open, “I’m well aware of my destiny, thanks. I need to go check on my girlfriend.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Can I come in?”

Harry waited for an answer. 

“Yeah.”

He slipped into the room, shutting the door behind him. He sat down on Lilly’s bed, kicking his shoes off and putting his feet up. They sat quietly for a good while, Harry didn’t ask Lilly if she was okay because he knew that it was a stupid question.

Eventually she curled up into his chest and started to cry. Softly and quietly at first. Harry sighed and tightened his grip on her as she began to sob.

“I just don’t know who I am anymore Harry.”

Harry stroked her hair, “You are who you always were. You’re Lilly.”

“But am I Lilly Moon? Or Lilly MacKinnon? Or Lilly Black?” She sobbed.

“You’re just Lilly,” Harry said quietly, “You are an amazingly talented, beautiful, confident, funny girl. You’re a Ravenclaw, because you work hard and love reading. Honestly, Lil who you’re parents are…it doesn’t define you. I mean, aspects make sense now…you are like Sirius in a lot of ways, but your parents were both quite crazy and carefree. Sirius definitely didn’t pay as much attention at Hogwarts as he should have, just ask Remus.”

Lilly smiled slightly.

“And here you are, the daughter of Sirius Black and Marlene McKinnon…a Ravenclaw,” Harry said as Lilly grabbed his hand, “You told me yourself, the people you thought were your parents didn’t do anything for you growing up. Who you are is who you made yourself, that doesn’t change just because you’re a pure-blood. Do you think you’re going to start running about calling people mudbloods all of a sudden or something? That’s Draco’s job.”

Lilly laughed weakly, “Harry!”

Harry grinned, “See, you’re the same person. I just wish you’d had a chance to meet Sirius and Marlene. I never knew my parents, and I always wondered what it would be like…but in some ways its better because you can’t get your hopes up too high and then have them let you down when you meet them.”

“I know, I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up, but I did, just a little,” Lilly said quietly, “And I’m grateful, I’m so grateful that they aren’t Death Eaters. But they aren’t alive either, so I still feel like I have nothing.”

“You have a family, regardless of whether you have parents,” Harry said gently, “We are your family Lil. I swear Tonks is going to adopt you and you’ve practically moved in here now anyway. It’s much nicer than a youth hostel, don’t you think?”

“Yeah,” Lilly said softly, “It was always an option. Susan told me that before term ended…but I said no.”

“Why?” Harry frowned, “Because it would be awkward living with your ex?”

“Well, it would have been yeah,” Lilly admitted, “But that wasn’t why I said no. It was because of you. I wanted to spend my summer near you.”

“Nobody’s ever done anything like that for me,” Harry said as he squeezed her hand, “And don’t get me wrong, I really appreciate it. But if you want to stay here until the wedding with everyone else around you to help I would understand.”

“I know you understand,” Lilly said weakly, “You always do, sometimes I think you’re too good to be true.”

“You know that’s not true,” Harry said quietly, “When I lose my temper I’m a horrible person.”

“So am I,” Lilly retorted.

Harry laughed weakly, “I see why Remus said we remind him of my parents,” he joked.

“Well I am named for your Mum,” Lilly said with an amused shake of her head, “And Neville’s. That’s kind of awkward…”

Harry laughed, “Just think of it this way, you are named after two people who are practically heroes of our age, and what can I say, you’re dating another,” he winked at her.

Lilly laughed and sat up, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him properly, “Can you make me one promise?” she whispered as she held onto him as if for dear life.

“I can try,” Harry said.

“No matter what happens in this war, no matter what we go through, no matter how much around us changes. Just promise me that you won’t ever change,” Lilly whispered.

“I promise,” Harry whispered, kissing her lips gently. Her eyes fluttered shut and she kept her arms wrapped around his neck as she let herself deepen the kiss and get lost in it. She felt him smile slightly against her lips and she did not doubt the sincerity of that promise for one single moment.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When the 30th of July loomed Harry could feel the tension in number 4 Privet Drive. Everybody knew things were changing, even Vernon. When Hestia Jones and Daedalus Diggle showed up to take the Dursleys to a safe house for the duration of the war everything kicked off.

Vernon positively had a fit and swore blindly he wouldn’t go anywhere with them. Petunia on the other hand, ignored her husband and hugged Harry, “Please take care of yourself.”

“I will, Aunt Petunia,” Harry said, quite shocked at the physical display of affection, “But…there was something I wanted to ask you, before you go.”

Petunia nodded stiffly.

“Why have you been so nice to me this year?” Harry asked quietly.

“I think you forget sometimes,” Petunia said under her breath, “That you are not the only one who suffered that night. You lost a Mother, and I lost a sister. I miss her, and you are more like her than I ever took the time to realise Harry, I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry too,” Harry said with a frown, “For getting dumped on your doorstep like I did.”

Petunia shook her head, “No, that is not something you should be sorry for.”

Harry watched her with surprise, pleasant surprise, as she left the house and got into the car that was waiting to take them away. Vernon was still throwing a hissy fit in the living room, and Dudley was standing in the doorway as if he didn’t know whether to go with his Mother or stay with his Father. After a moment he walked towards the front door where Harry was standing and looked at him for a moment. He seemed to wrestle with himself for a moment and then he held out his hand to Harry.

Harry couldn’t help it, he smiled. He flashed back to that fateful day…when Draco Malfoy had held out his hand to him in a similar fashion. Draco Malfoy, who was now Draco Black, who was now dating his best friend and going on the run with them.

Vernon had spent the last 20 minutes shouting about how unfair it was that he had to leave his home because of the ‘waste of space’ that had ruined his life. It didn’t take a genius to work out that he meant Harry.

“I don’t think you’re a waste of space,” Dudley said simply.

Harry nodded, somewhat awkwardly, “Thanks,” he said as he took his cousins hand and shook it.

Dudley nodded, “So, just…take care and all.”

“Yeah,” Harry said with a frown, “I’ll try.”

Dudley cleared his throat and dropped Harry’s hand, “See you Harry.”

“See you Big D,” Harry said, almost fondly as he watched his cousin get into the car with his Mother.

Vernon, seeing that he wasn’t going to win this battle followed them out and got into the car without saying a single word to Harry. He didn’t even look at him as he walked past him out of the front door. Harry sighed, and said goodbye to Hestia and Daedalus as he shut the door and watched the car drive away from the living room window.

The house was empty. The Dursleys had taken all of the furniture with them. He sighed, sitting down on the floor to wait for whatever would happen next. He knew there was an escape plan, but for security reasons he hadn’t been told anything about it.

When the door opened, about an hour after the Dursleys had left Harry jumped up and drew his wand. But he breathed a sigh of relief when he realised that it was only Tonks and Ron. He drew the curtains and then spoke.

“Hiya Ron. What’s going on Tonks?”

“This is phase one of the plan,” Tonks said as she took two phials from her pocket, “Polyjuice potion.”

Harry frowned, “Okay, explain.”

“Ron is going to be you, and you’re going to be him,” Tonks explained, “You and I are going to leave Harry. And Ron will stay here as you. The order are going to arrive to escort the ‘real’ Harry to the Burrow. Including Ron there will be 7 Harry’s and 7 people protecting each one. It will confuse the Death Eaters, and you’ll be nice and safe at Bones Manor with me.”

“No,” Harry said coolly.

“Told you he’d do this,” Ron said in amusement.

“Of course I’m against this Ron! Why should everyone else put themselves in danger for me? When I’m not even there? Enough people have died for me as it is!” Harry exclaimed.

“Because they want to,” Tonks said, “That’s why, everyone on this mission volunteered for it. Except Mundungus, but I’m not sure he counts as a person anyway,” she added distastefully.

“You swear you’re not saying this just to make me go?” Harry asked slowly.

“No, everyone volunteered mate,” Ron said, “Even Ginny offered but Mum went berserk. It was hard enough getting her to okay me coming.”

“And Hermione, and Lilly?”

“Otherwise occupied,” Tonks said offhandedly, “I’ll explain later.”

“So who is going then?” Harry asked with a frown.

“Me, Bill, Fleur, Fred, George, Dad, Kingsley, Hagrid, Mundungus, Moody, Angelina, Oliver and-”

“My parents,” Tonks finished.

Harry looked between them, “I don’t like this plan.”

“I don’t care, Remus gave me the okay to stun you if you resisted,” Tonks said with a raised eyebrow as she pulled one of his hairs out and dropped it into a phial.

Ron sniggered as he did the same with one of his hairs. Harry’s hair turned the potion a pure gold and Ron’s a murky orange. 

“Well, you really are the golden boy,” Tonks teased as she handed Harry the orange phial and Ron the golden one.

Ron took it immediately, but Harry was still hesitant.

“Promise me that this is okay, Tonks”

“Harry,” Tonks said gently, “Would I lie to you? Everyone is going to be fine.”

Harry sighed and drank the potion before he talked himself out of the idea again. They transformed, in the horrible sickening way that polyjuice potion enabled them to do so, and then they switched clothes while Tonks faced the opposite wall.

“Jeez, you’re a scrawny little git,” Ron said as he looked at Harry’s body.

“I didn’t realise you were so tall,” Harry remarked.

Tonks smiled in amusement, “Alright Harry, we need to get a move on before the polyjuice runs out. It’s weak, so it will only last 30 minutes. Ron, keep sipping from the hipflask, every half an hour until the others arrive tonight.”

Ron nodded, “See you later tonight Harry.”

Harry nodded back, “Be careful Ron.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

By the time Harry and Tonks apparated away from Privet Drive to the safety of the Scottish Highlands, and then made their way, while invisible, to Bones Manor, the polyjuice potion was already beginning to wear off. They walked into the cool entrance hall and about 5 minutes later, Harry was himself again in clothes that were now far too big for him.

“Ah there he is,” Remus said with a smile as he walked down the stairs, dropping some clothes into Harry’s hands, “Get changed.”

Harry frowned, “Uh…these are dress robes?”

“Just get changed,” Remus said, his smile broad, “Don’t ask any questions.”

“Remus, what the hell is going on?” 

Remus grinned, “I said no questions, just get changed. We’ve got an appointment to keep.”

“What the…” Harry muttered as Remus jogged into the back garden.

Tonks winked, “Draco and Neville are getting ready upstairs. I reckon you might need Neville’s help getting the bow tie on. Draco nearly strangled himself.”

“Tonks, what is going on?” Harry asked as she hurried up the stairs.

“No questions, Harry!” Tonks called as she disappeared into her and Remus’s bedroom.

Harry walked up the stairs, completely confused and knocked on the door of Draco’s room.

“About time Potter!”

Harry rolled his eyes and walked into the room, where Neville and Draco were both semi-dressed in very elaborate dress robes.

“What the fuck is going on?” Harry asked irritably.

“We’re not allowed to say,” Draco grinned, “You better hurry up and get changed.”

“Come on Nev, you’re my best mate,” Harry said to his fellow Gryffindor.

“I thought you were my best friend Neville,” Draco remarked in amusement.

Neville grinned, “I’m popular all of a sudden, am I? You’re both my best friends. Draco’s right though Harry, you really need to get a move on.”

“Fine!” Harry said, discarding his baggy clothes and pulling on the clothes Remus had handed him. A white shirt, black trousers and fancy black dress robes to wear over the top.

“Do you know how to tie a bow tie?”

“No,” Harry muttered.

“Come here then,” Neville said in amusement, “Honestly, I’d have thought Draco at least would have known, with all his fancy pure-blood parties and shit.”

“My Mother used to do it for me!” Draco admitted, then he frowned, “And now I’m embarrassed that I’ve admitted that.”

Harry snorted in amusement and Neville pulled the bow tie a little too tight around his neck.

“Oi!” Harry remarked, “Which one of us do you prefer?”

Neville smirked, “Depends which one of you is being more whiny and irritating at the time, and the prize goes to you now that Draco’s out of his werewolf funk.”

“Wow thanks Neville. Seriously though, what is going on?” Harry asked.

“Honestly, how many times? We can’t tell you, it’s a secret,” Neville said in amusement as he finished with Harry’s bow tie and stepped back.

“Well,” Draco said to them, “We’re ready. Which of course means that the ladies won’t be. We’d better get out to the grounds.”

Neville nodded, “Come on Harry.”

Harry followed irritably, he hated to be out of the loop. The three of them heard whispering and giggling through the door of Tonks bedroom as they walked past, and this made Harry suspicious of what might be going on. It was entirely confirmed when they walked into the back garden. Immediately in the shadow of the house there was a patio which got the sun around this time in the early evening. And it was simply set up with flowers, and a very small amount of wooden chairs from the barn across the way. The stone arch leading into the main garden was covered in white, pale pink and pale blue flowers, as was the boundary wall leading to the garden. 

“You’re getting married?” Harry asked Remus in disbelief when he saw the man standing by the makeshift altar with… “Charlie!”

“Hiya Harry,” Charlie grinned, “I can do weddings, did a little course in it in Romania. Did you know people like to get married in dragon enclosures?”

“Uh, no,” Harry said. The only person he knew who would like to get married in a dragon enclosure was Hagrid, and frankly, he was mental…or possibly Charlie himself who Harry regarded as equally mental.

Remus smiled broadly, “We wanted to surprise you. The others only found out a couple of days ago.”

“Wow,” Harry said, not sure whether to be stunned or excited, “That’s great Remus!”

Remus positively beamed, “Here, wear this,” he said, handing Harry a white rose.

Harry frowned, “Why?”

“You are my best man,” Remus said as Harry slotted the rose into his buttonhole. 

“What?”

“Look,” Remus said, “Under any other circumstances it would be Sirius. You are the only other person I could ever imagine asking Harry.”

Harry swallowed and nodded, “I’m honoured Remus,” he said, a little choked up with emotion.

“Are you crying Potter?”

“Shut up Malfoy,” Harry said as Neville elbowed Draco painfully in the ribs.

Harry subtly wiped his eyes, and Draco said, “Right, sorry Potter. I better go and meet the blushing bride,” he winked.

“You’re walking her down the aisle?” Harry asked in surprise.

“I am her cousin,” Draco said with a smile, “What other family member do you see here to do it?”

“I suppose,” Harry said.

“Hopefully she won’t be too much longer,” Draco laughed as he turned and walked up the aisle, back into the house.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Do you think I should keep my hair pink?” Tonks asked as she looked in the mirror.

“It’s up to you,” Susan said thoughtfully.

“What does Remus prefer?” Hermione asked.

Tonks stood and looked in the full length mirror. She was wearing an unconventional wedding dress that stopped at about her mid-calf’s. It was white, and ruffled, with a black sash around the waist that was tied at the back. She was wearing black cowboy boots on her feet and currently her bright pink hair was around shoulder length as she tried to decide what to do with it.

“Well, it was pink when I first met him,” Tonks said, “I mean technically I was actually about 5 when I first met him, so it was brown…but when we first met as an adult it was pink...”

“Tonks, you’re babbling,” Daphne grinned, “What does Remus prefer?”

“Well when we first met he wanted to see how I normally look,” Tonks said thoughtfully, “Which is pretty similar to this…but with longer hair, a similar colour to yours Lilly.”

“And?”

“And then he said I looked too normal,” Tonks laughed.

“You should keep it pink if you like it that way,” Lilly smiled, “It’s how he first saw you and fell in love with you. Why change it?”

Tonks smiled brightly, “It was lighter when we first met…how about this?”

She closed her eyes and her grew her hair to her mid-back, and lightened it to a pastel pink. From her dressing table she picked up a white ribbon and pulled the front of her hair back, tying the ribbon at the back of her hair. 

“You look amazing,” Hermione said as she stared at her.

“You really suit your hair long,” Daphne added.

“It’s not practical for work,” Tonks said casually, “It has to be kept shorter than shoulder level. I’ll change it before I go back.”

“I can only think of one way to improve the outfit,” Lilly admitted with a grin.

Tonks smiled at the dark-haired girl, “Try me.”

Lilly pointed her wand at Tonks’ black cowboy boots and mumbled a spell, flicking her wand as she did so.

Tonks laughed as she looked down at the now pale pink boots, “I like it.”

“Oh, wait,” Hermione grinned, waving her wand in the direction of the black sash tied around the waist of the dress, turning it the same shade of pink.

“You look so beautiful Tonks,” Susan said with a fond sigh.

Tonks positively beamed at them, “I haven’t felt this girly, for years. You four are clearly rubbing off on me.”

They laughed. They were all in the same dress. Susan had found lots of old wedding attire in the attic and they had spent the last few days modifying it. As it was, Hermione and Susan were in pale blue dresses, and Lilly and Daphne in pale pink dresses. The dresses were all the same, knee length, strapless lace dresses. The lace overlay was white, but the colour underneath differed. They were all wearing odd shoes they had found in the attic, so they didn’t match but it worked. They had all thrown their hair up into buns, and Daphne had used a clever little charm to curl a few strands that fell down, very similar to how Hermione had worn her hair for the Yule Ball.

A knock at the door interrupted their laughter.

“Are you lot ready yet?”

Lilly got to her feet and grinned at Tonks, “Are you ready?”

Tonks smiled back, “I’m ready.”

TBC :)


	35. It's a Nice Day for a White Wedding

Remus was somewhere between excited and nervous as he walked up and down in the shade of the house. Neville chuckled as he walked towards the backdoor.

“Where are you going?” Harry asked him curiously.

“Uh, I’m going to wait for Susan at the stairs,” Neville said in amusement, “Like all escorts do.”

“Is this another pure-blood thing that I don’t know about?” Harry asked in amusement.

“Yes,” Remus chuckled, “And you can’t do it for Lilly. She’s Tonks’ maid of honour, so she’ll be coming down separately.”

“Well who’s escorting Hermione and Daphne then?”

“Nobody, because Daphne’s not got a date, and Draco’s coming down with Tonks and Lilly,” Neville replied as he walked into the house.

Harry frowned, “I’ll be back in a couple of minutes Remus,” he said as he followed his friend.

Remus just smiled, knowing exactly what Harry was doing because it was exactly the kind of thing that James would have done.

When Harry joined Neville by the stairs the taller boy frowned at him, “What are you doing?”

Harry smiled, “It’s not fair for Hermione and Daphne to have to come down alone.”

Neville chuckled, “See Harry, it’s because of how nice a person you are that the rumour mills were always going wild at Hogwarts. Everyone thought you’d end up with Hermione, or Ginny…or Luna.”

Harry shook his head, “Hermione is like my sister and Ginny is Ron’s little sister, I don’t know where people got that idea from. And Luna? No offence, she’s fantastic, but I’ve never liked her romantically.”

“I told you, you’re just too nice a guy,” Neville teased.

Harry chuckled as ‘their’ ladies walked down the stairs, along with Daphne. They all looked beautiful, and Harry couldn’t help but smile as Susan linked her arm into Neville’s and he whispered something that made her blush.

“Well, I have two arms and there are two lovely ladies needing escorted,” Harry grinned to Hermione and Daphne.

“Oh come on Potter,” Daphne said with good-natured exasperation as she took his right arm.

Hermione grinned and hooked onto his left arm, “Lilly’s right, you do need her to keep your ego from expanding beyond the boundaries of your skull.”

“You kind of sounded like my Mother there,” Harry said in amusement.

Hermione stuck her tongue out at Harry.

Neville laughed, “I won’t tell Lilly about this,” he joked.

Harry laughed too, “She won’t mind, she knows I’m totally devoted to her.”

“You have so much potential to be a ladies man and you are wasting it,” Neville joked.

“Hey, I can’t help the fact that I’m madly in love with the crazy pocket rocket up there,” Harry said cheerfully. The world seemed bright and light today, he felt so carefree and it was wonderful. 

They all laughed as they emerged into the garden where everybody sat down, and Harry took his spot standing next to Remus once more.

“Your Father would have done that exact thing,” Remus said with a soft smile.

“Well clearly he was just as awesome as I am,” Harry said cheerfully.

Remus raised an eyebrow, “Be careful, you’re starting to develop the same ego that he did.”

Harry shook his head, “No, I’m never going to be a bully Remus. I’m just happy that somebody in my life is finally getting the happiness they deserve.”

“And there is your Mother,” Remus chuckled, “You are truly a perfect mixture of your parents Harry.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Isn’t this about the point when you freak out?” Draco asked Tonks with a raised eyebrow as they reached the bottom of the stairs with Lilly holding a small basket full of confetti.

Tonks smirked at her little cousin, “Draco, I’m perfectly calm. I just want to finally marry the man I’ve been in love with for the last two years.”

Draco shook his head and said sarcastically, “I had this whole speech prepared about how, yeah Remus is a werewolf but you love him anyway and-”

“Draco, shut up,” Lilly said in amusement, “She’s not nervous, she’s just excited. If you ever marry Hermione I feel sorry for whoever you ask to be best man. There will be tears, and panic attacks, I bet.”

“Well that will be Neville’s job,” Draco smirked, “We’ve already agreed.”

Tonks raised an eyebrow at him, “So you’ve already decided, with Neville, that you’re going to marry Hermione? Without telling her?”

Draco’s face flushed and he scoffed, “No, what are you talking about? I meant my wedding in general, not that I’m going to marry Granger…”

Tonks and Lilly shared a grin, and Draco cleared his throat as he held out his arm to Tonks, “Anyway, are you ready?”

Tonks smiled, linking her arm into his as Lilly walked ahead of them towards the door. She signaled to Neville from the door and he popped balloons floating from the arch that Harry hadn’t even noticed were there. Music began to play, and Lilly grinned at Harry as she walked down the aisle and took her place on the other side of the makeshift altar. Harry returned her grin and mouthed, “You look amazing.”

Lilly just winked at him as Tonks walked down the aisle, arm in arm with Draco who was taller than her. Remus’s breath caught when he saw her, and Harry grinned as he nudged him. Remus caught himself, and smiled broadly at Tonks as she reached the altar and took his hands.

“You look beautiful,” Remus whispered.

Tonks beamed, “You don’t scrub up so bad yourself,” she said, he had never looked smarter than he did now in his black and white dress robes. 

Charlie grinned, “Ladies and gents, we are gathered here today, some of us at the last minute,” he smirked at Harry, “To witness the marriage of Remus John Lupin, werewolf extraordinaire…”

Remus laughed and Tonks shook her head at Charlie in amusement.

“…to my lovely ex-girlfriend, Nymphadora Narcissa Dorea Andromeda Callidora Tonks.”

Tonks shook her head with a grin, “Charlie,” she said sounding exasperated.

There was a snigger from everyone sitting, and standing.

“Bugger off the lot of you,” Tonks grinned.

Charlie laughed and continued, “Do we have any objections? Anyone? Nope? Right, well I object! I was told this morning I was doing this, how am I supposed to remember my lines? I am severely unprepared for this wedding…oh shit, I think I was turning into Percy for a minute there.”

Tonks glared good-naturedly at the redhead, “Get on with the wedding you fool.”

Charlie saluted her, “Alright. Do you, Remus John Lupin, take Nymphadora several middle names Tonks, to be your lawfully wedded Metamorphmagus, I mean wife?”

“I do,” Remus laughed.

“Right, Nymphadora too many names Tonks, do you take Remus John Lupin to be your lawfully wedded werewolf, sorry, Husband?”

“I do, you git,” Tonks chuckled.

Charlie’s grin widened, “Okay, perfect. If you two would hold hands then, so that I can bind your magic.”

Tonks and Remus gripped each other’s hands again and Charlie did the spell that bound their magic, and bound them as Husband and Wife. The colour that their hands glowed was apparently a sign of their marriage. Draco had informed Harry of this before and told him that at his parents wedding it was an icy blue, not a good sign. Harry smiled broadly at the colour of the glow surrounding Remus and Tonks, it was golden.

The glow faded, and Charlie said, “That’s it then, you may now kiss the bride!”

Remus grinned as he kissed Tonks lightly, because the ‘children’ were watching. He grabbed her hand as Lilly walked down the aisle, throwing confetti. The small procession made their way through the house, and entered into the front garden where the house elves had set up a little square marquee with a circular table underneath it with platters of food in the centre.

There were little signs at each place, showing them all where they should sit. Remus and Tonks sat together, and next to Remus was Harry, and next to Tonks was Lilly. On Harry’s other side sat Draco, and then Hermione. Next to Lilly were Neville and Susan. And then in the middle was Daphne, and next to her Charlie.

Charlie frowned as he looked around the silent table, and at the full glasses of champagne in front of them all, “Oh shit, I’m supposed to be master of ceremonies, aren’t I?”

“Yes,” Tonks said in amusement.

“Uh, I kind of feel like I’ve done my bit. Anyone else fancy it?” Charlie asked with a grin.

Draco shook his head in amusement, “Nev, you’re the only guy here not doing a speech.”

Neville frowned, “Right, thanks Draco,” he remarked as he stood up, “Alright so. Traditionally the Father of the bride should go first…so Draco?”

Draco got to his feet with a grin that made Tonks and Remus both feel uneasy, “Well, as the Father, I mean, cousin, of the Bride, I’d like to thank everyone who was involved today. Weasley the elder, for his…ceremony, if you could call it that. Potter, for pretending to be best man. Lilly, for making a stunning maid of honour.”

Hermione slapped Draco on the leg, and Harry raised an eyebrow, “You’ve got your own, Malfoy.”

Draco smirked and continued, “I think that Tonks and Remus will be very happy together. I mean they’re already very happy together in the bedroom from what I’ve heard with my wolf hearing.”

Tonks threw her head back and laughed, and Remus went bright red, and looked mortified.

“And finally, I’d like to remind Tonks that next time she tries to get me to do the washing up I will tell everyone in the order what her middle names are.”

Tonks glared at her cousin, “You wouldn’t.”

Draco grinned, “I would. The floors yours Potter.”

Harry blanched, “What?”

Neville laughed loudly, “You’re the best man, it’s your turn to do a speech.”

“Uh…but I only found out like an hour ago,” Harry said, panicking a little.

Lilly laughed, “Just say whatever comes into your head, that’s all everyone else has been doing today.”

Harry nodded and got to his feet, “Alright, well. Firstly I’d like to thank Remus for this honour. I want to thank everyone who has taken part, Draco for being there for Tonks, all of the ladies for looking as beautiful as they do, and Charlie for an unforgettable wedding ceremony. Remind me, never to ask you to marry me.”

“That’s fine, I’d think Lilly would be more interested in marrying you, Harry,” Charlie grinned.

“Shut up you ginger arse,” Harry chuckled, “Anyway, in all Sirius-ness, see what I did there Remus.”

Remus laughed, “Get on with it Harry.”

“In all seriousness, Remus and Tonks are absolutely brilliant for each other. He keeps her grounded, in other words keeps her from falling over all of the time. And she keeps him from being depressed about his furry little problem. In the last few months you two have become the parents that some of us have never had and I think I can speak for all of us when I say we are thrilled to see you as happy as you are today.”

This speech had brought tears to Lilly, Hermione, Daphne, Susan and Draco’s eyes. Neville shook his head in disbelief at the blonde boy as Tonks smiled tearfully at Harry and Remus stood up, enveloping in a bear-like hug. 

“Thank you Harry,” Remus whispered sincerely as they took their seats again.

Hermione looked at Draco in disbelief, “Are you crying?”

“It’s the wolfy thing, it makes me more emotional!” Draco said defensively, “Look at Remus!”

Neville snorted, “You’ve always been like this Draco. You cried at my birthday party when I got better presents than you. You then cried at your own birthday party because I gave you a book about classic brooms of the 19th century and it was apparently the nicest thing anyone had ever done for you. And you cried at Daphne’s birthday party when her cat got stuck in a tree because you thought it was trying to commit suicide!”

“I thought you were this sexy bad arse Slytherin,” Hermione grinned, “I never knew you were so emotional Draco.”

“I hate you all,” Draco said feebly.

“Doesn’t work anymore baby cousin,” Tonks grinned, “They’ve seen the softy beneath now.”

“Screw you all,” Draco remarked, picking up his champagne glass and clearing his throat.

“To Remus and Tonks.”

“To Remus and Tonks!” They echoed, taking a sip and looking to Remus.

Remus smiled, “I’ll keep this short. As much as you say that we’ve become parents to you all when some of you have never really had any, you have all become the family that I thought I had lost after James, Lily and Sirius died. I thought I was on my own, and then I met Dora and all of you have managed to worm your way into my heart. So I want to thank you all for being here, on the day that I gained a beautiful wife who is far too young for me and a family full of dramatic teenagers.”

Neville grinned, “Who are closer in age to your wife than you are.”

“Don’t remind me,” Remus smiled as he turned to his new wife, “I love you Dora.”

Tonks smiled, “I love you too Remus,” she said as he sat back down and kissed her lightly while everyone toasted them for a second time.

“I forgot that we called her anything apart from Tonks,” Harry said in amusement.

“What do you think he calls me when we’re shagging?” Tonks asked, grinning wickedly. 

Remus went scarlet, and Draco shook his head, “I can never call her Dora again after what I’ve heard.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

SEVERAL HAZY HOURS LATER…

“Being a werewolf sucks!”

Draco had found out tonight, that his tolerance of alcohol had risen dramatically since his werewolf attack. So while everybody else, with the exception of Remus, was happily tipsy he felt practically sober.

Remus smiled and slipped him a hip flask, “Drink that, it will help.”

Draco grinned, “Thanks Remus,” he said, making his way back to Hermione. They had moved the party into the kitchen when it began to get dark outside. It was for safety reasons more than weather reasons, it was a lovely July night after all. The party continued, and after about half an hour Draco felt as drunk, if not more so than the others.

“Woah, Draco,” Remus said from the doorway, where he looked like he was trying to make an escape with Tonks, “How much of that did you drink?”

“All of it,” Draco said offhandedly, “Why? What was it?”

“Moonshine,” Remus said in disbelief.

“What?” Tonks asked in exasperation, “You gave him moonshine?”

“I didn’t think he’d be stupid enough to drink the whole bloody thing,” Remus said, trying not to laugh.

“I think you should go to bed, Draco,” Remus said in amusement.

“No, no, I’m awake,” Draco said, slurring his words a little, “The party is just getting started. You guys go, we’ll be fine. We’re good here, right?”

There was a cheer.

Remus shook his head in amusement and Tonks took his hand, dragging him off into the entrance hall. 

“Hey Malfoy, you bloody idiot, come here!” Harry called.

“It’s Black you buffoon,” Draco said, stumbling a little in the direction of the others who were sitting on a large L-shaped sofa in the corner of the kitchen. 

“Whatever, come here! I have an idea,” Harry said.

Draco dropped down next to Hermione and put his arm around her, “What’s going on?”

“Right,” Harry grinned, “I think we should make a pact, except you Daphne. You don’t fit the carteria.”

“Criteria, Harry,” Hermione corrected.

“Ooh, what’s the pact?” Neville asked excitedly.

“Calm down Nev,” Harry said, attempting to put his arm around Neville and then realising he couldn’t, because of the massive height difference and awkwardly retracting his arm as if he had been stretching.

“Right…we’re going into a war…some of us might die, or get injured…or something,” Harry stuttered out, “So I think we should make a pact that all 6 of us, if we’re all still together when it’s over…and none of us are dead, or insane - oh shit, sorry Neville.”

“Get on with it Harry,” Neville said, his words a little slurred.

“Okay, so if we’re all alive…and in one piece…and together…I think we should get married.”

“Yeah, here!” Susan added eagerly.

“In a joint ceremony,” Draco said with a vigorous nod.

“And we can all be each other’s bridesmaids, and best men!” Hermione piped up.

“And Charlie can do it!” Lilly added.

“Fuck yeah, let’s do this properly. Blood pact!” Neville said, hitting the table with his fist.

“Yes, blood pact!” Draco exclaimed.

“But we’re all drunk,” Harry slurred.

Hermione snorted, “Pfft! I can do it in my sleep, I’m Hermione Granger.”

“Alright Granger, control the ego,” Draco sniggered.

“Shut up wolf boy,” Hermione smirked, turning her hand over and using her wand to create a small cut on her palm. She put her hand in the middle of the table, with her palm up and said, “Who’s next then?”

“Do me,” Draco said putting his hand in front of her.

Hermione cut his hand, and Draco placed it on top of hers. Susan was next, and then Neville, then Lilly and finally Harry.

“Use Diffindo not Sectumsempra, you silly prat,” Hermione said, “You only need to make a cut on your palm not cut off your arm.”

Harry glared at her and made the cut, “Screw you Hermione,” he said as he placed his hand on top of the others.

Daphne was watching this scene, torn between being concerned and laughing, “Can I throw something in there? If I’ve got a significant other I’m in.”

“Come on then,” Draco grinned as she cut her hand and put her hand on the top of the stack.

Hermione tried to sober herself up a little as she said, “All of us here, bound in blood, agree to everything that we have laid out…in the event of us all surviving the war. So mote it be.”

There was a pulse of magic, and as they went around, in the order their hands were stacked and said “So mote it be”, there was a pulse of magic each time.

When Daphne had said it, the door to the kitchen opened and they all looked up, like guilty children.

“What the hell have you just made a blood pact on?” Remus thundered.

“Uh…”

“Em…”

“Well…”

“What have you done?” Tonks asked in disbelief, “We left the room for 10 minutes! And you made a blood pact!”

“Uh…I thought you two were going to bed,” Draco said pointedly.

“We were,” Remus said, “And then we felt pulse of magic coming through the floor.”

“Oh, oops, forgot it did that,” Hermione mumbled.

“What did you do?” Remus asked again.

“Uh, well,” Harry began, “I pointed out that there’s a very small chance that all of us will survive the war in one piece and I suggested that if we did and we were all still together we ought to all get married and then we all added a bit…Susan said we should get married here and Draco said-”

“Harry James Potter, you are rambling,” Remus said, sounding as much like a Father as Harry heard ever heard him sound.

“So in short,” Draco cut in, “If we all survive the war and we’re all still together, we’re all getting married here, in a joint ceremony, which Charlie will be doing, and we’ll all be each other’s bridesmaids and best men.”

Tonks looked up at Remus and said calmly, “Well, it could have been worse.”

Remus actually smiled, “Yes, I suppose it could have been.”

Tonks laughed and shook her head, “Remus, we are the worst parents ever. We got them drunk, and let them make a blood pact.”

“At least you didn’t beat the shit out of us!” Harry piped up.

“Or use unforgiveable curses on us,” Draco added.

“Or leave packets of drugs lying around the house,” Lilly cut in.

“Alright, we get the point,” Remus said gently, “We’re going to bed and all of you should too.”

“You’ve got a busy day tomorrow, and just so all of you know, we’re taking a car to the Burrow,” Tonks said in amusement, “We’re leaving at 5am.”

“Aw, you could have told us, Mum,” Harry said sarcastically.

Tonks grinned, “Get to bed, the lot of you,” she said.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The following morning, at 4.30am, Tonks woke them all up with a knock on the door and a promise that there was a tray with a plate of toast, a jug of orange juice, and two-phials of hangover potion outside each of their doors.

Draco dragged himself to the door, and downed the potion, throwing the other phial to Hermione who took it just as fast. Within a few minutes their stomachs were settling and they were able to nibble on some toast.

“You do realise you basically proposed to me last night?” Hermione asked with a frown.

“Yeah, it was a bit like that,” Draco admitted, not able to look her in the eye.

“Look Draco, it was stupid alright. We did it because we were drunk, I know you didn’t mean it,” Hermione said quickly, “And with everyone’s permission I can undo it-”

“Do you want to undo it?” Draco cut in.

Hermione’s frown deepened, “You do.”

“No, I don’t,” Draco said honestly, “I love you Hermione, and if we survive this war I’m marrying you, if you’ll have me. I’d decided with Neville already, he was going to be my best man.”

“You decided you were going to marry me before you even asked me?” Hermione asked, chuckling weakly.

Draco smiled, “You are singlehandedly the best thing to ever happen to me. You are the best thing in my life. You make me a better person, you make me happy, and I honestly can’t imagine my life without you…I knew…I knew when I saw Greyback that night that I couldn’t live without you, so I jumped in front of him, foolishly thinking that it would be easier for you to live without me.”

“Well you were wrong,” Hermione said firmly, “Because as much as I hate you at times, I couldn’t imagine life without you either.”

Draco grinned.

“What?” Hermione asked cautiously.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this, at 4.30am in the morning, when we’re both in bed naked. But I have to ask you properly,” Draco laughed, “Hermione Granger, will you marry me when this is all over? I don’t mean straight away, but someday?”

Hermione laughed, “Yes, Draco. I will.”

Draco grinned and pulled her close to him, disregarding the tray of food as it clattered to the floor noisily, “I love you.”

Hermione returned his grin and kissed him, “I love you too.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Ugh…Nev…did she say hangover potion?”

Neville groaned and got to his feet, shakily, “Think so.”

“Thank Merlin,” Susan moaned, “I think there are hundreds of monkeys dancing around my head. Stop the dancing monkeys Nev.”

Neville snorted as he dragged the tray inside and shut the door, throwing a phial of potion to Susan and downing one himself. After a few seconds he sighed, “That’s better. Last night was a bit crazy.”

Susan laughed, “Are you talking about the part where we made a blood pact or what happened after that?’”

Neville grinned, “Both.”

Susan threw her head back against the pillow and chuckled, “I don’t suppose we can go back on a blood pact?”

“Only if everyone involved agrees to it,” Neville said as he sat down on the bed and bit into a piece of toast, “Which they will this morning, trust me.”

Susan yawned, “Good, it’s nothing against you or anything. I just don’t want to get married.”

“Ever?” Neville asked in disbelief.

Susan rolled her eyes, “I don’t know, maybe one day. But definitely not right now, and definitely not before I’m 20…I want to have my career first before I get all settled, you know?”

“I know where you’re coming from,” Neville said, although it didn’t sound convincing.

“I don’t think we’ll all survive the war anyway,” Susan said quietly, “So I doubt it would ever come to pass.”

“That’s a horrible way to think,” Neville frowned.

“But it’s the truthful way to think,” Susan said as she looked up and caught his eye, “We’re all playing happy families right now but it won’t stay like this. Some of us will die, or get badly injured. This is a war Neville.”

“Is that the only reason you’re with me, Susan?” Neville asked quietly, “Because you didn’t show much of an interest until a war was on the horizon.”

He knew he was right the moment Susan sighed and glanced down. He knew before the words had even left her mouth, “I like you a lot Neville, you’re one of my best friends and I want to be happy in the last few months I might have. I wanted to make you happy.”

Neville stared at her in disbelief, “That’s the worst basis ever for a relationship.”

“Is it? Or is it natural?” Susan said without looking at him.

Neville fixed her with his gaze, “That depends Susan. Realising you have feelings for someone because of a war is natural. But have you thought of being with me after the war, can you imagine it?”

Susan was silent, but her silence was the answer that Neville had been searching for.

“You know what this means Susan, don’t you?” Neville asked, a harshness to his voice.

“It means we’re breaking up, I know,” Susan said, pulling the blankets tighter around herself and looking up at him. It hurt to see how much pain there was behind his eyes, “And it means I’m not coming with you on the run.”

“That’s exactly what it means,” Neville said coolly, “Because if what was going on between us before was going to interfere, then what is going on between us now will interfere even more so.”

“I know,” Susan said as she cleared her throat, “And I understand. I’ll stay here with Remus and Tonks, I’ll help the order and let them use it as their hide-out or a safe-house. I’ll help from here, like Daphne and Ron will be doing from Hogwarts.”

Neville nodded stoically, “Good,” he said as he transfigured his clothes with a wave of his wand and left the room.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Go get the food and potion Lil,” Harry mumbled.

Lilly raised an eyebrow at her boyfriend, “Feeling the effects of last night are you?”

“Aren’t you?” Harry muttered, not opening his eyes.

“Not as much as you, clearly,” Lilly grinned as she got to her feet and quickly dressed in the shorts and t-shirt she had packed for the day. She walked to the door and got the tray, putting it down on the bed and waving the hangover potion in front of Harry’s face.

He grabbed it, with only one eye open.

“You are definitely a better seeker than me,” Lilly laughed.

Harry didn’t say anything as he took the potion and sighed in relief. Lilly took hers too, just to settle her stomach enough so that she could eat.

“Morning Lil.”

“Morning Harry,” Lilly laughed, kissing him lightly on the lips.

“We should talk about last night,” Harry said awkwardly as he pushed himself up in the bed, “I mean…about the…blood pact…don’t you think?”

“What’s there to talk about?” Lilly asked as she passed him a glass of orange juice.

“Well, we basically agreed to get married after the war,” Harry said with a frown.

“Yes,” Lilly nodded, “We did.”

“So…aren’t you…I mean…do you want to?”

Lilly sighed, “Harry…we can’t keep pretending, can we? Of course I want to, I wasn’t as drunk as the rest of you last night. I wouldn’t have agreed to it if I didn’t want to, and I know you feel the same.”

“Well yeah…but-”

“Harry,” Lilly interrupted, her voice quiet and a little shaky, “We both know you aren’t going to survive the war. Don’t we?”

Harry’s eyes snapped up, “W…what?”

“You talk in your sleep,” Lilly whispered, “I know about the prophecy. I could recite it word for word after the amount of times I’ve heard you mumbling it.”

“It doesn’t mean I’m going to die,” Harry lied.

“Yes it does,” Lilly said, her voice getting quieter with every word, “The Dark Lord will mark him as his equal…well, that was him giving you the scar.”

Harry frowned, and Lilly continued in a hoarse whisper, “Either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives...You know what it means.”

“You don’t,” Harry said weakly, “You don’t Lilly. Whatever you think, it’s wrong.”

“Is it?” Lilly asked, fixing her blue eyes firmly on Harry’s emerald eyes, “Because I take it to mean that Voldemort has to kill you, or you have to kill him. But why could neither of you live while the other survives…that’s the part I didn’t understand…until a few weeks ago. You can’t kill Voldemort because he has horcruxes…and Voldemort can’t kill you…because you are a part of him. You know it Harry, that night in Godric’s Hollow, you survived because he accidentally made you a horcrux. You have to die, so that Voldemort is mortal and can be killed.”

By the time she finished speaking Lilly’s voice had practically disappeared and she was trying desperately to keep her tears in her eyes, and not let them spill down her face.

“I didn’t know Lilly,” Harry practically croaked, “I had an idea…but I didn’t know…I just wanted to pretend, that this would all end and we’d all be happy. I just wanted to pretend for one night.”

“I know,” Lilly said as the tears broke through the barrier and began to spill. She threw her arms around Harry and held him tightly, “I did too.”

A frown began to form on Harry’s face as he pulled back and looked at her.

“Hang on one fucking minute. I’ve got some of the smartest witches and wizards of our age on my side. I’ve got amazing friends who were willing to fight for me to save our school. I’ve got the sister I never had in Hermione, the parents I never had in Remus and Tonks, as much as I hate to admit it the brothers I never had in Nev, Ron and Draco. The best friends I could ask for in Daphne, Suse and Ginny. And you, the most amazing person I’ve ever met. And do you know what? That’s too much to live for. I will survive this war and when I do, I’m bloody marrying you Lilly!”

Lilly was laughing through her tears, “Harry, you’re meant to ask me first.”

Harry smiled weakly, “Lillian Allison Moon, MacKinnon, Black, or whatever your name is,” he joked, “Will you marry when this is all over?”

“Of course I will you bloody idiot,” Lilly have laughed, half-cried as she threw her arms around him and kissed him like there was no tomorrow.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Come 5am they were all the gathered in the entrance hall, some with smiles, some with tearstained faces and some with hard-faced stoic faces.

Remus and Tonks looked around them all in bemusement, and Daphne looked thoroughly fed up.

“What happened this morning?” Tonks asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Uh, well Lilly and I kind of got engaged,” Harry said with a frown.

“Oh for fucks sake Potter,” Draco remarked, “You’re always stealing my thunder!”

Tonks looked around the four of them, seemingly torn between smiling and shaking her head in exasperation, “For the right reasons, I hope?”

“Not because of the blood pact if that’s what you mean,” Hermione admitted, “Because we’re in a war, and we need hope. Don’t we?”

Remus smiled weakly, “We do. And Lily and James…they got married and had Harry as young as they did for that same reason. War changes us, it makes us grow up. And some of you have been tangled in this one since you were 11 years old.”

Tonks cleared her throat, looking quite emotional, “I’m sorry to end the moment so soon. But we’re in a hurry. There is a car outside, magically modified to fit us all inside, and invisible, with the power of flight. If we make good time we should arrive at the burrow around 9.30am.”

“Well we’ll say goodbye for a few days then,” Harry said, looking towards those who weren’t invited to the wedding. He frowned when he saw the looks on Neville and Susan’s faces.

“What’s going on between you two?”

Neville cleared his throat, “We discovered some irreconcilable differences this morning.”

“You’ve broken up?” Hermione asked in disbelief.

Susan nodded and said quietly, “But it’s fine because it won’t interfere with the mission. I’ve finished restoring my family’s old tent, and it’s packed in Neville’s bag. I’ll stay here with Remus and Tonks and communicate with you via the mirror. All you need me for is my information on Helga Hufflepuff and her cup, and I have it all here anyway.”

Harry glanced between them, “Right…well I’m sorry that it didn’t work out.”

Susan just shrugged, and Neville said, “We’ll get over it, and there are much bigger worries at the moment anyway.”

Harry nodded slowly, “Right, do you all remember the rendezvous point then?” he asked.

“We don’t need to remember the rendezvous point,” Draco said with a slight smile.

Harry frowned, “What are you talking about?”

“We’re all coming Harry,” Daphne said happily.

“Molly invited everyone to stay, for your birthday and the wedding,” Hermione beamed.

“Happy birthday Harry,” Lilly grinned.

Harry stared around at them, and felt a lump in his throat. He was speechless.

“Are you crying Potter?”

Neville snorted, “Shut up Draco, you can’t talk.”

Harry cleared his throat, “I need to give Molly a massive hug when I see her.”

Hermione laughed weakly, “I think she’ll appreciate that.”

“She will,” Tonks smiled, “Come on, let’s pile you all into the car.”

They all said goodbye to Susan who didn’t want to come to the wedding for obvious reasons. Daphne in particular had a long hug, and a whispered goodbye with her best friend. They then walked outside where a black Ford Mondeo was waiting. They put their luggage into the massively enlarged boot, and then piled in. There were two seats in the front, for Remus and Tonks, who was driving. Then there were two benches, facing each other in the back. Each held four people, and each place had a seatbelt which Remus forced them to put on. When they were all buckled in Remus pressed a big red button and the outside of the car disappeared, camouflaging itself into its surroundings. It hovered into the air, to gain height, and then as Tonks pressed on the accelerator it lurched forward, flying smoothly after that and at a decent speed, into the cloudless blue sky. 

The 4 and half hour journey was occupied with much discussion and debate on the shapes of any clouds that they passed. There were also lots of ‘games’ that Hermione had told them about and had termed ‘driving games’. When the Burrow came into sight, Harry could not have been more relieved after half an hour of Draco playing ‘I Spy’ and picking a different shaped cloud every time. The car slowly began to descend and came to a hovering stop in front of a shimmering, transparent wall. Remus closed his eyes, conjuring a patronus which leapt from the car towards the house.

“Someone has to let the wards down,” Tonks explained to the others in the back.

“Will they know it’s you?” Harry asked anxiously.

“I doubt they know anyone else with a werewolf patronus,” Remus said, with an amused smile in Draco’s direction.

He chuckled, “Don’t look at me, I can’t cast a patronus.”

“Do you want me to teach you?” Harry asked thoughtfully, “Before we go on the run?”

Draco caught Harry’s eye, “Yeah, actually.”

Harry smiled, “Sure,” he said as Bill walked out of the house and put his hand through the wards, onto the front of the invisible car. It edged forward and once it was entirely within the confines of the warded home Remus rendered it visible and lowered it to the ground, with a soft thump.

TBC :)


	36. Beauty and Pain

Harry frowned slightly as he looked up at the Burrow. In an odd sort of way, it didn’t feel as much like home as it had once done. He felt like he had more to hang onto now, more people, and more places.

“You better come inside,” Bill said darkly.

Harry’s eyes snapped towards him, “What’s happened?” he asked immediately.

“Come on, I’ll tell you inside,” Bill said, turning and walking towards the house. They all bundled out of the car and followed him into the living room which was very cramped with all 9 of them in addition to Bill, Fleur, Molly, Arthur, Charlie and Ron.

“Try to stay quiet,” Molly said in an undertone as she hugged Harry, “The others are still asleep.”

“What’s happened Mrs. Weasley?” Harry whispered.

Molly looked tearful, “It’s George…he was so handsome…”

“What happened to him?” Hermione asked, paling significantly.

“He lost an ear,” Ron said, “Snape used Sectumsempra, so it can’t be grown back. He lost a lot of blood but he’ll live…that’s not the worst part.”

Bill shook his head from the doorway and glanced to Charlie. The younger Weasley stepped forward and placed his hands on Tonks shoulders.

Her eyes widened with realisation, “Charlie…no.”

“They went down fighting, Dora,” Charlie said in a choked whisper.

“No,” Tonks said, gripping Charlie for support, “No!”

Remus pulled his new wife into his arms and held her close to him, “I’m sorry, Dora.”

“They were all I had,” Tonks said, and as tears streamed down her face, she bared her emotions in a way that she had never done before. Harry felt sick with guilt, he could feel it pressing down on him. Tonks had just lost both of her parents because of him, because of a mission they had volunteered for because of him.

“They were the only blood family that I had left who don’t hate me.”

“No, they weren’t,” Draco said, grabbing Tonks hand, “You have me.”

“And you have me,” Lilly said quietly.

Tonks smiled sadly at them, she squeezed Draco’s hand back and said “Thank you”

“Dora, there’s more,” Charlie said quietly.

“How much worse can it get?” Tonks asked tearfully.

“We lost Moody too,” Bill said.

“What?” Harry barked, “What do you mean lost?”

“Mundungus ran away,” Bill sighed, “Moody was killed, Harry. We’re leaving to try and find his body, but we suspect they might have kept it as a trophy.”

“Are my parents…” Tonks trailed off.

“We recovered their bodies,” Charlie said quietly.

“I will go with you to recover Moody’s body,” Remus said heavily.

“So will I,” Tonks said, her tears fresh on her face, “He was my mentor.”

Remus put his arm around her, and Tonks cleared her throat and looked over at Molly, “Keep an eye on this lot for me, will you Molly? I seem to have adopted them.”

Molly smiled weakly, “Of course,” she said softly.

There was some shuffling as Bill, Charlie, Arthur, Remus and Tonks all left. Leaving behind them a tense silence.

“Are you all hungry?” Molly asked, in an attempt to break the melancholy atmosphere.

“Starving, Mum,” Ron piped up.

“I was talking to our guests Ron,” Molly chided.

Draco shuffled awkwardly, and glanced down.

“We are rather peckish actually Mrs. Weasley,” Daphne said politely. 

Molly smiled, “Of course you are, come on, come on.”

They shuffled into the kitchen, with the exception of Draco. Hermione hadn’t noticed that he hadn’t been followed her, and she paused in the doorway of the kitchen and glanced behind her. 

He was standing alone in the living room, and Molly was standing in the doorway watching him.

“Aren’t you hungry Draco?” Molly asked kindly.

“I shouldn’t be here Mrs. Weasley,” Draco said, refusing to look her in the eye, “None of your family want me here. I’ve been nothing but horrible to them for years, as has my Father.”

“Well, the last thing I heard was that you didn’t have a father, Mr. Black,” Molly said with a knowing smile, “Life is too short to hold onto the past. Hermione, Harry and Ron have clearly seen that, even Ginny was saying good things about you yesterday. I can’t begin to understand how much being attacked by a werewolf changes a person…if it had been any of my children…if it had been Hermione…” Molly shook her head, “And you took that attack to save her. Whether you believe it or not, I have a very high opinion of you Draco.”

“Thank you Mrs. Weasley, but I don’t deserve it,” Draco said quietly.

“Anyone who jumps in front of a werewolf to save someone, whether it’s their girlfriend or not, deserves my respect,” Mrs. Weasley said softly, “Now come and have some food, you’re far too skinny!”

Draco laughed weakly and followed her into the small, cramped kitchen as she threw plates onto the table and began to get everything cooking.

“Harry dear, can you wake the others?” Molly asked.

“Sure,” Harry said quietly, heading towards the stairs. He was grateful to be able to take a few minutes to gather himself, because the guilt was eating him up inside. He sighed as he knocked on doors to wake up Fred, George and Ginny. 

He tried to at least look like he was enjoying himself at breakfast. But he knew that Lilly and Hermione in particular could see that he was struggling. However, for a lot of the Weasley’s it was the first time that they had met Lilly, and it was the first time that they had seen Draco and Hermione together.

“Ah, Gin wasn’t lying about you picking girls based on whether you’d have to look up at them when you kiss them,” Fred winked to Harry.

Harry shook his head, “Why is it always a height joke?”

Fred grinned, and Lilly, who gave as good as she got said, “The best things come in small packages.”

George laughed loudly, he was pale and had a bandage on his face but other than that he looked normal, “I like her, she’s a keeper Harry.”

Harry laughed, despite himself and smiled at Lilly.

“And as for you Hermione, we thought you had taste,” Fred teased.

“Yeah we thought you went for the smooth guys Mione,” George grinned, “Not the rough werewolves types,” he winked.

“He’s only a half-werewolf,” Neville piped up in amusement.

“When did you grow balls Neville?” Fred laughed.

“When Harry actually decided to make me a part of his secret war crew,” Neville joked.

Molly shook her head in amusement, “Simmer down all of you and eat,” she said as she deposited sausages, eggs and bacon onto their plates and put a large rack of toast in the middle of the table.

They were quiet for a while as everyone tucked into their food, and Molly then said, “Now, it will be difficult but we will fit you all in somehow-”

“Oh don’t worry Mrs. Weasley,” Lilly said once she had finished her mouthful, “We have a tent. We’ll pitch it out in the garden and stay there.”

“I’ll stay in the house, if that’s alright,” Harry said.

“Already got a camp bed in my room for you mate,” Ron said through a mouthful which made Daphne shake her head distastefully, “Charlie’s been sleeping in it but he’s been kicked into Percy’s old room now.”

“Well, if you would like to stay here Hermione, there’s a spare bed in Ginny’s room,” Molly said to the bushy haired girl, “As always.”

Hermione nodded, “I’d like to stay Mrs. Weasley.”

“Draco, have you ever pitched a tent?” Lilly asked the blond with a grin.

Draco made a face, “Do I look like the kind of person who pitches a tent?”

“Let me guess, you have house elves to do that for you,” Hermione said irritably.

Draco’s cheeks burned, “Don’t get into the house elf argument with me here Hermione.”

“It’s abuse, it’s slavery,” Hermione muttered, stabbing her sausage, “Honestly!”

“Well, can you put up a tent Granger?” Draco remarked.

Hermione blanched, “I…well, no, not exactly.”

Neville snorted, “I’ll do it. Honestly, can you lot do anything? First I had to tie your bowties for you, and now pitch the tent? You should have come to WizardCamp when we were kids Draco.”

“My Mother wouldn’t let me,” Draco mumbled, “She was too worried I’d hurt myself.”

Ron snorted, “I’d have loved to go if we’d been able to afford it.”

“You didn’t miss much,” Neville admitted, “Just some burnt food, and a lot of stupid pranks.”

They all laughed and the back door opened, killing their laughter entirely as Bill, Charlie, Arthur, Remus and Tonks returned, all shaking their heads.

“Death Eaters got to him before we could,” Bill said quietly.

Molly sighed and busied herself with plating up four more plates of food, “Sit down and eat, all of you.”

They did, and there was another melancholy silence.

“I think we should tell them our news,” Harry said, looking to Remus and Tonks.

Remus shook his head, “We don’t need to talk about things like that at a time like this.”

“Is it good news?” Molly asked.

Tonks just nodded.

“Then please tell us,” Molly said softly.

Tonks looked at Remus and held up her left hand, “Remus and I got married last night. It was just a small ceremony, us and this lot,” she looked around at the teenagers fondly. 

“Oh that’s fantastic!” Molly said happily, “I’m so happy for you both! How lovely, a small, intimate wedding.”

“Very romantic,” Fleur said with a smile.

Tonks managed a small smile as she looked at Charlie, “I don’t know if romantic is the right word, right Char?”

Charlie chuckled, “What do you expect when you give a guy 3 hours to prep for a wedding Dora?”

Molly frowned slightly, “Charlie?” She said questionably.

“I married them, Mum,” Charlie said matter of factly.

Fred and George sniggered, “You married them? Is that even legal?”

“Yeah, I got my certificate and all in Romania,” Charlie said offhandedly.

“And is it legal here Charlie?” Arthur asked in amusement.

“Course it is,” Charlie said, “The spells are the same, and the legislation. I mean technically it would be illegal in Romania, because werewolves can’t get married there but here it’s okay.”

“How many weddings have you done before Charlie?” Ginny asked in amusement.

“Eh, it was the first, Gin,” Charlie grinned.

“Charlie! You told me you’d done a few!” Tonks exclaimed.

“Well, for a first wedding it was certainly unforgettable,” Draco said. 

“Yeah, I think the best line had to be, do you Nymphadora too many middle names Tonks take this man to be your lawful wedded werewolf,” Neville chortled.

This caused a burst of laughter to fill the room.

“We have to see this,” Ginny grinned, and Ron nodded, doubled over with laughter.

Harry smiled slightly as he pulled his small pensieve from his bag. He put the memory into it and did a handy little spell that Daphne had shown him. It brought the memory up against the wall, like a projector and it began to ‘play’.

The room was instantly filled with laughter at the hilarious ceremony, there was the odd comment like “Oh Draco, you gave her away? How sweet,” from Mrs. Weasley too. When it was over Charlie looked only slightly embarrassed, but mostly amused.

“Jeez Char, after seeing that I’m nervous about the fact you’re my best man for tomorrow,” Bill laughed.

Charlie laughed loudly, “I’ve had weeks to prepare my best man speech Bill. Dora gave me 3 hours to prepare a whole wedding.”

“And you made it up on the spot judging from that,” Ginny said, wiping away tears of laughter.

“True,” Charlie laughed.

Molly was laughing herself as she said, “Speaking of the wedding, sorry Harry, I know it’s your birthday. But we have a lot to prepare for tomorrow so if I can enlist you all to help it would be much appreciated.”

“Of course Mrs. Weasley,” Daphne said politely, and most of the others nodded their agreement.

“Well I’m going to get this tent pitched,” Neville said as he rummaged in his bag and pulled out a shrunken, tightly packed tent, “Draco, you’re coming too. You need to learn some useful skills.”

Draco rolled his eyes and got to his feet, and Harry stood up too, “I’ll help, and then I’ll teach Draco the patronus charm, as promised. Do you have enough hands here without me Mrs. Weasley?”

“Of course,” Molly smiled, “You enjoy your birthday Harry dear.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“So Neville. How do we pitch a tent?”

Neville stared at him in disbelief, “Seriously? You can kill a basilisk and ward off 200 dementors and you can’t pitch a tent?”

“Do you honestly think the Dursleys were the type to take me camping?” Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

“But they were the type to show you how to kill snakes and dementors?” Draco countered.

Harry rolled his eyes, “That was just instinct. But, it looks like we’re all learning from you today Nev.”

Neville shook his head in amusement and unpacked the tent then lay it on the ground and said, “Well, this is the very difficult way to pitch a tent,” he grinned.

“Erectus.”

They watched with a mixture of amusement and disbelief as the tent built itself in under 2 minutes. It was just a simple, pyramid shaped tent though, which Harry and Draco both noticed.

“You think you’re going to sleep 5 people in there when we go on the run?” Harry asked in disbelief.

“Expansion charms don’t go that far,” Draco agreed.

Neville smirked, “It’s not an expansion charm, it’s a camouflage spell on the exterior of the tent. Come inside, you’ll see”

They followed Neville through the flap of the tent skeptically and were amazed at the interior of the tent. They had effectively stepped into a miniature entrance hall, it was a small corridor with stairs at the end.

“It’s a miniature version of Bones manor,” Neville explained.

“Speaking of Bones, why did you two break up?” Draco asked with a raised eyebrow.

Neville rolled his eyes, “Do we really have to go into that today?”

“Well yes, because you seemed pretty happy up until this morning,” Harry pointed out.

Neville sighed in a long suffering way, “It all started with her saying she doesn’t think she ever wants to get married. And it ended up with her admitting she was pretty sure people were going to die, and that she was dating me because she wanted to make me happy in case I did die.”

Draco’s eyes narrowed, “She said that?”

“Word for word,” Neville muttered bitterly, “So I told her that was a shit basis for a relationship.”

“Which it is,” Harry said, thinking about his own likely demise.

“And we broke up, so she agreed to stay at the manor,” Neville shrugged, “That’s all there is to it.”

“And how are you feeling about that?” Harry asked with a raised eyebrow, “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, we’ve only dated a few months and I’ve barely even seen her over the summer. I was clearly just a means to an end or whatever. I’m more pissed off than upset, but there really are bigger things to worry about at the moment.”

“That much is true,” Harry sighed as he looked around the entrance hall.

Draco noticed the decline in the mood and cleared his throat, “So are we getting a tour or what?”

Neville smiled slightly, “Right well there’s a little kitchen with a dining area to the right, and a living area to the left. Then there are two floors above us, each with two double bedrooms and a shared bathroom. They’re small, but it sleeps 8.”

“Wow,” Harry said, “Yeah, being on the run might not be so bad in this thing.”

Draco smiled, “Nice work Neville.”

“Susan did all of the work on it,” Neville admitted grudgingly.

Draco raised an eyebrow, and Harry said, “Right, well do you mind heading up to help Molly? Draco and I need privacy to work on his patronus.”

Neville raised his hands in defeat, “I can tell when I’m not wanted,” he joked as he left the tent. 

Harry turned to Draco, “Right then. You ready?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Draco said, gripping his wand tightly.

“The key part is the memory,” Harry admitted, “So close your eyes and think of a happy memory.”

Draco closed his eyes and nodded after a minute or two.

“Now don’t let your mind drift from that memory and say the incantation.”

“Expecto Patronum!”

A silver flicker emerged from his wand, then it disappeared.

“Well, that was progress,” Harry said optimistically.

Draco groaned in frustration, “Let’s just face it Potter, I’ll never be able to do it! There’s too much shit in my head, and too many bad memories.”

“Everyone has at least one bright, happy memory,” Harry said firmly, “The way you smile around Hermione tells me that you have one. What memory are you trying to focus on?”

“I couldn’t pinpoint a memory I was just thinking about Hermione,” Draco admitted.

Harry shook his head, “No, you have to think of a memory and focus hard on it. What’s the happiest you remember being with Hermione? A memory that makes you feel so full of joy?”

Draco frowned and searched through his memory for something that fitted the criteria. He smiled slightly, “Ironically, it was waking up all werewolfy and beaten up in the hospital wing to see her smiling down at me, holding my Mother’s hand. For once my life felt normal, my Mother and girlfriend in the same room, alive and just concerned about me…”

Harry smiled, “I understand,” he said honestly, “Now Draco, listen closely. Shut your eyes, and focus entirely on that memory. Remember how you felt, and let it fill you up with all of the happiness and good feeling that it did on the day.”

Draco closed his eyes and did exactly as Harry said. Harry didn’t have to tell him to say the incantation, he knew what to do.

“Expecto Patronum!”

Harry watched in amazement as a sparkling silver creature emerged from Draco’s wand. The blonde’s eyes snapped open and he watched the dragon spread its wings and do a circuit of the room before finally flying out of the tent into the clear blue sky.

“That was amazing,” Draco breathed.

“You have such a cool patronus,” Harry said longingly.

They looked at each other, and despite themselves they both laughed.

Draco walked past the Gryffindor, patting him on the shoulder, “Thanks Potter, maybe I should have gotten you a nicer birthday present,” he said, putting his arm around Harry’s shoulders as they exited the tent into the warm late afternoon sunshine.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Harry, stop it.”

“Stop what?” Harry asked evasively as he stared resolutely at the chicken hut that he was cleaning out with Tonks.

“You haven’t looked at me all day,” Tonks said, “What happened to my parents was not your fault.”

“Of course it was!” Harry said, his eyes snapping up and meeting hers, “They died on a mission meant to save me! They died for me, like everyone else has!”

“No,” Tonks said firmly, “They didn’t and you can’t keep blaming yourself for things that are out of your control. The guilt is going to eat you up and kill you, you can’t carry the weight of the world on your shoulders.”

Harry shook his head, “This is my fault Tonks, you should hate me.”

“I don’t, and I never could,” Tonks said softly, “They volunteered for the mission because they wanted to do their bit in this war. It hurts, it hurts so badly, you know that. You know loss as much as anybody else does, Harry. But I’m not angry, in a lot of ways I am grateful. My parents had a good life, they were in their 50’s, and they had known great love. I can’t imagine how I would feel if I lost you, or Lilly. You are so young, with your whole life ahead of you.”

Harry frowned, “That doesn’t make it any better.”

“Yes, it does,” Tonks said firmly, “I miss them, and I’m upset because they were my parents. But I know that they had a good life, Harry. And more importantly, they never had to live without each other. Their love was so strong and powerful, I really think it would have broken them to live without the other. This way they are still together.”

“Just like my parents,” Harry said in a quiet whisper.

Tonks nodded and wiped her eyes hastily, “So please, don’t shut me out. Don’t shut me out because you feel guilty.”

Harry swallowed hard and nodded, “Okay,” he said simply.

Tonks reached out and took his hand, “Can you look at me?”

Harry looked up, and his guilt returned when he saw the sadness in her eyes.

“I loved my parents an awful lot Harry. But I love Remus too, and I love you and Lilly and Draco, and Hermione. All of you. What’s important to me now is keeping you safe throughout this war. Do you understand?”

Harry nodded again and squeezed her hand, “I understand,” he said.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

In the late afternoon of his birthday Lilly cornered Harry and pulled him into the tent. The others were still helping Molly with preparation for tomorrows wedding, so Lilly had managed to catch him alone. She had already picked a room for them, on the second floor of the three story ‘building’.

“I have a present for you, I didn’t want to give it to you later with everyone else around,” Lilly said as she handed him a small square box.

Harry smiled at her as he opened it, and pulled from it a circular pendant with the initials “H - N - D” on one side and “L - H - S - D” on the reverse.

“It’s our initials, boys on one side, and girls on the other,” Lilly said a little nervously, “And if you tap it with your wand it opens.”

Harry did so, and although there was no clasp the pendant opened, like a locket. Inside was a picture of them all, taken the night before at Remus and Tonks’ wedding. The Bride and Groom were in the middle, and everyone else was standing around them.

“If you tap the picture twice it expands, and you can use it as a photo frame,” Lilly explained, “I thought you could wear it close to your heart, and when you needed reminding of what you have to live for, it would be there.”

Harry smiled tearfully and pulled her in for a hug, “It’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me,” he whispered.

Lilly smiled weakly, “Happy 17th Harry.”

“Thank you,” Harry said, pouring how grateful he was into a kiss. 

When Harry broke the kiss, he asked her quietly, “Now we’ve got a bit of alone time, have you had a chance to watch the memories Remus gave you yet?”

Lilly shook her head, “I can’t bring myself to do it,” she admitted.

“Why?” Harry frowned, “I mean, it will help, won’t it? It helped me come to terms with it, it made me feel like I knew them a little.”

Lilly sighed, “I don’t know Harry. I’m scared of what I’m going to find in those memories.”

“I think it will be good for you,” Harry said honestly, “I really do think it will help.”

Lilly glanced anxiously at the pensieve on the dressing table, “Maybe I should do it now.”

“Do you mind if I come with you?” Harry asked.

Lilly turned to him and caught his eye, “No…I think that might help, actually.”

Harry smiled at her and took her hand, “Come on then. Let’s get to know your parents.”

Lilly laughed weakly as Harry poured the contents of the jar of memories Remus had given Lilly, into the pensieve. It became cloudy and, still holding onto Harry’s hand, Lilly plunged her face into it.

The world twisted and turned, and shadows blurred their view. But then the first memory materialized. 

Lilly and Harry were standing in the great hall, which looked much the same as it did now. They watched a small boy with dark hair get sorted into Gryffindor and punch the air, Harry smiled, he knew that it was Sirius. They saw Harry’s parents join him in Gryffindor, and then a blonde girl sat on the stool. A blonde girl with wavy hair, and striking blue eyes. Harry recognised those eyes instantly, they were Lilly’s eyes.

“Looks like you have your Mothers eyes too,” Harry joked in a whisper.

Lilly nodded weakly and watched Marlene sit down next to Sirius at the Gryffindor table.

“Hi! I’m Marlene McKinnon!”

“Sirius Black,” The 11 year old Sirius said, shaking her hand with a grin.

The scene changed, and the memories began to play out in quick succession, dragging Harry and Lilly with them…

***

“I swear Lily, I hate him!” Marlene said angrily, in the Gryffindor common room.

“He’s an arrogant arse, Leena,” Lily Evans said matter of factly, “A bit like his friend, Potter.”

Marlene groaned. They looked around 3rd year age now.

“He thinks he’s the best thing since sliced bloody bread! And he’s not, he’s just a little…urgh!”

Lily laughed, “Don’t waste your time, or your breath on him!”

***

“Come on McKinnon, I’m on the Quidditch team,” Sirius grinned, “You know you want to date me.”

“I couldn’t care less Black,” Marlene said offhandedly, “Quidditch isn’t the most important thing in the world you know.”

“Oh come on, you’ve dated half the population of the school already,” Sirius remarked, they seemed to have jumped to about 5th year now, “Don’t you want to add me to your roster?”

Marlene scoffed, “More like you want to put me in your little black book.”

“Nice pun,” Sirius grinned.

Marlene raised an eyebrow, “It was entirely intended. Now leave me alone, my boyfriend and I are on a date.”

“Yes, I had heard that. Where is Prewett? I don’t see him,” Sirius smirked, looking to the empty seat across from her.

“Gideon is just running late, now bugger off Black!”

***

“You’ve been at the hospital wing a long time.”

Marlene jumped, “Have you three been waiting up?” She asked irritably.

“Well we wondered where you had got to,” Alice grinned.

“And then James said you were still at the hospital wing when he left,” Lily smirked.

“James?” Marlene snorted, “When did he stop being Potter, huh Lily?”

Lily blushed, “When he started to have some manners and decorum. It doesn’t mean anything.”

Dorcas sniggered, “Of course it doesn’t Lilyflower.”

“Oh shut up the lot of you,” Lily laughed, “It’s Leena we should be worried about. Crying over Sirius Black getting hit in the head by a bludger!”

“Along with half the female population of Hogwarts,” Alice grinned.

***

“Where’s Prewett tonight then, MacKinnon?”

Marlene glared at Sirius, “Fuck off Black!”

“Woah,” Sirius raised his hands and dropped down next to her on the dungeon floor, “I’m game for hanging out in snake territory if you tell me why?”

“I was spying on Gideon,” Marlene said irritably.

“Not at all creepy,” Sirius remarked.

“Oh seriously Black, fuck off,” Marlene said a little tearfully.

Sirius frowned, “Alright, I’m sorry. Are you alright Marls?”

“Fine,” Marlene said bitterly, “You’ve slept with most of the girls in this school, is Amy Bones on that list?”

Sirius made a face, “Nah, way too up her own arse for me, plus I don’t do redheads. That’s James’s thing,” he winked.

Marlene laughed despite herself, “Well Gideon clearly likes her.”

“Prewett’s a twat then, isn’t he?” Sirius remarked, “If hes dating the sexiest girl in school and decides to go off with Amy Bones, of all people.”

“I know!” Marlene laughed, “I mean, I’d be less offended if he was shagging someone decent and not a complete prissy bitch!”

Sirius grinned and pulled her to her feet, “Come on, let’s booby trap the common room. When she gets back she’ll fall on her arse right in front of Prewett.”

Marlene returned his grin, “I wish castration wasn’t an expellable offence you know, I reckon Gideon deserves it.”

Sirius smirked, “It’s only an offence if you get caught Marls,” he winked as he grabbed her hand and pulled her in the direction of the common room.

***

“You said yes?”

“As friends! Who are you going with?”

“Well,” Lily frowned, “That’s just not relevant. Is it?”

Alice snorted, “In other words, James Potter?”

“He’s been almost nice this year,” Lily said defensively, “I thought I’d give him a chance. Who are you going with Alice?”

“Frank Longbottom, you know the really sexy Ravenclaw?” Alice grinned, “He asked me.”

“When did that happen?” Marlene asked in surprise.

“Yesterday morning,” Alice smirked, “When did you and the schools very own manwhore happen?”

Marlene rolled her eyes, “Look, it’s just a thing…it’s not a thing. It’s a Halloween dance, I’m not going to marry the guy!”

“If you date him he’ll do the exact same thing that he does to every other girl!” Dorcas exclaimed, “You know his rules don’t you?”

“Yes, I know his rules,” Marlene muttered, “He never dates the same girl twice and he doesn’t date anyone for longer than a month. Luckily for me, I’m not dating him. Now can you lot stop questioning me and help me do up my corset? I can’t believe Black talked me into wearing a Vampire costume!”

***

“So, this really did mean absolutely nothing then?” Marlene shouted at Sirius in the middle of the great hall, which was set up for a Halloween dance. They were in 7th year now.

“Well I did tell you, we’re just friends Marls,” Sirius remarked.

Marlene groaned, “Wow, I can’t believe I was stupid enough to think I actually meant more to you than the rest of your cheap sluts Black! Fuck this, I’m done!”

“Marls!”

“Just go away!”

***

“Marls…”

“I don’t want to talk to you Black.”

“Marlene.”

“Remus, I will not speak to him,” Marlene hissed, “Don’t make me have to start ignoring you too!”

Remus sighed, “He really does like you Marlene.”

“Well he did a great job of showing it, kissing Lareina bloody Crouch at the ball,” Marlene spat, glaring at Sirius, “He likes his blonde’s clearly.”

“Marlene, it wasn’t like that,” Sirius began, “She’s dating that Greengrass guy and she just wanted to piss him off for refusing to send her parents a marriage contract-”

“Yeah like I’m going to believe that,” Marlene muttered, as McGonagall called for silence under threat of detention.

***

“Merlin, McKinnon!” Sirius shouted as he grabbed her wrist, “Would you stay still for 5 fucking minutes?”

“It makes me nauseous being in your presence for that long Black.”

“Stop with the sarcasm for one second,” Sirius said, pinning her to the wall in the secret passageway he had caught her in.

“Let me go or I’ll shout for help,” Marlene ordered him.

“No,” Sirius said hotly, “I asked you to that bloody ball because I’ve liked you for years Marls! Bloody years, and you’ve always been dating some arsehole or other.”

“Yeah, I seem to have a knack for picking the complete dicks,” Marlene said, glaring right into his eyes.

“Crouch kissed me!” Sirius exclaimed, “Alright? I didn’t kiss her! And I made her stop. I asked you to the ball because I’m fucking in love with you.”

“What?”

“I’m in love with you, for God’s sake Marlene,” Sirius muttered.

“Why would you say that?” Marlene asked coolly.

“Because I mean it,” Sirius frowned.

“This is a joke, isn’t it?” Marlene yelled, “A sick fucking joke!”

“It’s not a joke!” Sirius shouted, “I love you. You are a crazy psychotic bitch sometimes but I love you, alright? You’re the only girl I want to date for longer than a month, I just can’t get enough of you Marls.”

Their eyes met and Marlene broke free from his grasp and shoved him against the opposite wall, kissing him in the same way Lilly kissed Harry when she desperately missed him or had been terrified for him.

“Fuck sake, Remus!” Sirius jumped, “How long have you been standing there?”

“I was on my way to Charms, sorry,” Remus mumbled, rushing past them down the passageway.

***

“So…”

“So what?”

“Sirius.”

“What about him Potter?” Marlene asked, raising an eyebrow at the smirking boy sitting next to her on the sofa.

“He’s not dated someone for 2 months,” Remus smiled from the armchair, “Does that have anything to do with your make-out session a couple months ago?”

Marlene rolled her eyes, “You two are like a pair of gossiping witches! And you wouldn’t have seen anything if you hadn’t been a peeping tom Remus, you creep!”

“I was just trying to get to Charms,” Remus mumbled.

“I’m not even dating him,” Marlene said firmly, “We’re just friends…”

“With benefits,” Sirius smirked as he appeared behind her, “Speaking of which, the boy’s dorm is currently free,” he winked at her and disappeared.

“See,” Marlene smirked, following him up the stairs.

***

“D’you know something Marls?”

“What?” Marlene asked as they danced together at James and Lily’s wedding.

“I’d quite like to get married someday.”

Marlene snorted, “Good luck finding someone for that job.”

“I was thinking you wouldn’t mind it actually,” Sirius said entirely seriously, “I mean, now we’re actually together…”

Marlene drew back and stared at him in shock, “What?”

“I’m not proposing or anything,” Sirius said quickly, “I just…I don’t know. I just wondered, maybe one day?”

“Dream on Black,” Marlene said with the hint of a smile.

Sirius chuckled and said, “Alright, I’ll keep dreaming McKinnon.”

***

“You sure you’re alright Marls?”

“I’m fine, just a tummy bug Sirius,” Marlene said as she lay with her head against his legs in the Potters living room.

“You are awfully pale Leena,” Lily said.

“It’s not the right time of year for a cold bug either,” James pointed out, “Middle of August.”

“I must have just eaten something funny,” Marlene sighed, “I’ll be fine.”

“I’ll get you back to your flat,” Sirius said, helping her up, “See you guys in a bit,” he added for Lily, James and Remus’s benefit.

***

“Have you been to St. Mungo’s Marlene?” Remus frowned.

“No, why?” Marlene asked weakly.

“You’ve not been right recently,” Remus said, “We’ve all been a bit worried about you. Sirius nearly declined a yearlong mission to stay and keep an eye on you.”

“Yeah well, I’m just stressed Remus. Who isn’t with this war we’re in the middle of?” Marlene said with a weak smile.

Remus nodded, unconvinced, “Just take care of yourself Marls, don’t push it.”

“Don’t worry Remus, I’m a big girl, I can take care of myself.”

***

“REMUS!”

The door was yanked open and Sirius fell through it, blood on his hands and his face stained with tears as he sobbed.

“Sirius! Sirius! What’s happened? Are you hurt?”

“It’s not my blood.”

Remus snapped the door shut, “Whose is it, Sirius?”

“M…Marl…Marlene,” Sirius choked, “There was a dark mark over her house and I…I was too late Remus. The Aurors came and took her away, she’s gone.”

Remus wrapped his arms around Sirius as he sobbed, “She’s gone Remus, GONE!”

He didn’t say anything, and Sirius continued, half-speaking, half-sobbing, “I should have married her when I had the chance but she was so bloody determined not to do things for the wrong fucking reasons. And now she’s dead Remus, SHE’S DEAD!”

He was reduced to a shaking wreck and the memory began to blur and fade as they were pulled away from it.

With a jolt they found themselves back in their bedroom in the tent once more, they were still holding hands and Lilly had tears running down her face.

She sat down shakily, and silently on the bed, and Harry sat next to her. He put his arm around her and she leant into him, crying quietly.

“Please don’t tell me I made things worse by making you watch that,” Harry said quietly.

Lilly shook her head, “No, it helped, seeing that they really were in love…by the end anyway…but it just…”

“Left you with more questions?” Harry guessed.

Lilly nodded tearfully, “Like why did he not know I existed? Why didn’t she tell him about me? Or did she and then did she erase his memory for some reason and if so, why? And how…how did I live when the rest of my family were killed?”

“I understand that last one, trust me,” Harry said as held her, “And you’ll understand in time too. We’ll find out who did this Lil, and then we’ll figure out the rest. I promise, we’ll find out the truth, no matter what it takes.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

As the afternoon became the evening Harry and Lilly found themselves sitting in the back garden with the others, making paper decorations for the following days wedding. 

“I watched the memories Remus gave me, earlier,” Lilly told them thoughtfully.

Ron and Ginny had been caught up on the situation by Daphne earlier in the day.

“And, did it help?” Daphne asked.

Lilly shrugged, “In some ways it did and in other ways it didn’t. But screw Susan’s Aunt, and screw your Mum by the way Daphne.”

Daphne raised an eyebrow, “Why?”

“They were in the memories,” Lilly explained in amusement, “My Mums boyfriend cheated on her, with Amy Bones. I never knew she was in Slytherin.”

Daphne nodded, “Oh yeah, Susan’s Aunt was a snake alright. Suse always said she thought she was going to be a spinster, so I always got the impression she wasn’t that way inclined, you know? What did my Mother do in the memories?”

“Nearly broke my parents up,” Lilly said with a raised eyebrow, “Your Dad was refusing to send a marriage contract to her parents, so she kissed my Dad to piss him off and my Mum saw and went mental…you know, pretty similar to what happened between you and I over Harry.”

“I’m honoured you think of me on the same level as my womanizing Godfather,” Harry grinned.

“Harry, remember that chat we had about deflating your ego?” Lilly said matter of factly.

Ron burst out laughing, and hi-fived Lilly as Harry smiled fondly at her.

Daphne chuckled too, “I did know about that, minus the part where she kissed your Dad. My Mum is like 6 years younger than my Dad so he was really reluctant to send her parents a marriage contract until she was out of Hogwarts, and when he kept saying no she just went further to piss him off until he finally did it.”

Harry laughed, “Well, she was nothing if not persistent,” he joked.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“I’m really sorry, Tonks.”

“Draco,” Tonks breathed as she drew the younger boy in for a hug, “Don’t be silly.”

“I’m just really sad,” Draco admitted a little tearfully, “And I know it’s stupid because I barely know her. But my early memories of visiting Aunt Dromeda and you are such happy ones. It feels like Voldemort is just trying to push all of my happiness away, like he just killed one of my happiest memories.”

Tonks sighed and hugged him tighter, “He is rather good at playing psychological games.”

“But I’m more upset than you, that’s just stupid, isn’t it?” Draco mumbled.

“No,” Tonks said truthfully as she pulled back from the hug and caught his eye, “In Auror training we are taught to shut off our emotions so that they don’t affect the mission. It’s really hard to reverse that in real life when you leave the workplace.”

“But you’re holding it all together so well,” Draco said, wiping his eyes hastily, “And then I’m upset and Merlin…my Mother, she’s going to be distraught when she finds out. Will she even find out?”

“Yes,” Tonks said darkly, “She will find out from the Death Eaters. They will brag about it at their next meeting no doubt.”

Draco’s frown deepened, “That’s disgusting.”

“I know,” Tonks said, gripping her cousins hand, “But that’s why we’re fighting, Draco.”

Draco nodded, “Are you really alright?”

“For the moment, I am fine,” Tonks said honestly, “I fully expect I will breakdown. But that isn’t for you to worry about. Very soon you are going to be going on the run, and you just need to worry about keeping yourself alive. Alright?”

Draco nodded and pulled his gaze back to the dinner party that was being held for Harry’s birthday, “Okay.”

“I said this to Harry earlier, and I’ll say the same to you,” Tonks said as she followed his line of sight, “I can almost cope with losing my parents. They were in their 50’s and my Father had a heart condition…but I can’t cope with losing any of you. I can’t lose anymore family.”

“Neither can I,” Draco said, his voice was so quiet that it was nearly lost in the wind.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

As Harry sat in the Weasley’s living room after his birthday meal while Molly fussed about getting hot chocolates ready, he couldn’t wipe the smile from his face. It hadn’t been the meal that had made him smile so much, or even the fact that it was birthday. But having every person he cared about around one table was the best part for him. The snitch shaped cake Molly had made was amazing too, and he really appreciated the fact that she had invited all of his friends over despite their confrontational past.

“Harry?”

Harry looked up as Remus sat down on the edge of his armchair and handed him a box. Everyone else had already given him his presents. He’d opened Lilly’s earlier, and the others had gotten him great presents too. He had gotten an engraved hip flask from Neville, and a leather wand holster from Draco, which he thought was pretty badass looking. The conversation that had taken place during that present exchange still made him chuckle.

“I wanted to get you something practical.”

“It’s wicked Draco.”

“It’s proper leather, so even you shouldn’t be able to break it. Believe it or not I actually want you to survive this war Potter.”

“Wow, that was almost friendly Malfoy.”

Harry had gotten presents from the girls too, a pair of unbreakable glasses from Hermione which he laughed at, but he also realised how clever an idea they were. From Daphne he had gotten a silver dagger, and she had jokingly said that he could use it on Draco if he pissed him off. To which the half-werewolf had responded…

“That’s a muggle myth! Somebody stab me with their fork, and I’ll prove it!”

“Alright!”

“Nobody is stabbing anyone with a fork Fred!”

“Sorry Mum.”

Susan had gotten Harry a Honeydukes gift box, and a bright yellow t-shirt with a red lions face on the front with the jibe that he needed to stop wearing the same two t-shirts all the time, and that he needed an injection of colour in his life. Ron had gotten him the biggest box of chocolates he had ever seen and told him it would see them through the war, and Harry had laughed and said that they would probably need it. From Molly and Arthur he got a present that he couldn’t technically keep, but that made him smile wider than anything else. It was a hand for the Weasley clock, with his face on it, proof he really was part of the family no matter what. Finally from Remus and Tonks he had gotten a scabbard, for the sword of Gryffindor to rest in. Like the basilisk venom it was stored in Hermione’s shrunken bag, ready for them when they made their escape the morning after Bill and Fleur’s wedding.

Harry snapped back to reality and frowned up at Remus, “You and Tonks already gave me a gift.”

“I know, but this one is not really from me,” Remus said with a sad smile, “Open it and you will see.”

Harry opened it tentatively. Inside was an old watch, with a leather strap and a bronze face. It was set to the right time and date, and it ticked softly.

“It was your Dads,” Remus said, “I got it from your vault. I was the caretaker of it, so I have a key. But it’s yours now, along with everything in it.”

Harry took the key that Remus handed him, he had his own but he understood the metaphor. He was an adult now, he didn’t need someone to take care of his affairs for him, he was free to do it himself.

“Thanks,” Harry said weakly.

“I did a little tweaking, so that it has a date,” Remus added, “I thought that might help you keep track of things when you leave.”

Harry smiled up at the man and stood up briefly, hugging him and strapping the watch onto his wrist almost proudly, “Thank you Remus,” he said sincerely.

Remus just nodded, his cheeks a little red as Molly brought a tray full of steaming mugs of hot chocolate into the living room.

TBC :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here’s an extra-long chapter for you! And also, if you are interested in the Sirius/Marlene side plot. I actually made a video which is on YouTube called “Sirius and Marlene’s Story - Sometime Around Midnight”. It’s essentially the story that was told by the memories in this chapter. I'm not sure if the link will work, but here it is:
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Gcdxrxod4M 
> 
> If you can’t find it by searching on YouTube, just check out my YouTube account (under the name Holly Grubb/Harryhermionefan64).
> 
> Thanks! :)


	37. Going on the Run

The morning of Bill and Fleur’s wedding was extraordinarily quiet. Draco was an early riser at the best of times, and since his werewolf attack he found he needed even less sleep than before. That was how he came to be sitting alone in the Weasley’s kitchen with a glass of water in front of him at 7am when the rest of the house was still silent.

He panicked a little when he heard footsteps on the stairs, in case it was one of the brothers who didn’t like him much. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Hermione emerge in the red dress she had worn to the dinner party at her parents home.

Draco smiled fondly at her, “I swear you get more beautiful with every day.”

“You get more sappy,” Hermione said, her cheeks a little pink, “I’ve not even done my hair yet, or my glamour charms.”

“Hmm,” Draco hummed, “I don’t think you need them. I love you with your hair all big and frizzy like that, and your freckles…you cover them up with your glamour charms.”

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him as he pulled her onto his lap, “What’s gotten into you today?”

“I like weddings,” Draco admitted thoughtfully, ‘they’re so full of hope.”

Hermione looked out of the window thoughtfully, “And heaven knows we need hope right now. I certainly do after…well…before Remus and Tonks’s wedding, I had to alter my parents memories.”

Draco looked at her sympathetically, “I know.”

“They are probably halfway to Australia by now,” Hermione said quietly, “With no idea that they ever had a daughter.”

“But they will be safe,” Draco said, tightening his grip on her, “That’s more than I can say for my Mother. She’s right in the middle of it all…”

“I know, I’m sorry,” Hermione said.

Draco shook his head, “No, I’m sorry, for what you had to do to your parents.”

“I don’t want to think about it,” Hermione said with a slight frown, “I just want to enjoy the wedding.”

“I always admired people who could go into marriage fearlessly you know,” Draco said thoughtfully, “they just jump in and make this huge decision, but it’s a risk because they can’t know that they’ll love that person for the rest of their life.”

“I think you can know,” Hermione said, her eyes far away as she looked at the opposite wall, “I think you can know when you’re with someone who excites you and challenges you. I think you can know that they always will.”

“Were you serious when you said yes?” Draco asked, looking into her eyes, “Because I know I didn’t have a ring or anything so you might have thought I was kidding.”

“Were you?” Hermione asked simply.

“No,” Draco replied quietly, “I don’t know if you can know that you’ll always love someone. I see where you’re coming from, and I can see it both ways…but it’s the biggest risk I’ll ever take and I want to take it with you.”

Hermione smiled at him and leant down, kissing him lightly on the lips and resting her arms on his shoulders. It was a different sort of kiss, a slow, sweet one, the sort that took Hermione back to that night in the Room of Requirement and made her stomach flutter.

Until they were rudely interrupted that was.

“Moooorning.”

They broke apart to find George smirking and holding a mug of coffee as he raised an eyebrow at them.

Hermione blushed furiously, “I didn’t know you were capable of getting up this early.”

“Now, now Hermione,” George grinned, “Don’t turn that embarrassment into spite. I have a successful establishment to run, I’m up at the crack of dawn every day.”

“Then you’ve changed since Hogwarts,” Hermione countered in amusement.

“So have you,” George smirked, “I can’t imagine little-miss-perfect snogging the face off of Draco Malfoy in her 4th year.”

“It’s a good thing this is Draco Black then,” Hermione said smugly.

“Sorry no points for that one, he was still Draco Malfoy back then,” George teased as he pushed himself onto the counter top, “Ah, Fred and I predicted it you know. We said you were too good to be true, we were waiting for you to fall off the rails. I didn’t think you’d go this far mind you. I just thought there would be some kinky fetishes in your inevitable relationship with our idiot little brother.”

Draco snorted in amusement, “Well I am half-werewolf, need I say anymore about fetishes?”

Hermione’s face turned scarlet, “Malfoy!”

George sniggered, “Ah, he’s Black until he pisses you off and then he’s Malfoy. I like your style Draco, maybe I can handle you dating Hermione after all. Although I’ll warn you, I view her as a little sister so if you hurt her, you’ll have to deal with Fred and I.”

Draco glanced at him cautiously, “Am I going to get this from all of you?”

“Ah, well Bill’s pretty busy at the moment, Charlie’s laid back, Percy’s a complete twat, and I doubt Ron’s even noticed Hermione’s a girl yet, so no,” George grinned, “Oh hang on a minute actually, you might have to watch out for Gin. Hermione’s kind of her only big sister, and she hates Fleur so if you hurt Hermione I’m sure she’ll send a bat-bogey hex your way.”

“That sounds…disgusting,” Draco said.

“Oh it is,” Ginny said with a grin as she emerged in her dressing gown, “You don’t want to try me Malfoy.”

“Right,” Draco said awkwardly, “No hurting Hermione or the entire Weasley clan hunt me down and kill me. Got it.”

Ginny patted him on the head as she walked towards the coffee that was brewing, “You learn fast. I can see why Hermione likes you.”

Draco looked at Hermione in amusement and she chuckled, “Yeah, so that’s Ginny when she’s not all shy and withdrawn.”

Draco smiled slightly, and Hermione frowned, “Oh dear.”

“What?” Draco asked self-consciously.

“You’re getting emotional again,” Hermione said in amusement, “What is going on with you?”

“It’s just because it was the week of the full moon,” Draco said offhandedly, “Seriously, the littlest things set me off.”

“So it’s a period, without all the blood,” Ginny snorted as she sat down with her coffee in her hands.

“Thank you for that insight, Weaslette,” Draco said with a raised eyebrow.

Hermione sniggered, “Well, next time you slag me off for shouting at you over the littlest thing I’ll remind you of the fact that everything makes you cry at full moon time.”

“Everything?” George grinned.

“He found a dead bird last night,” Hermione smirked, “And he was crying over how its little life was over too soon.”

“Holy shit,” George despaired.

Hermione laughed despite Draco’s embarrassment, and the kitchen gradually began to fill up with people eating a light breakfast in preparation for the massive meal that they would be having later.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“I’m not having sex with you here.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s the Weasley’s house! Mrs. Weasley is like my Mum for god sakes.”

“Oh come on Harry, everyone else is downstairs having breakfast.”

“This is Ron’s room!”

The door snapped open, and Harry and Lilly jumped apart. The person who had so forcefully pushed it open, Fred, smirked, “Why not? Everybody else does it. Charlie kept me up all night just the other day. Sometimes I wish we still spoke to dear old Perce just so I could tell him Charlie screws his many conquests in his bed.”

“I thought you said one of Ron’s brothers was gay?” Lilly asked in amusement.

Harry went scarlet, “I didn’t say that! I just said that I wasn’t sure about Charlie because I’d never heard of him having a girlfriend or anything.”

Fred grinned, “I don’t think Charlie knows what he is. He’s brought guys and girls back here, although I must say, there have been more guys than girls in recent years. Not that Mum knows, mind you.”

Harry snorted in amusement, “Well whatever he fancies, I suppose.”

“Very accepting of you,” Lilly remarked.

Fred laughed, “Nicely said little one.”

Lilly turned her head to Fred, smirking, “I don’t take well to being called little.”

Fred grinned, “You really are a pocket rocket,” he joked.

“Yes she is, and she’s all mine so bugger off Fred,” Harry laughed.

Fred chortled, “Well would you look at that! Neville’s grown balls, Harry you’re having frantic sex with a miniature Ravenclaw and our very own bookworm is into bestiality now,” he tutted, “You lot really did go wild when George and I left Hogwarts, didn’t you?”

Lilly snorted, “Bestiality I’ll have to remember that one. Mind you, I suppose you must be funny given how amazing your shop is.”

“You like the shop?” Fred asked eagerly, “Hey, we’re always happy to indulge our fans. Come on, I’ll give you a sneak peek of some of the stuff we’re working on!”

“Wicked!” Lilly said, following Fred towards the door.

Harry scoffed, “What happened to sex?”

“You said you wouldn’t because we’re in Mrs. Weasley’s house,” Lilly said with a wicked grin.

“Missed your chance Harry,” Fred winked, whisking his girlfriend off into his room. Harry shook his head in disbelief and walked down stairs where the kitchen was busy and bustling.

“What’s wrong with you? You’ve got a face like Hermione’s ugly cat.”

“Draco!”

“Come on, it looks like it ran into a brick wall,” Draco said dryly.

Hermione frowned and picked the cat up, speaking to it like a baby, “Don’t listen to them Crookshanks, I love you.”

“Somebody’s got to,” Draco muttered under his breath.

“Hey same could be said about you Malfoy,” Daphne said with a raised eyebrow.

“Are you comparing me to that ugly thing?” Draco asked her in disbelief.

Daphne just grinned, “So what’s up Harry?”

“Lilly just ditched me to hang out with Fred,” Harry said, sitting down and stealing a sausage from Draco’s plate.

“Oi!”

“You weren’t eating it!”

“I was saving it for later!”

“What were you going to do, put it in your bloody pocket?”

“Oh Harry, you’re up! And are you two fighting?” Molly asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Of course not Mrs. Weasley,” Draco said politely, “Harry and I are the best of friends now.”

There was a collective snort of disagreement, and even Harry laughed. 

“So where is Lilly then if she ditched you?” Hermione asked in amusement.

“In Fred’s room, looking at upcoming products for the store. She’s a fan apparently,” Harry said casually.

George’s one working ear picked this up, he grinned, 2Ah, I’ll assist. Always happy to help a fan.”

Draco raised an eyebrow at Harry, “And you’re cool with her being up there, with those two, in their room, alone?”

Harry shrugged, “What’s the worst that can happen?”

Neville sniggered and a loud bang sounded from somewhere above them.

“We’re okay!” Fred’s voice shouted from above.

“Spoke too soon,” Harry muttered.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Why do you three look so pale?” Lilly asked cautiously as she stepped into the living room where Harry, Hermione and Neville were sitting on the sofa.

“What did he want?” Daphne asked anxiously, slipping into the room with Draco and Ron at her heels.

“He just left, Mum couldn’t believe it when she saw him!” Ginny exclaimed as she appeared from the kitchen, “What happened?”

“Rufus Scrimgeour just came in here…he had items from Dumbledore’s will,” Harry said weakly as his fist remained clench around an object.

“Dumbledore left you things in his will?” Ron asked in surprise.

Hermione nodded with a numbness.

“What did he leave you?” Lilly asked curiously.

“What did the will say?” Daphne added.

Harry cleared his throat and looked up at his friends, “The Ministry confiscated the items to inspect them before they gave them out to us. Apparently they didn’t find anything of consequence, but they did stop Dumbledore from leaving us the sword of Gryffindor because it was the property of Hogwarts.”

“Well the joke is on the ministry there,” Daphne smirked, “What else did it say?”

“He left me a snitch,” Harry said, holding the golden ball up as it struggled to break free from his grasp, “His will said, to Harry James Potter, I leave the Snitch he caught in his first Quidditch match at Hogwarts, as a reminder of the rewards of perseverance and skill.”

“As cryptic as death as he was in life then,” Ron remarked, “Why do you reckon he left you a snitch?”

“I don’t know,” Harry said honestly.

“What did he leave you Hermione?” Draco asked, sitting down on the edge of the sofa and glancing at the book in her hands.

Hermione frowned down at it, “The Tales of Beedle the Bard,” she said, “The will said, to Miss Hermione Jean Granger, I leave my copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, in the hope that she will find it entertaining and instructive. Scrimgeour thought it had codes or secret messages in it, but I have no idea what secret significance it has, if any.”

“He left me this,” Neville said, holding up a small object that looked like a lighter, “His deluminator.”

“What does it do?” Ginny asked.

Neville clicked the deluminator once and the light was sucked out of the lamp in the room, he clicked it again and it was returned to its rightful place.

“Woah,” Ron said, “That’s pretty cool.”

“But random,” Daphne said with a frown, “Why would he leave you all such weird things in his will? What do you think he’s trying to tell you?”

“I have no idea,” Harry said, and that was the honest truth.

Ron shrugged and lightened the mood slightly, “He was always a bit nuts, maybe he just left you things you would think were cool.”

“Maybe,” Hermione said as she caught Draco’s eye. Ron could be right, but Hermione doubted it. She expected the items had more significance than they yet knew.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

They spent the rest of the day after their shock that morning frantically helping to get the Burrow ready for the impending wedding. They spoke to Remus and Tonks briefly about Dumbledore’s will as they set up tables in the marquee, but they seemed to have as little an idea about the strange gifts as the youngsters did. Hermione suggested that they try and forget about it for the moment so that could enjoy the wedding. They agreed that it was the best option shortly before dispersing to get dressed, and Lilly gathered everyone together out in the garden around half an hour before the wedding was due to start.

“Alright, Ron, Ginny and Daphne…we’re going to provisionally say goodbye to you now, just in case,” Lilly whispered.

Daphne frowned, “Why?”

“I have a bad feeling about tonight,” Lilly admitted, “and Remus and Tonks think something is amiss too, so I’ve decided we should pack everything up, including the tent and shrink our bags and keep them in our pockets. If anything bad happens tonight we leave straight away, we don’t try and be heroes. Alright Harry?”

“Can’t promise anything,” Harry said honestly.

“Well I’m asking you to,” Lilly said firmly, “We all leave, and we meet at the rendezvous point. And Daphne, you flee, you apparate back to your home.”

Daphne nodded, “What do you think is going to happen, Lil?”

“I don’t know, but Tonks’ sources say the Ministry is closer to falling than ever before,” Lilly whispered, “It has to happen soon, and it’s the 1st of August…these things, these coups, they often happen at the beginning or the end of a month.”

“And if he wants to control Hogwarts he has to get the Ministry before he can go for the school,” Hermione whispered with realization. 

“Fine,” Harry whispered, “But as for not being heroic, that depends on what happens. I’m not abandoning anyone. Remus and Tonks might need us-”

“We’re adults, we’ll be fine without you.”

They all jumped and turned around. Remus and Tonks were standing by the flap of the tent.

“How long have you been there?” Lilly asked in disbelief.

“Long enough, here’s your first tip for being on the run, be aware of your surroundings,” Tonks said with a smile, “As Lilly was saying, the coup of the ministry is going to happen very soon. There is a very real chance that the Death Eaters might attack tonight.”

“And we need to tell you a few things first before you go. If you need to contact us, use the mirrors it’s the only non-detectable way,” Remus said.

“And if you ever need a safe house, if anyone is hurt or something happens, use Bones Manor,” Tonks said, “Susan has included us in the wards, and Draco’s the secret keeper so it’s safe as long as you don’t over-use it.”

“But never get followed, always make sure you are invisible before you apparate there,” Remus added.

“As for You-Know-Who, don’t use him name. You don’t know when the Ministry will fall, in fact it might have already happened. We can assume when it does however he will taboo the name, like he did in the last war. That means if you say his name, he’ll be able to find you.”

“To weed out the people who aren’t afraid of him…his strongest opposition,” Harry said quietly.

Remus nodded, “He used it during the last war so from now on, just called him You-Know-Who and whatever happens stick together. There will be times when you will want to kill each other, but you have got to remember what you are fighting for.”

“What we’re fighting for isn’t importance Remus,” Harry said quietly, “It’s who we’re fighting for that is.”

Lilly smiled and took his hand.

Tonks smiled at them almost proudly, “Just remember who the enemy is, the war will make you paranoid. You’ll start to mistrust each other, but Remus is right and so are you Harry. Remember what it’s all for, and don’t lose each other, or yourselves.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

They parted on a slightly anxious and melancholy note after packing the tent and shrinking all of their belongings down. They were all sitting close together for the wedding ceremony which was very elegant, just like Fleur. The stuffy little man conducting it was boring, and Harry caught Charlie grinning in amusement out of the corner of his eye. 

It was a lovely ceremony however. Molly and Hermione both cried, but Hermione had a tendency to cry at anything remotely emotional at the moment. When Bill and Fleur’s magic bound together they were enveloped in a silver glow and someone whispered. 

“Ooh they are a fantastic match!”

Harry and Lilly smirked at each other and Harry saw Tonks wink at Remus at the other side of the room. When it was over there was a lovely meal, and some hilarious speeches. Charlie’s had been horrendously embarrassing and crude. Molly had been clutching her chest with bright pink cheeks, Bill had glared at his younger brother and Fleur, surprisingly enough, had found it hilarious and had been crying with laughter throughout. 

After the first dance people began to join Bill and Fleur as they spun beautifully in circles. Harry shot Lilly a smile, “I can’t dance, but I’ll try if you want to?”

Lilly smiled broadly, “I’ll make you look good,” She teased as she took his hand and let him lead her to the dance floor where he pulled her close to him and shuffled as best as he could. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Draco glanced at Hermione as they watched Harry and Lilly dance together.

“May I have this dance Hermione?”

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him, “I’m sorry, what century are we in?” she teased.

“Well if you don’t want to, fine,” Draco said a little huffily, his cheeks tinged pink.

Hermione smiled, “I’d love to dance Draco, but I didn’t go to balls growing up so don’t expect me to be any good.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll shine brightly enough for both of us,” Draco smirked as he held out his hand to her.

Hermione took it, and chuckled, “I think I’m going to have to start reigning in your ego, like Lilly has to do with Harry.”

Draco smiled as they began to dance, “It’s nice to have it back again. I’ve felt so insecure recently.”

“Well I’m glad that the cocky, sarcastic arse that I somehow managed to fall in love with is still in there,” Hermione said fondly.

Draco grinned and pulled her close to him, “Only you could call me an arse so affectionately.”

Hermione laughed and leant into him, enjoying a moment that she perceived to be one of their last of normality for a while.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Ron and Daphne were sitting, rather awkwardly at the same table while all of their friends danced together. Even Neville had been up on the floor dancing with Ginny for a little while. 

Ron shot a sideways glance at Daphne, “I don’t suppose you want to dance Greengrass?”

Daphne snorted, “With you Weasley? Please, I saw you at the Yule Ball. You call that dancing?”

Ron’s cheeks reddened, “Yeah, well it didn’t help that my partner would rather have snogged a bloody Durmstrang all night. I didn’t even mean dancing with me. I could have meant that. But I could also have just meant it in a general fashion.”

Daphne raised an eyebrow at the fumbling redhead, “Well just say what you mean then. I can’t stand people who try and beat around the bush.”

“Fine,” Ron said irritably, “Do you want to dance with me?”

Daphne narrowed her eyes at him, “If I say yes it’s not because I like you, Weasel. It’s because I like dancing, and because we’re friends and I don’t know anybody else here who will dance with me.”

“Understood,” Ron said curtly, “But can we hurry up now before the fucking wedding is over?”

Daphne looked at his outstretched hand hesitantly and eventually took it. She ignored the triumphant look on his face as he pulled her towards the dancefloor.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Oh my god, Draco, look!” Hermione whispered excitedly, spinning them around so Draco could see what she had just seen.

The blonde sniggered, “She’s dancing with Weasley? She must be desperate.”

“Hey!” Hermione glared at him, “Be nice, he’s your friend now!”

“I wouldn’t go that far, acquaintance at a push,” Draco said with a slight smile.

“Well Daphne’s your friend. Wouldn’t it be amazing if they got together?” Hermione asked with a dreamy sort of smile.

“It would be weird,” Draco remarked, “And it would never work.”

“Hey on paper you and I don’t work, but look at us here,” Hermione said pointedly.

“Yeah but there’s a difference between us, and them,” Draco snorted.

“Really?” Hermione asked in amusement, “Let’s see a Gryffindor and a Slytherin, check. An arse and a nice person; an icy bitch and a sort of nice person with an annoying temper. A muggle-born and a pure-blood; a blood traitor and a pure-blood. Notice any similarities yet?”

“Alright, I get the point,” Draco laughed, “But it will still never happen. I’ll put 20 galleons on it.”

“Deal,” Hermione grinned.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It all kicked off around 10pm that night. Things had been going well, too well and those who had worries about the night felt their sense of dread grow the later it got. The sky was gradually darkening outside, and they all felt tense. Their suspicions and fears were confirmed when a silver lynx shot into the marquee and spoke with the voice of Kingsley Shacklebolt.

It did not say much, but what it did say filled them all with a sense of dread, “The ministry has fallen, they are coming.”

The words had barely left the silvery lynx’s mouth when a ball of fire ripped open the marquee and Death Eaters began to pile in. There were screams as everybody dispersed and the anti-apparition wards around the Burrow were smashed down. People were disappearing everywhere, and Harry felt panic set in as he realised that he and his friends were all separated. He and Lilly were by the bar, Hermione and Draco had been on the dance-floor, and Neville had been sitting down in the main marquee. 

“We have to go!” Lilly shouted as she pulled Harry’s hand, “They know your face, they are looking for you.”

“But the others-”

“They know to meet us at the rendezvous point!” Lilly said frantically as they left the marquee that was slowly burning down, “You promised me no heroics Harry, please!”

Her desperate pleading was enough. But Harry still hated the idea of leaving when he didn’t know what was happening to his friends, or to those that he considered as family. He gave Lilly a miniscule nod, and gripped her hand tightly as they spun together and disappeared from the Burrow with a pop.

When the spinning stopped and the world came into focus Harry swayed and glanced around the clearing anxiously. They were in the Forest of Dean, somewhere Hermione had recommended as quiet and isolated, and more to the point far enough away from the Burrow. He breathed a small sigh of relief when he saw Hermione and Draco standing in the clearing, but his worry set in when he realised that Neville wasn’t here yet.

“Where’s Neville?” Harry asked.

“I don’t know,” Hermione admitted, she was incredibly pale, “I saw him fighting a Death Eater when we left.”

“I said no heroics!” Lilly snapped.

“The Death Eater was going for Ginny,” Hermione said weakly, “Neville was protecting her. I’m sure he’ll get away, he’ll just be a little delayed.”

“Or a little dead,” Harry said darkly as he began to pace the clearing, “It didn’t feel right, leaving instead of fighting.”

“We had to,” Draco said calmly, “They came for you. The main thing had to be getting you out, you’re clearly the key to winning this war. You could hardly die so early in it.”

“But other people could be dead because of me!” Harry snapped loudly, “The Weasley’s, or Remus and Tonks! People could die because of me!”

“Harry-” Lilly began, but she was cut off by a loud crack.

Everyone spun around and raised their wands, in the odd chance they had somehow been followed here. They all breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that the new arrival was Neville, but their eyes widened when they realised that on Neville’s back, clutching on for dear life, was Ginny.

“Ginny!” Harry hissed, “What the hell are you doing here?”

“She jumped on as I apparated,” Neville said with exasperation as he shrugged Ginny off of him.

“You can’t be here!” Harry exclaimed, “You have to go back to Hogwarts, do you realise how much danger you are putting your family in by running off like this?”

“I won’t just go back to Hogwarts like Ron!” Ginny shouted, “I won’t stand by and do nothing while there is a war, Harry! I want to help, and me being here doesn’t put my family in anymore danger than they are already in. They are known members of the Order, and the Death Eaters know about your connection to Ron.”

“Ginny, you’re 16,” Hermione said quietly, “You don’t belong in a place like this.”

Ginny crossed her arms and fumed, “I might be 16 but I’m far more mature than Ron and if it hadn’t been for the fact you and him had a falling out last year he would be here, wouldn’t he?”

Harry hesitated, “Well-”

“Wouldn’t he?” Ginny snapped.

“Yes,” Harry replied, glaring at the girl, “But you aren’t Ron. You’re a year younger and you have the trace on you! They’ll find us the moment they realise you are missing from your home and you use magic.”

“No, they won’t,” Ginny said, a smug look appearing on her face, “Because I don’t have the trace on me.”

Draco scoffed, “Weaslette, every witch or wizard has the trace placed on them when they get their 2 month check-up at St. Mungo’s.”

“But Ginny didn’t get her 2 month check-up,” Neville frowned, “You had dragon pox.”

“Exactly,” Ginny smirked, “I was really sick as a baby, I nearly died actually. So I completely missed my 2 month and 6 month check-ups.”

“And they didn’t chase it up?” Hermione asked in surprise.

Ginny shook her head, “They forgot, and Mum didn’t think it was that important. So I never got the trace.”

Harry’s frown deepened, “Well how do muggle-borns get it then? They wouldn’t have 2 month check-ups at St. Mungo’s.”

“The first time there is an incident of accidental under-age magic in an unregistered house they follow it up,” Ginny said with a wave of her hand, “They visit the house, place the trace on the kid and then use a memory charm.”

“And you’re certain they never did that to you?” Harry asked with narrowed eyes, “Because if they had you wouldn’t know about it.”

“I’ve been using magic outside of school for years, Harry,” Ginny admitted, “And not just in my house either because obviously that doesn’t look suspicious. I’ve done it in the middle of nowhere, and nothing has happened. I’m sure.”

“I still don’t think you should be here,” Hermione said quietly, “Ron will go mad when he finds out.”

“Screw what Ron thinks!” Ginny exclaimed, “You have those mirrors, all we have to do is wait for this to blow over and contact Ron tomorrow. We can tell him that I’m here, there will be nothing he can do about it and we can find out if everyone is okay.”

Harry turned his exasperated gaze towards Lilly, silently asking for her opinion. The Ravenclaw shrugged and said calmly, “Ginny does have her uses, Harry. With Susan no longer coming we could use somebody else.”

“She’s 16, Lilly,” Harry muttered, “She’s still a kid.”

“We’re all still kids,” Draco sighed, “But we haven’t exactly been acting like it, have we? Do any of you feel 17? Because I sure as hell feel older than my years.”

“I do too,” Hermione admitted, and Neville and Lilly shared solemn nods too.

“Plus,” Ginny said, drawing everyone’s attention back to her, “Do you know anyone else who was possessed by one of You-Know-Who’s horcruxes for a year?”

Harry’s frown deepened, “Ginny, how do you know about horcruxes?”

Ginny raised an eyebrow at Harry, “Do you honestly think I don’t hear things through walls? I heard you and Ron talking about it the other night. You’re hunting for his horcruxes and you’re killing them, and I can feel them.”

“How do you know you can feel them?” Neville asked with disbelief.

“Because I’ve always gotten a weird feeling around You-Know-Who since that bloody book possessed me. Everytime he was near I felt it, and I always felt it in the Room of Requirement too,” Ginny said.

Harry and Neville caught each other’s eyes, both stunned by what Ginny had said. 

“You got that feeling in the Room of Requirement?” Neville asked quietly.

Ginny frowned, “Yeah…is that important?”

“Well considering that we found and killed a horcrux there a few months ago I would be inclined to say yes,” Draco said with a pointed look at Harry.

“Alright, so you can feel them,” Harry conceded, “But that’s not necessarily a good thing. He could possess you again-”

“- no, he couldn’t,” Hermione cut in, defending her friend, “Because Ginny was 11 then. She had an open mind, and she willingly talked to the horcrux. She was an open book…”

“I was naïve is what you are so politely trying to say,” Ginny said pointedly, “And I’m not anymore, I’ve even had occlumency lessons from Slughorn this year.”

Harry sighed and glanced around at his friends for a general opinion on Ginny’s presence. The response was largely in favour, in the form of nods and shrugs so he turned around to face her once more. She stared at her with determination burning in her eyes, and Harry rolled his, “Fine, you can stay. But you have to do everything that I ask, if I tell you to run you do it, if I tell you to hide you do it. Alright?”

“Deal,” Ginny said triumphantly, “So where are we going first?”

Harry sighed, “First of all we’re pitching a tent and going to sleep. Then we’ll regroup and figure out our next move, in the morning.”

“And we’ll contact Ron,” Hermione sighed as she pulled the tent from Neville’s bag and erected it with a simple spell, “We need to make sure everyone is okay.”

“And account for his missing sister,” Draco said with an amused look Ginny’s way.

Ginny rolled her eyes at this as Hermione began to set up Muggle repelling charms, and charms that created a bubble around their little area to prevent them from being seen or heard by muggles and wizards alike. She looked exhausted, so Draco stood up and placed his hand on her shoulder gently as he helped set up the wards around their little clearing.

TBC :)


	38. Kreacher's Tale

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

Hermione had barely slept all night, she was too busy worrying about the Weasley’s and about Remus and Tonks. She had fallen asleep with her mirror in her hand to make sure she would wake up if anyone tried to get in contact with her. She went from being half asleep to instantly alert as she accepted the call from Ron.

“Is everyone alright?” Hermione asked urgently, wiping sleep from her eyes.

“Everyone is here apart from Ginny,” Ron said, he looked pale and exhausted.

“Don’t worry,” Hermione said, “She’s here.”

“She’s what?”

Hermione sighed, “We tried to convince her to leave but she’s determined to stay Ron. None of us can forcibly bring her back, we’re on the run now. We can’t risk going anywhere near the Burrow.”

“She can’t go on the run with you, she’s only 16!” Ron exclaimed.

“I know, but she’s set her mind on it Ron and you know that means she won’t change it. We can’t force her to leave if she doesn’t want to,” Hermione said firmly.

“I stayed here for her,” Ron said in disbelief, “The only reason I didn’t go with you was so that I could protect her at Hogwarts!”

“You need to be in Hogwarts anyway,” Hermione pointed out, “With Susan staying at Bones Manor we’re going to need you and Daphne to hold the fort at Hogwarts. We’ll protect Ginny, she’s like a sister to Harry and I, and Neville is one of her best friends. She’ll be safe with us Ron, I promise.”

Ron gave a reluctant nod, “Are you all okay?”

“We’re fine,” Hermione replied honestly, “Did Remus and Tonks get away?”

“I never heard anything otherwise,” Ron said, “So I think so.”

“I’ll call them anyway,” Hermione sighed, “What happened after we left?”

“The Death Eaters rounded us all up and asked us about Harry,” Ron replied, “They seemed satisfied that we had no idea where he was going but that was the truth since you refused to tell me what your rendezvous point was.”

“They could have used Legilimency,” Hermione told him, “You were safer if you didn’t know anything.”

“I get it,” Ron said, he was clearly still irritated about Ginny’s actions, “I have to go and tell Mum and Dad that Ginny has gone on the run with you. They’ll go mental.”

Hermione bit her lip, “Sorry,” she admitted sheepishly.

Ron shook his head with a long-suffering look, “Good luck, alright?”

“Thanks Ron,” Hermione said softly, “We’ll be in touch again soon.”

Ron nodded and ended the connection. Hermione sighed and let the mirror drop onto the bed. She glanced over at Draco who was lying in bed next to her. 

“That went better than anticipated,” Draco said simply.

“It still wasn’t great,” Hermione groaned, “Molly and Arthur are going to worry sick about Ginny being here with us. If it had been Ron that would have been one thing, but she’s little girl. Their only little girl.”

Draco frowned slightly, “They’re all talking downstairs...”

Hermione rolled her eyes, “Draco, you know you aren’t supposed to use your wolf-hearing to eavesdrop on people.”

Draco’s eyes narrowed, “But it’s interesting...”

Hermione bit her lip and chewed it for a moment before finally asking, “What are they saying?”

Draco smirked at her, “I thought I wasn’t supposed to eavesdrop?”

“Oh shut up,” Hermione said with a slight smile, “What are they talking about?”

*

“So when everybody is awake we need to get a plan of action in place. We’ll need to work out where we’re going and tell everybody about Remus and Tonks...”

“What is it Harry?”

“The hairs on the back of my neck just stood up really suddenly, like somebody was watching me or...DAMMMIT MALFOY, JUST COME DOWNSTAIRS IF YOU WANT TO BE A PART OF THIS CONVERSATION.”

*

“Ow,” Draco whined, holding onto his ears as the shouting made them throb.

Hermione snorted in amusement as Harry’s shout carried up the stairs.

Draco got up irritably and opened the door, “Damn you Potter!” he shouted down the stairs before kicking the door shut and turning to his perplexed girlfriend, “It hurts when people shout while I’m tuning in on them.”

“Serves you right for being so nosy,” Hermione said smugly as she got to her feet and quickly began to dress.

“Right, and you weren’t?” Draco retorted, pulling on the muggle clothes Hermione had laid out for him. He glanced down at himself with disdain, “Jeans and a chequered shirt, are you trying to make me look like your best friend?”

Hermione rolled her eyes as she slipped a jumper on, “I’m trying to make you look like you fit in. I mean there’s a first time for everything, isn’t there?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Draco asked, sounding vaguely offended as they walked downstairs together.

“You always have the best of everything,” Hermione pointed, “You always looked better than everyone else. We wore woollen jumpers and itchy shirts at school and you walked in around in a bloody suit for crying out loud.”

“The last time I checked, having style wasn’t a crime,” Draco said with a cheeky smirk.

“No, but being an arrogant arse should be,” Hermione said matter of factly as they stepped into the kitchen where Harry, Lilly and Ginny were sipping on coffee and eating cereal.

Draco raised an eyebrow at them, “This isn’t exactly a ‘scraping our way by’ existence, and what the hell are Cheerios?”

“Muggle cereal, they’re really good,” Lilly said, she swallowed her mouthful and added, “Besides we knew we were going on the run so we stole food from our parent’s cupboards all summer. Haven’t you heard of rationing?”

“No,” Draco and Ginny replied at the same time.

Hermione shook her head in amusement, “In the muggle wars they rationed food so people wouldn’t go hungry when the Germans were stopping all of their cargo ships getting in. How did you get so much coffee?”

“Stole Vernon’s stash,” Harry grinned, “Do you want a cup?”

Hermione chuckled, “Sure, and I know he’s a nosy git, but try not to burst my boyfriend’s eardrums in the future please.”

“Sorry,” Harry said sheepishly as he glanced at Draco.

“It really hurt,” Draco said, rubbing his ears irritably.

“Well it’s an easy lesson to learn,” Ginny pointed out, “Don’t be a nosy git in the future.”

“Easier said than done,” Neville’s voice said as he entered the room, “He’s Draco Malfoy, he’s always been a nosy git.”

“And Harry isn’t?” Hermione retorted in amusement.

Harry snorted, “I can’t deny that. But since you’re all here I’ll pass on the good news. I got a call from Remus this morning and him and Tonks are fine. But as far as the world is concerned, Susan is dead.”

“What?” Neville asked sharply.

Lilly stepped in, “Now that You-Know-Who is in charge of the Ministry he’s going to force all pure-bloods and half-bloods to go back to Hogwarts. If Susan didn’t go back they would have tracked her down and Bones Manor wouldn’t be a safe house for us anymore. Remus and Tonks faked her death this morning and everyone believed it, even the prophet. But she’s safe really, she’s just going to spend a long time locked up in the Manor.”

“Well if she had just come with us like she was going to this wouldn’t have been a problem,” Neville said irritably, “But she had to go and screw up our plans at the last minute so she can deal with being locked up in the manor.”

The others decided it was best to gloss over the bitterness, Harry just cleared his throat, “Right, well, the next thing is...well we need to know what to do next.”

“We’re going to have to go to Grimmauld Place at some point,” Hermione said, “Even if it isn’t there now the locket was there and we don’t have anywhere else to start.”

“It won’t be safe anymore,” Harry told her, “Snape ran back to You-Know-Who after he killed Dumbledore. He must have told him about the Orders Headquarters by now. Anyone can get in there, and I officially own the house now so the Death Eaters will be expecting me to go there.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Lilly said, “We know that Dumbledore knew he was dying. He obviously knew that You-Know-Who had given Draco the task to kill him and he probably also knew that Snape would do it if Draco couldn’t. Maybe Snape was on Dumbledore’s side, he might not have told You-Know-Who about the house.”

“It’s a pretty big risk,” Draco pointed out, “We could easily be walking into an ambush.”

“Snape was probably the one who told You-Know-Who when the order were planning to take you away from Privet Drive,” Ginny reminded Harry, “And if he was then he’s clearly on You-Know-Who’s side.”

“Oh for Merlin’s sake!” Neville said, “We can’t spend all of our time wondering what might have happened, or what could happen, or what could be a possibility! If we do this war will last for years! We either have to find a way around going to Grimmauld Place, or take the risk and do it.”

“Neville’s right,” Harry said as everyone stared at the usually placid boy in shock, “And my gut is telling me that Grimmauld Place is okay.”

“Fine,” Hermione said, “But I don’t think we should all go. It’s better if some of us get caught rather than all of us.”

“I’ll go,” Neville said immediately, “I’m dispensable.”

Draco rolled his eyes, “Neville, don’t be a fucking Hufflepuff, you’re not dispensable.”

“Wow Draco, I almost thought you cared for a minute there,” Neville joked, “But in all seriousness, Harry is the most important person to keep alive here. Then Hermione knows about stuff that none of us do so she’s important too. Draco is our only half-werewolf and we kind of need his special skills. So that leaves me, Ginny and Lilly, we’re the dispensable ones.”

“Lilly is my girlfriend,” Harry said firmly, “She is not dispensable and I’m not sending her to Grimmauld Place without me!”

Ginny raised an eyebrow, “Does anyone care about me being called dispensable?”

Draco smirked, “I hate to tell you Weaslette, but you weren’t even supposed to be here...”

Ginny rolled her eyes, “Oh shut up Malfoy, your only use is your wolfiness anyway.”

“And his knowledge of dark magic, and the fact he knows who the Death Eaters are,” Hermione pointed out.

Neville shook his head, “We’ve got to stop arguing and decide. Who’s coming with me to Grimmauld Place?”

“Me,” Harry said, “I’m not sitting in a tent for the whole war while you lot go out and do the dirty work. I’m coming with you, I know the house better than anybody else.”

“I’ll go too,” Hermione said, “I think I’m the only one who remembers exactly what the locket looked like and where it was.”

Harry nodded, “We’ll check it out and if everything looks okay you three can follow.”

Lilly raised an eyebrow, “Fine, but we’ll be having words later about this over-protectiveness you’ve got going on here because I’m not sitting around doing nothing for the whole war either.”

“And I might be a tag along but I am actually useful,” Ginny piped up.

Harry looked at Draco in exasperation, “Do you have any obligations?”

“None at all,” Draco said, leaning against the kitchen counter, “From everything my Mother told me that place sounds creepy as hell. You three have fun.”

“You’re a fantastic boyfriend, Draco,” Hermione said sarcastically, surveying him with amusement.

“I jumped in front of a werewolf for you,” Draco reminded her with a raised eyebrow, “I’m a pretty damn good boyfriend.”

Neville snorted, “If you two are done having a domestic, can we get on with this plan?”

“Jeez Neville,” Harry said under his breath, “This break up with Susan has made you bitter.”

“It might have escaped your notice Harry, but we’re in the middle of a war,” Neville said darkly.

“Trust me, I noticed,” Harry said, turning to his friend with a darkness in his eyes, “But unlike you, I’m not going to mope around about it because the only way I’m going to get through this war is by acting like a normal person. If we let it change us we lose and You-Know-Who wins Neville.”

Draco scoffed, “Please, the war is just his excuse, he’s grumpy he isn’t getting any now since Susan broke his little heart.”

“Fuck you Draco,” Neville said irritably.

“See,” Draco said under his breath as Neville disappeared into the living room, “He needs to get laid. Weaslette, you’re the only singleton here, I think we need to sacrifice you for the sake of Neville’s mental health.”

Ginny rolled her eyes and lazily shot a bat-bogey hex at Draco as she slipped out of the room to check on Neville.

“ARGHH!”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“This is really creepy.”

“It’s always been creepy,” Harry muttered, “Is anyone else here?”

Hermione shook her head, “No, according to my spells the house is empty.”

“How do we know it’s safe?” Neville whispered, “How will we know if Snape betrayed its location?”

“I don’t know,” Harry admitted as he took a step forward, “But if we’re going to find out we have to investigate a little more.”

The gas lamps along the hallway had automatically turned on when they entered the house and they were creating an eerie light around the whole place. He surveyed the hallway area carefully.

“Harry, the umbrella stand,” Hermione whispered, pointing at the ugly troll leg creation. It was lying on its side, “I think someone has been here.”

Harry shook his head, “Tonks knocked it over all of the time. It might just not have been righted since the last time the Order were here,” he took another step forward and the floor didn’t collapse and the roof didn’t cave in. He knew there were jinxes placed on the house to ward Snape off because Arthur had warned him about them. Harry had told the others this before the left for the house, and it had only reaffirmed Harry’s belief that it probably hadn’t been compromised. He took a third step forward and this time something did happen.

“Severus Snape?” A voice whispered from the darkness beyond.

All three of them jumped, and Harry immediately recognised the voice as Moody’s. 

“We’re not Snape!” Harry said as loudly as he dared, but he was frozen in fright and he could feel Hermione trembling beside him. Something cold whooshed over him and he felt his tongue being curled backwards so that he couldn’t speak. It unravelled again seconds later and Hermione said shakily, “That must have been a tongue-tying curse set up for Snape.”

“Do you think there are any others?” Harry asked quietly.

“There’s no way they would protect this place with just one,” Neville said, feeling a little more daring than the others as he took a step forward while Harry and Hermione were frozen in fright. As he did so something moved at the end of the hallway and a figure rose out of the carpet, it seemed to be made of dust. It was clearly some horrible version of Dumbledore with a gaunt, sunken face. Hermione screamed in fright and jumped back so far that her back smacked against the door. Harry and Neville stayed where they were as the curtains around Mrs. Black’s portrait flew open and she began to screech and scream.

The horrific figure stopped in front of Harry and pointed a finger at him. He was more shaken than he wanted to let on as he choked out, “No, I didn’t kill you. It wasn’t me.”

As the word ‘kill’ came out of Harry’s mouth the figure exploded into a pile of dust that had them all coughing and choking for a good few minutes. When they recovered, Harry glanced behind him to where Hermione was still standing against the door, her eyes wide with fear.

“If that was designed to scare Snape, I can see why,” Neville muttered, “That was pretty dark magic.”

Harry nodded numbly as Mrs. Black’s screams continued to echo around the hall, “Mudbloods, filth, half-breeds bringing dishonour on the house of my ancestors-”

“Shut up!” Harry snapped, pointing his wand at the curtains and forcing them to slide shut. Mrs. Black’s screeching stopped and Harry bravely took another few steps into the house. Nothing happened and he managed to reach the foot of the staircase. Neville had walked with him, and Hermione had remained a few steps behind.

“I don’t think Snape’s been here,” Neville said as he glanced around, “Things would be out of place, or he would have put up his own traps.”

“There aren’t any enchantments on the house apart from the ones protecting it,” Hermione said warily, “And there isn’t another human presence in here. I think you’re right Neville, it’s safe.”

Harry nodded and pulled his mirror from his pocket. He connected it with Lilly’s who answered immediately, “Is everything okay?” she asked.

“Fine apart from the creepy enchantments,” Harry admitted, “It’s safe and we don’t think he’s been here. You three can follow, Ginny knows the co-ordinates and she’ll give them to you, she’ll have to side-apparate with one of you though. Just be warned, when you come in there are curses set up to ward Snape off. The first one will tie your tongue but it only lasts for a moment. The second one is pretty creepy, a dust figure of Dumbledore will come towards you and point at you. All you have to do is say you didn’t kill him and it will go away.”

“Right,” Lilly said, “So it’s like a haunted house, huh?”

“Pretty much,” Harry said darkly, “And try not to scream or make too much noise when you come in, Ginny will tell you why.”

“Alright, we’ll be with you shortly,” Lilly said.

“Good luck, and be careful,” Harry said as Lilly ended the communication. 

They waited in the hallway until the others arrived and the enchantments played out again, exactly as they had before. When Dumbledore’s ghost had disintegrated Draco, Lilly and Ginny stepped into the main hallway, only Ginny looked particularly shaken.

“That was horrible,” She said quietly.

“War isn’t nice,” Draco muttered under his breath, “Did you look for the horcrux?”

Hermione shook her head, “No, but I doubt it will be here. You heard what Remus said when we told him about the locket, he said Mundungus pawned everything that he could from this place.”

“We have to at least look,” Harry said, leading the way up the stairs by the heads of all the old house elves. He knew it was a longshot himself and he wasn’t allowing himself to think that the horcrux would be here. That would just be too easy, and things were never that easy in his life. They were silent, because the house creeped them all out but the moment they walked into the drawing room they knew the locket was gone because the cabinets lining the walls were all entirely empty.

“Fucking Fletcher,” Harry hissed under his breath.

“It’s gone,” Hermione said, staring miserably at the cabinets, “It could be anywhere.”

“Won’t anyone know what Mundungus did with it?” Ginny asked hopefully.

Harry shook his head, “Nobody really tried to stop him sneaking things out apart from Sirius and Kreacher-”

“Kreacher!” Hermione exclaimed, “He hated the fact that Mundungus was always stealing things from the house, he kept trying to stop him!”

“Kreacher?” Neville asked with a frown.

“My house elf,” Harry said slowly, “Well my Godfathers old house elf. I suppose I inherited him when I inherited the house.”

“Do you think he’ll know who Mundungus sold the locket to?” Lilly asked hopefully.

“There’s only one way to find out,” Harry admitted, he clicked his fingers and raised his voice, “Kreacher!”

Kreacher appeared before them instantly, looking as miserable as ever. He looked up at Harry and grudgingly said, “Master,” before surveying the others in the room and muttering, “Bringing more mudblood filth into my mistresses home.”

Draco narrowed his eyes at the elf as his eyes found the blonde boy, “Young Master Malfoy,” he said.

“Master Malfoy is now Master Black, and he happens to be my friend, Kreacher,” Harry said coldly, “And the girl you like to call mudblood filth is his girlfriend so I think he’ll agree when I order you to never say that word and to never insult any of my friends again.”

Kreacher didn’t look happy about it, but Harry didn’t care. The elf had betrayed them and Sirius, he was the reason that Sirius was dead. 

“I have a question for you,” Harry stated.

“Yes, Master,” Kreacher said.

“We found a big gold locket in the drawing room two years ago. We threw it out, did you steal it back?” Harry asked grimly.

“Yes,” Kreacher replied.

“Where is it now?” Harry asked, he wasn’t hopeful that it was still in the house.

“Gone,” Kreacher said, closing his eyes as he spoke.

“Where has it gone exactly?” Harry asked the elf.

The elf looked like answering the question hurt him. He shivered and swayed slightly on the spot, “Mundungus Fletcher stole it all. Miss Bella and Miss Cissy’s pictures, my mistresses gloves, the Order of Merlin, First Class, the goblets with the family crest and,” he stopped and gulped with his eyes still shut tightly. When he opened them he screamed, “And the locket, Master Regulus’s locket, Kreacher did wrong, Kreacher failed in his orders!”

Kreacher lunged for the poker in the grate of the fireplace, to hit himself with it and punish himself as Dobby had done. With a flick of his wand Harry pushed the poker out of his reach and loudly said, “I order you to stay still Kreacher!”

Kreacher froze and tears began to gush from his eyes, but he could not move. Harry surveyed the elf, feeling pity for him for the first time ever, “Kreacher, how do you know that Mundungus stole it? Did you see him?”

Kreacher managed to nod, “Kreacher saw him coming out of Kreacher’s cupboard with his hands full of Kreacher’s treasures, Kreacher told him to stop but he laughed and ran...”

“Why did you call it Master Regulus’s locket?” Harry asked calmly, he had to confirm that their suspicions were right, “Did he bring it back from a cave? Did he steal it from You-Know-Who?”

Kreacher quivered and nodded, “Master Regulus was a good boy, not like Master Sirius. He knew about the dignity of his blood and when he was sixteen years old he joined the Dark Lord.”

Draco swallowed hard, 16, the same age that he had been. Hermione noticed his discomfort from where she was sitting next to him on one of the moth eaten sofas. She reached across and took his hand as Kreacher continued with his tale.

“One day a year after he had joined, Master Regulus said...said the Dark Lord required an elf,” Kreacher said quietly.

“He needed an elf?” Harry asked in surprise.

Draco shook his head slightly, “Elves have magic that we can’t dream of. He might well have needed an elf.”

Harry frowned and glanced back to Kreacher, “Why did he need an elf, Kreacher?”

“Master Regulus volunteered Kreacher. He said it was an honour for him and for Kreacher. He said to do whatever the Dark Lord ordered and then...and then to come home. Kreacher went to the Dark Lord and he did not tell Kreacher what they were to do but he took Kreacher to a cave beside the sea.”

Harry’s eyes widened, a cave beside the sea. Kreacher went on about the cavern inside and the great black lake. It was the same cave that he and Dumbledore had found the fake horcrux in, he knew it. Kreacher told them about the boat and it dawned on Harry why Voldemort had needed an elf, he had used Kreacher to test the defences around the horcrux.

“The Dark Lord made...made Kreacher drink from the basin and as Kreacher drank he saw terrible things...Kreacher’s insides burned...Kreacher cried for Master Regulus to save him, he cried for his Mistress Black, but the Dark Lord only laughed,” Kreacher’s shaking had gotten worse, he was sobbing now and taking shaky breaths between sentences.

Harry felt sick at the thought of what Voldemort had done, despite his dislike of the elf. Kreacher continued, he said that he had crawled to the edge of the lake for water and he spoke of how he was dragged under the water by the hands of the dead. 

“How did you get away?” Ginny asked, she was a little tearful.

“Master Regulus told Kreacher to come back,” Kreacher said simply.

“I know,” Harry said with a frown, “But how did you escape from the Inferi?”

“Master Regulus told Kreacher to come back,” Kreacher said again.

“He disapparated,” Draco cut in.

“You couldn’t just apparate into that cave,” Harry said incredulously, “Otherwise Dumbledore would have done!”

Neville shook his head, “Draco’s right, elves have a whole different sort of magic. They could apparate into places that wizards couldn’t.”

Draco nodded, “Our old house elf, Dobby, he used to apparate into the cellar at Malfoy Manor. My Father sometimes locked me in there to punish me and there were anti-apparation and magic wards on it. I never knew why then, but I expect they used it as a place to put prisoners in the first war. Dobby could apparate in anyway, he brought me food when I was in there for days at a time.”

Harry frowned at the harsh treatment Draco had been subjected to as a child, “How could You-Know-Who make such a stupid mistake?”

Hermione’s eyes had darkened, “Because he’s ignorant. He would have considered the ways of house-elves beneath him, just like the pure-bloods treat them like animals. He probably didn’t even think about the possibility that they had magic that he didn’t.”

“Why did you say you disobeyed your master’s orders, Kreacher?” Draco asked curiously, “If you brought the locket back, you did as you were told.”

Kreacher shook his head and Harry frowned, “What did Regulus say when you got back?”

“Master Regulus was worried, very worried. He told Kreacher to stay hidden and not to leave the house...” Kreacher began, he spoke of how Regulus was disturbed in the mind one night. He said that Regulus had asked Kreacher to take him to the cave. They had gone back to the cave and Regulus had told Kreacher to switch the lockets when the basin was empty. 

Draco’s face had paled, and Hermione’s grip on his hand had tightened. Harry was still frowning, he hadn’t worked out the same thing that they had yet. Kreacher began to sob harder than ever as he told them that Regulus had ordered Kreacher to leave without him. Kreacher said that he had ordered him to go home and to never tell his mistress what Regulus had done. He said to destroy the locket and Harry’s eyes widened in horror as Kreacher told them that Regulus had then drunk all of the potion and had been dragged beneath the water.

Hermione’s eyes burned with tears that she wiped away with frustration. She wanted to tell the elf how sorry she was, but she knew that he wouldn’t appreciate such a motion. Draco’s face was paler than ever, and Harry was staring at Kreacher in shock.

“Did you destroy the locket when you got back?” Neville asked weakly, the tale had shocked and stunned them all.

“Nothing Kreacher did made any mark upon it,” Kreacher said helplessly, “Kreacher tried everything he knows but nothing would work. Kreacher failed to obey orders, Kreacher could not destroy the locket! And his mistress was mad with grief because Master Regulus had disappeared and Kreacher could not tell her what happened!”

The elf’s sobbing was now so hard that his words were no longer coherent. Hermione wiped her tears away again and pushed herself to her feet, “See? Do you see how sick it is that they have to obey at all costs? They have to be in so much pain, they have to lie to those they love! It’s sick and it’s slavery, it’s bloody slavery!”

Draco got to his feet and grabbed her wrists. He took a step towards her and said softly, “It is sick, and it is slavery but you can’t change the world Hermione. I know you want to, but you can’t change it, especially not right now,” he let go of her wrists and pulled her into her arms where she cried tears of frustration.

Harry caught Draco’s eye and gave him a small nod. He sighed and said to Kreacher, “I don’t understand you Kreacher. You-Know-Who tried to kill you and he was the reason that Regulus died. But you still betrayed Sirius to him? You still went to Narcissa and Bellatrix and passed them information!”

“He doesn’t think like that,” Draco said quietly as his thumb gently caressed a spot on Hermione’s shoulder, “Hermione’s right, he’s a slave. He’s used to bad treatment, what You-Know-Who did to him isn’t far off how some people treat their house-elves every day. He’s loyal to those who treated him kindly, and my Mother and Aunt were never anything but nice to him. He didn’t betray your Godfather out of spite or loyalty to You-Know-Who, he probably didn’t even realise how important the information he was giving him was.”

“But Sirius-”

“Sirius was horrible to Kreacher,” Hermione mumbled as she pulled herself away from Draco’s grasp, “Draco is right, they are loyal to those who are kind to them.”

“You mocked Hermione in 4th year with her house-elf campaign,” Neville said quietly, “Everyone did, but her entire argument was right. She always said wizards would eventually pay for the way they treat their house-elves.”

“You-Know-Who did,” Hermione said quietly, “And so did Sirius.”

Harry swallowed an angry retort. He visualised Sirius as perfect because he had come into his life at a time when he had needed a father figure more than anything else, but he knew that the man had been flawed in many ways. He sighed and glanced at Kreacher, he was a pathetic mess on the floor and Harry felt guilty as he realised that he was treating Kreacher as cruelly as Sirius often had.

“Kreacher,” Harry said, raising his voice so the elf would hear him over his sobs, “Please sit up when you...feel up to it.”

Kreacher eventually pushed himself up and uncurled from the ball he had curled into. Harry bit his lip, “Kreacher I need you to do something for me. I want you to go and find Mundungus Fletcher. We need to know where Master Regulus’s locket is, it’s really important. We want to finish the work that he started, we want to make sure he didn’t die in vain.”

Kreacher looked up at Harry, “Find Mundungus Fletcher?”

“And bring him here,” Harry said with a nod, “It’s an order alright? But you don’t have to do it until you feel a bit better.”

Kreacher bowed his head, and Harry frowned slightly as a thought struck him. He pulled the old locket from his pocket, the fake, “And I’d like you to have this. It belonged to Regulus and I think he would want you to have it, as a token of gratitude-”

Draco grimaced as the elf looked at the locket and howled loudly. So loudly that the portrait of Mrs. Black began to screech downstairs. It took a good while for Kreacher to calm down enough to go back to his cupboard where he curled up with the locket around his neck. Before he left to embark on the task Harry had set him Kreacher had even managed to bow in their general direction as a mark of respect.

TBC :)


	39. The Missing Locket

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” Draco lied without looking up from the book he was reading about dark arts.

Hermione sighed and sat down across from him on a bench in the kitchen, “Draco, don’t lie to me. I know when something is wrong, I know that something about Regulus’s story hurt you.”

Draco cleared his throat and stared resolutely at the book, “There were just a few too many similarities.”

Hermione reached across the table and shut the book he was reading, forcing him to look up at her, “It scared you,” she said.

“He was 16,” Draco said quietly, “16 when he joined and 17 when he died. He switched sides, he betrayed You-Know-Who and look what happened to him! He ended up dead in a lake full of Inferi! What the hell do you think is going to happen for me if we lose this war?”

“We aren’t losing,” Hermione said, determination burning in her eyes, “And don’t you think you’ve had your bad luck? Regulus died, you were mauled by a werewolf and barely escaped with your life. Yes Regulus died when he was 17, but that doesn’t mean that you will.”

“Why?” Draco asked, a coldness slipping into his voice, “What makes me any different from him, Hermione? What do I have that he didn’t?”

“You have me,” Hermione said, frowning at him, “And I thought that stood for something, Draco.”

“It’s not going to stop me getting killed,” Draco said, meeting her eyes for the first time, “Being with you makes me as happy as I can be in this situation Hermione, but it’s not going to save me from Regulus’s fate.”

“If you don’t believe that I can protect you then believe in Harry,” Hermione said, “I know you two are friends now, as much as you like to pretend you aren’t. You know what he’s capable of, he will protect you Draco.”

Draco sighed and glanced down at the book Hermione had forced shut, “I know he will, as much as I hate to admit that. But it’s not just about me Hermione, it’s about all of us. I don’t want anyone to die to protect me.”

“Nobody is going to die Draco,” Hermione said softly.

“You can’t know that,” Draco said darkly, “This is a war Hermione. People will get hurt, and people will die. The Death Eaters had so much power before they took control of the Ministry, Merlin knows how bad it is now. For the first time in my life I have friends and I have...” he trailed off and looked at her for a moment as if she was an exquisite work of art.

Hermione frowned and glanced down, feeling uncomfortable under the intensity of his gaze. Her cheeks burned red, and Draco said quietly, “I have you, and I love you so much. I love you more than I ever thought I could love someone.”

Hermione smiled slightly at his words, “I love you just as much, I hate the thought of losing you. Those hours when we thought you were going to die after your attack were the worst of my life. We weren’t sure if you would have the strength to the last until the full moon, Pomfrey was saying things like, 50/50 chance, and ‘it’s a drastic situation’. I have never been so afraid.”

Draco swallowed, she had reached across and taken his hand as she spoke. He tightened his grip and looked at her with tears burning in his eyes, “I don’t want to lose you, I don’t want to lose anyone. For the first time I belong somewhere, and I’m terrified the war is going to take that away.”

Hermione shook her head and said defiantly, “We are going to win this war, and we are all going to survive it. We’ll have a big party and we’ll all be together again.”

“You didn’t say you promised,” Draco said quietly, “You were going to end that sentence with ‘I promise’, and you didn’t because you know you can’t promise that.”

“You’re right, I can’t,” Hermione said, “But I can hope and I can fight. The people who win are the people who have the most to lose, the people who have the most to fight for.”

Draco nodded slightly and swallowed the lump that was rising in his throat, “You’re right. I shouldn’t sit around and mope about it, it’s pathetic.”

“It’s natural,” Hermione corrected, reaching across and wiping a stray tear that had somehow escaped, “And it means you care, Draco.”

“Caring is over-rated,” Draco muttered, “And so is being an emotional bloody werewolf.”

“Half-werewolf,” Hermione said with an easy smile, “And you really can’t use that excuse, there’s still a couple of weeks until the full moon.”

“Yeah well, don’t give my secret away,” Draco half-joked, but Hermione could hear in his voice that he was serious.

She smiled at him fondly, “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone that you care, and I especially won’t tell Harry.”

Draco rolled his eyes, “The gloating would last for years.”

Hermione’s smile turned into a grin, “Although on second thought if you start to really irritate me I might use that against you.”

Draco raised an eyebrow at her and leant across the table, “Are you blackmailing me, Granger?”

Hermione smirked, “I did learn from the best, Malfoy,” she said as she closed the gap between their lips and kissed him. It was such a welcome slice of normality amongst everything else that was going on, and they were alone for once too. He leant into the kiss, deepening it as his hands went to the back of her neck, to pull her closer. She moaned into the kiss when his other hand trailed lazily down the side of her face, resting on the sensitive spot on her neck.

“Maybe we should move this blackmailing to the bedroom,” Draco whispered against her lips.

He felt her smirk, and he grinned. When he looked up and caught her hazel eyes he saw mischief sparkling there, “Maybe we should,” she agreed.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“How long do you think he’ll be gone?” Harry asked Draco that afternoon.

“A while,” Draco replied honestly, “Fletcher’s a crook, he could be anywhere.”

“He’ll know how to hide from the law,” Neville agreed, “It would take anyone a while to find him, even a house-elf.”

“How long is a while exactly?” Harry asked irritably.

“Weeks, maybe a month,” Draco replied.

Harry was about to groan in frustration when Hermione, Lilly and Ginny walked into the drawing room looking pale. 

“What is it?” Harry asked anxiously.

“Somebody has definitely been here,” Lilly said, “When we went upstairs to assess the state of things we realised that every room had been searched.”

“Every room?” Harry asked in disbelief.

Hermione nodded, “The beds had been slashed, the cupboards were empty.”

“There are papers and photographs lying all over the floor in Sirius and Regulus’s rooms,” Ginny added.

“It must have been Snape,” Hermione said, “Nobody else would have searched the house.”

“But why would Snape come here and not put up any wards against us?” Harry frowned, “That makes no sense!”

“Unless Lilly is right,” Draco said, “And he’s on our side.”

Harry scoffed, “Snape, on our side? He killed Dumbledore!”

“Who knew he was dying,” Neville said with a frown, “We can’t rule out the possibility that he is on our side Harry.”

“I just don’t know what he could have been looking for,” Hermione admitted.

“Information on the order?” Ginny suggested.

Harry shook his head, “Why would he need that? He was in the order, he already knew plenty. What else could have he wanted?”

“Whatever he was looking for was in Sirius’s room,” Ginny said, “It was wrecked.”

“Do you think he found it? Whatever it was?” Neville asked.

“I don’t know,” Lilly said, stepping closer to Harry, “But I did find this amongst all of the papers on the floor. I searched everywhere for the final page but it was missing.”

Harry frowned and glanced down at the piece of parchment she had handed him. It was a letter to Sirius from his Mother, it couldn’t have been written long before their deaths. He smiled tearfully as he read her words. The letter cut off with the words;

“Bathilda drops in most days, she’s a fascinating old thing with the most amazing stories about Dumbledore, I’m not sure he’d be pleased if I knew! I don’t know how much to believe actually, because it seems incredibly that Dumbledore - ”

“He could have been looking for information on Dumbledore judging by this,” Harry said with a frown, “I wonder what stories she heard...and who do you reckon Bathilda is?”

“Bathilda?” Hermione frowned, “Bathilda Bagshot?”

“Who?” Harry asked.

“The author of “Hogwarts: A History”!” Lilly and Hermione echoed.

Harry rolled his eyes at his girlfriend, “Great, another advocate of that bloody book. Let me guess, you also know that you can’t apparate within the grounds of Hogwarts Lil?”

“That’s not the only thing that book taught me,” Hermione said irritably.

“I think my parents knew her,” Harry said, “Is she still alive?”

“I think so,” Ginny frowned, “My Great Aunt Muriel talks about her sometimes. But I don’t see how that’s going to help us find horcruxes?”

“I just want to know what Dumbledore was hiding,” Harry admitted, “There’s something not right with him, don’t you think? Like his whole life was a lie?”

“Maybe,” Hermione said with a sympathetic smile, “But we’ve got to focus. We have no idea where the locket is, and even less of an idea where Helga’s cup is. Then there’s the snake...”

“I know,” Harry said, folding the letter up carefully and slipping it into his pocket. He cleared his throat and sat down heavily, “If we’re going to have a long wait for Kreacher we should probably get researching.”

Hermione nodded and began to pull books out of her tiny bag. The others had the feeling it was going to be a long day, or worse yet, a long week.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The days passed and blurred into each other. They researched, they read, and they waited. They had fixed the house up enough to live in it and they had chosen bedrooms because they had no idea how long they were planning to stay there for. They got into a routine, the three girls cooked a meal from their rationed food supplies and the three boys did the washing up and schemed in whispers afterwards. 

It had almost been a week since Kreacher left, when Ginny walked into the kitchen one night and jumped out of her skin when she saw Neville sitting there nursing a cup of coffee and staring into the distance. 

“You scared me,” Ginny said a little breathlessly as she poured herself a glass of water and sat down across from him, pulling her housecoat closer to her as she shivered in the draughty kitchen.

“Sorry,” Neville said, rubbing his eyes, “I couldn’t sleep.”

“Are you alright?” Ginny asked him quietly, “You haven’t been yourself lately and I don’t know if it’s because of Susan or if all of this really is just getting to you.”

Neville shrugged, "It’s a combination of things I guess. Everyone else is happy...look at the love between Draco and Hermione, it’s so powerful that anyone standing near them can feel it, and Harry is completely devoted to Lilly. It’s lonely...being in the middle of this without that.”

“Yeah,” Ginny said with a pointed look at him, “I know. Imagine being on the run in the middle of a war with the guy you had a crush on for years and his girlfriend. That’s lonely and awkward.”

Despite himself Neville chuckled, “I’m sorry, I forgot about your childhood obsession with Harry,” he teased.

“I wish I could,” Ginny said with a shake of her head, “It’s embarrassing.”

Neville smiled slightly, “But you’re over it now.”

“I am,” Ginny said honestly, “I eventually realised that I would always be Ron’s little sister to him, but it’s still pretty awkward. At least Susan isn’t here with us, that would make things a lot harder. It’s bad enough, Harry being protective over Lilly all of the time.”

Neville nodded at that, “That is getting on my nerves,” he admitted, “And honestly Ginny, the reason for my sleeplessness is probably more the war than Susan. I mean with Susan...it was my first real relationship and she...well she probably broke my heart.”

Ginny reached across the table and put her hand on his, “I’ve had my heart broken a ton of times. I’d say Michael Corner probably broke it first, and then there was Dean...”

“He really loved you,” Neville said as he looked down at the table, “He was always talking about you.”

“Why do you sound so unhappy about that?” Ginny asked, “I thought you two were friends.”

“We are,” Neville said, “I just...it got annoying I guess.”

Ginny frowned slightly, like she didn’t quite believe him, but she didn’t push the issue, “Well it just didn’t work out, as much as I wanted it to. I think maybe I was still holding out some stupid hope for Harry and I...but Merlin knows that’s over. The point is Neville, people break our hearts so that new people can fix them.”

“That’s very poetic of you,” Neville said with a raised eyebrow.

Ginny shrugged, “Don’t give my secret away, but I do have a soft spot for romantic literature. What’s keeping you up though, if it isn’t Susan?”

“Nightmares,” Neville said honestly, “About my parents.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Ginny said sheepishly, she knew that he hated to talk about his parents.  
Neville shook his head, “It’s okay I just get scared sometimes...scared that I’ll be like them, that the war will make me crack,” he wiped away the stray tears that had fallen from his eyes in frustration, “The cruciatus curse terrifies me,” he said in a broken whisper.

“Neville,” Ginny said, reaching across the table properly and clutching both of his hands in hers, “You are the bravest, strongest person I know. You could withstand anything.”

Neville smiled at her, a little tearfully, “Do you mean that?”

“I completely mean that,” Ginny said firmly, a fire blazing in her eyes.

That fire did something to Neville, it gave him a little bit more courage. The courage to do something he had wanted to do long before Susan had become a part of his life. He reached across the table and gently pressed his lips against Ginny’s. The moment he had done it he wished that he hadn’t. She was one of his closest friends, probably his best friend in fact, or at the very least up there with Draco. 

They had been friends for so long, and Neville had probably had an on/off crush on her since he was 14. It had always felt wrong though, forbidden in fact. In part it was because she was a year younger, but then there was also the fact that she was Ron’s little sister and oh Merlin, was Ron crazily protective her.

Ginny had frozen in surprise too, but after a brief second she kissed him back. It wasn’t a real kiss, it was far too tentative for that. It was soft, slow and cautious, because there was the sense for both of them that this felt a little bit wrong. The same sort of feeling there would have been between Harry and Hermione, Neville imagined because he and Ginny had a very similar relationship.

Despite the fact it was brief, and a little wet, and very tentative, there was this strange crackle of magic surrounding him. Neville couldn’t hear it, but he could feel it and he wondered if Ginny could too. It surrounded them, like some sort of protective barrier and it was one of the strangest, but most comforting things Neville had ever felt.

Ginny ended the kiss far too quickly, and she bit down on her lip when she looked at Neville, “You are upset, and you’ve barely had any sleep. We’ll put it down to that, alright?”

He took it as rejection, “Yeah,” he said, “It was stupid of me...I was just upset and the nightmares.”

“It’s alright Neville,” Ginny said softly, “I understand.”

She got to her feet and kissed him on the cheek, “Try and get some sleep?”

Neville nodded numbly, “Goodnight Ginny.”

“Night Nev,” Ginny replied with a sad sort of smile. She left in a flurry after that, and they never mentioned the kiss again.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“How are things on the run?”

Harry smiled at his God/Wolf-father, “Better than you’d expect. We’re actually in Grimmauld Place right now.”

“And it’s Severus free I imagine?” Remus asked through the mirror.

“He had been here,” Harry admitted, “The rooms had all been searched, although we have no idea what he was looking for. I found a letter from my Mum to Sirius, the last page had some information about Dumbledore on it and it was missing.”

Remus frowned, “I don’t know what Severus would want with information on Dumbledore. But as long as you are certain he didn’t put any wards on the house I assume you should be safe there.”

“We have been all week,” Harry said, “The others are starting to wonder if Snape is on our side. I don’t buy it, I don’t know why he hasn’t told You-Know-Who about this place but I don’t think he’s on our side.”

“I don’t know,” Remus admitted, “I could make many guesses about Severus’s loyalties but they really would be guesses.”

Harry nodded, “How are things on your end? We haven’t been able to get the prophet, we have no idea about what’s going on in the outside world. I’ve been avoiding using the mirror to talk to Ron just in case.”

“A wise choice,” Remus said as Tonks slipped into view.

“The Burrow is being watched,” She said, her hair was no longer pink but now a mousy brown. 

“After the wedding they interrogated everyone into the night,” Remus said, “And they have people stationed everywhere that they think you might go.”

“There have been a couple of Death Eaters outside all week,” Harry said, “We noticed they were there but we haven’t been leaving the house. I don’t think they can know that we’re in here or Snape would have let them in.”

Remus nodded, “You are safe there, as long as the food you have lasts that is. Then you will need to find somewhere else to go.”

“We have at least 2 months’ worth of food,” Harry assured Remus, “I don’t think we’ll need any longer than that. We already have Kreacher following a lead for us. We were right about Regulus. I just wish Sirius could have known what he died for, he and Regulus must have been close once.”

“They were,” Tonks said, “When they were kids they were inseparable.”

“Even at Hogwarts Sirius was always trying to protect Regulus from the life he chose,” Remus said sadly, “I think he would have been proud, if he knew how Regulus died.”

Harry sighed, “Is there any other news on your end?”

“The Ministry is in disarray,” Tonks admitted, “Scrimgeour is dead and Pius Thicknesse is the new Minister for Magic. We have no idea if he’s a Death Eater or just severely imperius-ed, but either way he’s You-Know-Who’s puppet.”

“The Death Eaters forced their way into every Order related house in the country,” Remus added, “But there were no deaths, don’t worry.”

“What about Bones Manor?” Harry asked anxiously.

Tonks shook her head, “Amelia wasn’t an Order member, and although Susan’s parents were they died a long time ago. They obviously didn’t deem it to be important enough.”

“But You-Know-Who and the Death Eaters have got the full might of the Ministry on their side now,” Remus said darkly, “They do not have to fear arrest or retribution. They have essentially been given free run of the country and...they are asking people where you are and lying about why.”

Harry frowned, “What do you mean?”

“They are saying you’re wanted for questioning about the death of Dumbledore,” Remus said, grimacing as he expected Harry’s anger.

Harry scoffed angrily, “Of course they are, I was there that night and they know that. Trust them to jump on the first thing they can to make me look bad. Does that mean they’re in charge of the prophet too? I’m assuming that’s where you found this out?”

Tonks nodded, “They’re up high in every part of the Ministry, and in the Prophet. The only place they haven’t penetrated yet is Hogwarts. But people have worked out what’s happening, the Ministry policy has changed drastically.”

“What do you mean?” Harry frowned.

Remus looked sheepish, “Are Hermione and Lilly around?”

Harry nodded, “They’re downstairs making dinner. I’ll head down now.”

Remus looked sombre and that worried Harry. He jogged down the stairs and skidded into the kitchen, coming to a halt by the surface where Hermione, Lilly and Ginny were preparing food. Neville and Draco were pouring over an old book at the table.

“What’s wrong?” Hermione asked instantly.

“Remus wants to talk to us about the Ministry,” Harry said, “Scrimgeour is dead, the new Minister is Pius Thicknesse, he’s You-Know-Who’s puppet.”

“The policy has changed drastically,” Remus said again, “In several ways. You-Know-Who is making Harry look like the bad guy here. He’s implying Harry had something to do with Dumbledore’s death, he is trying to turn the wizarding world against him.”

Hermione scoffed, “Like that will work! He’s their golden boy, the boy-who-lived.”

“The boy they all turned against easily enough when he dared to say that You-Know-Who was back,” Harry muttered bitterly.

“That’s not all there is though,” Tonks said warily, “They have started to move against muggle-borns. They’ve introduced a muggle-born register. They claim it’s a survey so they can understand muggle-borns better. They’re saying that magic is passed from person to person through reproduction, their argument is that muggle-borns must have stolen their magical power by theft or force.”

“What?” Draco hissed.

“It’s ridiculous Draco, I agree,” Remus said, recognising the boy’s voice instantly, “But this is their line of argument. It was in the prophet, they invited all muggle-borns to present themselves for interview by the muggle-born registration commission.”

“You can’t steal magic, this is ridiculous!” Neville exclaimed, “Muggle-borns are born with it, just like we are!”

“I know,” Remus said calmly, “This isn’t my view Neville, it’s what the Ministry are saying. These interviews don’t seem very optional to me, be grateful you are on the run and if you ever have to go into a dangerous situation try not to take Hermione and Lilly. I know you all want to do your bit, but unfortunately you two are the most at risk because of this new legislation.”

Hermione shook her head angrily, “How does this affect Hogwarts?” she asked.

“It’s now compulsory to attend,” Remus said, “Of course most witches and wizards in Britain have been educated there, but parents were allowed to home-school their children before. I expect it’s another way to weed out muggle-borns because students must prove that they are of wizarding descent before they can attend.”

“They aren’t letting muggle-borns go back?” Lilly asked, a cold anger running through her veins.

Hermione’s face had flushed with anger too, “Those poor Muggle-borns who will never get a chance to go to the school they deserve to be at! How dare they do this? How are they getting away with this?”

“Because they own the wizarding world now,” Tonks said darkly, “This isn’t a game Hermione, this is a real war and You-Know-Who has far more manpower and resources than we do.”

“But he doesn’t have Harry Potter,” Neville said firmly, “And we do.”

Harry’s face flushed, “I’m not that bloody special Neville,” he said, he was just as angry about what the Ministry had planned for Hogwarts as the others.

Remus smiled slightly, “Neville is right Harry, whether you realise it or not, you are an exceptional wizard.”

Harry shook his head, “Is that all of the news you have?”

Remus nodded, “What news do you have, Harry? I know you can’t say too much, just in case but you said Kreacher was following a lead?”

“Mundungus might know where it is,” Harry said cryptically, “He was the last person to see it so Kreacher is hunting him down but we don’t know how long it will take. We’re trying to find out where on earth the other one could be while we wait but we’ve had no luck.”

“Neither has Susan,” Tonks said, “And she’s been spending every day locked up in that library looking.”

“We’ll call if she finds anything,” Remus promised.

“And I promise to keep you both updated,” Harry said, “Just keep yourselves safe.”

“Same to all of you,” Remus said seriously, and Tonks nodded sombrely as the connection was cut.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It hadn’t been long since their call with Remus and Tonks when they were distracted once more. They had been talking about the Ministry and about the new reforms for Hogwarts. They had been agreeing that it was sick and that this war had to come to an end quickly before any permanent damage could be done. They had eaten their evening meal and were sitting in the drawing room when a loud crack echoed around the room and a surreal scene unfolded in front of them.

Kreacher disentangled himself from Mundungus and scrambled to his feet in front of Harry, “Kreacher has returned with Mundungus Fletcher, Master.”

Harry raised an eyebrow at Mundungus, “I can see that, good job Kreacher,” he said as Mundungus pushed himself to his feet. He reached for his wand but Draco instantly disarmed him, and Hermione smirked as she saw him nursing a bloody nose.

There was some muffled shouting on Mundungus’s part about why they had set the bloody house elf on him. He had tried to run from the room but with a flick of his wand Neville had bound him against the wall so that he could not go anywhere. He was a disgusting mess, stinking of alcohol and cigarettes with a stain that looked like sick on his old, ratty coat. 

Harry crossed the room and stared at him, “We have some questions for you,” he said, delighting in the fact that Mundungus looked terrified.

“I didn’t mean for Moody to die alright, I panicked and-”

“This isn’t about the fact your cowardice killed Moody,” Harry said darkly, “But I’m sure that will haunt you.”

“If you have any morals,” Hermione said as she glared at the man, “Which I doubt you do.”

“And Moody was 10 times the man you are,” Ginny said coldly, “You’re a worthless piece of filth, Fletcher.”

Mundungus frowned and looked from Harry, Hermione and Ginny to those he didn’t know, and then finally to Draco who he was clearly surprised to see with them.

Harry crossed his arms and stared him down, “Shut up your rambling and listen. When you were cleaning this house out of anything valuable you could find, you took a locket-”

A shriek came from behind them and before anyone had any idea what was going on Kreacher had taken a run at Mundungus and battered him in the nether regions with a frying pan. They struggled to contain their amusement at his pain, even those who didn’t know him could see that he was complete scum. Mundungus swore loudly and his eyes watered with the pain, but Harry continued to speak regardless.

“You took a locket and you pawned it. It was a big gold thing, it came from Kreacher’s room,” Harry said, “Kreacher no!” he added as Kreacher raised the pan again.

Kreacher lowered the pan and looked at Harry with mischief shining in his eyes, “Perhaps once more Master Harry, for luck?”

They all laughed at the elf’s eagerness and Harry in particular began to warm to him, “We need him conscious Kreacher, but if he starts bothering us you can do the honours.”

“Thank you Master Harry,” Kreacher said, a hint of malice in his voice, but Harry didn’t blame him. Mundungus had taken everything of value to him and pawned it, Harry would have been pissed too if he had been in Kreacher’s position.

He turned back to Mundungus, “What did you do with that locket Mundungus?”

“Why?” Mundungus asked curiously, “Is it valuable?”

Neville scoffed in disbelief, “You’re seriously worried about whether you got the right amount of money for it? We’ve got you up against the wall, literally and there’s a manic house-elf baying for your blood here. What the hell did you do with that locket?”

Mundungus swallowed and said, “Well I didn’t get enough for it, bleeding gave the thing away, didn’t I?”

“What do you mean?” Ginny asked with narrowed eyes.

“I was selling in Diagon Alley and some Ministry bitch shows up asking if I’ve got a license for trading in magical artefacts. Said she was gonna fine me but she liked the locket and said I could go if she had it,” Mundungus said quickly, Neville seemed to have spooked him.

“Some Ministry bitch?” Draco said, “Can’t you be more specific than that?”

Mundungus snorted, “Some hag of a woman.”

Ginny raised her wand, “Unless you want bats flying out of your every orifice I’d start thinking about getting specific,” she said firmly.

Mundungus swallowed again and said, “I dunno alright! I dunno her name! She was a little woman with a stupid bow on her head. Ugly as sin she was, she looked like a bleeding toad.”

Harry dropped his wand in disbelief, Draco paled significantly and Hermione’s mouth fell open. 

Neville sat down heavily in a chair by the kitchen table, “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“What?” Lilly asked with a frown, “Who looks like a toad and works at the Ministry?”

Ginny shook her head angrily, her eyes automatically going to the scars on the back of Harry’s right hand which were tingling at the very thought of the sadistic cat-obsessed bitch.

Ginny voiced what they were all thinking, well all of them apart from Lilly. She balled her hand up into a fist in frustration and spat out, “Umbridge has the locket.”

“Never mind that,” Hermione said, “You know what this means, don’t you?”

Lilly nodded slowly, “It means we’ll have to break into the Ministry to get it.”

“The Ministry,” Ginny repeated, sitting down heavily, “One of the most heavily fortified places in wizarding Britain...”

“...and it’s completely run by You-Know-Who,” Harry said in disbelief, “How the hell are we going to infiltrate it for long enough to get the locket from the old toad?”

Neville shook his head slowly, “I have absolutely no idea.”

“I don’t think that we can,” Draco said darkly, “I mean it would be like breaking into Gringotts. It’s impossible unless you’re a goblin. How do we break into the Ministry without a Death Eater?”

Ginny gave him a pointed look, and Draco said, “I’m not a Death Eater Weaslette,” he pulled his sleeve up and showed her the shiny patch of skin where his mark had been, “As soon as my blood was contaminated with werewolf blood I lost the mark. I’m no use to you here.”

Harry sighed and glanced to Hermione who shook her head apologetically because she didn’t have any genius plan either. He began to pace the room slowly as he wracked his brain for any plans, “I have no idea how we’re going to get inside,” he admitted, “But I do know that we need to gather information. Do you have any idea what a stake-out is?”

Draco frowned, “What?”

“We watch the Ministry constantly,” Harry said, determination burning in his deep green eyes, “Two people are always at the Ministry at any given point. We look for vulnerabilities, weaknesses in the entrance system, people we could impersonate who are dispensable enough to be missed. We watch that place like hawks until we know enough to put a plan in place.”

Harry looked around at his friends who were nodding, determination burning in their own eyes. They might not have a plan yet, but they had a job and that was more than they had done since the Ministry had fallen over a week ago.

TBC :)


	40. We Are in This Together

At first everybody was grateful to have a job to do. They couldn’t contact Ron and Daphne until they were back at Hogwarts where it would be harder for the Death Eaters to watch them so they were entirely on their own with minimal contact from Bones Manor since a couple of Death Eaters had appeared outside it a few days after Harry’s chat with Remus and Tonks. They went out in pairs, and they were careful to make sure they didn’t send a couple out whenever they could avoid it because it was too risky. They watched the Ministry all day and all night, they took notes and they switched over every 4 or 5 hours. At first they were eager because they were actively involved in this war in some small manner. But after a week and a half their eagerness was wearing off, especially with the full moon approaching.

“He’s doing my head in,” Harry muttered one evening, “It’s like having a moody teenage girl living with us.”

“He’s only gone through a few full moons,” Hermione said in a whisper, “Cut him some slack.”

“Remus did say that the symptoms would ease over time,” Lilly said calmly.

“And you really can’t insult Draco for moping around snapping at everyone,” Hermione pointed out, “You spent the majority of 5th and 6th year being an angsty pain in the arse.”

Neville snorted his agreement, “You really did Harry, and you weren’t part werewolf.”

“You can’t blame everything on his bloody werewolf problem you know,” Harry said irritably, “Part of the reason he’s a grumpy pain in the arse is because he’s Draco Malfoy.”

Ginny chuckled at that, “He does have a valid reason though Harry. Remus used to get funny at the full moon, he was even ill a lot of the time.”

Harry shrugged, “I think we should suspend his stake-out activity in the meantime though. The full moon is tomorrow and he’s unreliable at the moment, so unless you have any objections I think he should stay out of things for a few days.”

Hermione nodded, “I was going to suggest something similar, and Draco agrees with me. The full moon makes him weak and erratic, I think we would all feel far safer if he was here.”

Neville yawned and leaned back in his chair, “And I need to switch my shift tomorrow night. I know I’m supposed to be on the evening shift with Ginny but I need to stay here. Draco still hates the full moons, and he’s worried he’ll hurt Hermione but he needs someone to keep him sane all night. I promised I’d stay out in the old shed with him.”

Harry sighed, but nodded, “Fine, but who are you going to switch shifts with? Hermione and I will have been camped out there for the entire day, and then Lilly and Draco are supposed to be there on Tuesday morning.”

“Well Draco certainly won’t be going anywhere on Tuesday morning,” Hermione said, “He hurts himself every full moon. I don’t think this one is going to be much different. We don’t need to permanently patrol the Ministry Harry we’ve already gathered plenty of information.”

“I think it might be a good idea to take the next few days off while Draco goes wolfy,” Neville agreed.

Harry sighed, “You’re right, we’ve probably got more than enough information. It just felt better doing something rather than doing nothing.”

“We won’t be doing nothing,” Lilly assured her boyfriend, “We’ll be keeping Draco from doing anything destructive or self-destructive and then we’ll finally be planning our Ministry venture rather than researching it.”

“Lilly’s right,” Ginny yawned, “We all need a break or we’ll be beat before we even hit the Ministry.”

Harry sat down in a kitchen chair, “I know. Alright then, for the next few days take it easy and Neville, I’m trusting you to make sure Draco doesn’t kill somebody, or wreck the house.”

“I am only half a werewolf you know,” Draco said from where he had suddenly appeared in the doorway. He had stepped so softly that nobody had heard him approach, and he smirked at them all from where he was leaning against the doorframe, “And my new skills also include being very light-footed as well as the whole super-hearing thing.”

“Wonderful,” Harry muttered, “And half werewolf or not you can still cause a lot of damage on a full moon so you will be supervised.”

“By a human?” Draco asked with a raised eyebrow, “What’s Neville going to do if I try and attack him exactly? Send his army of venomous tentacula after me? Pull out his pocket devils snare?”

Neville smirked at his friend, “You can mock me all you want, but if you fall out of line tomorrow night I’ll be able to control you just fine with this.”

Draco frowned as Neville pulled out his wand and said, “You see Ginny helped me develop this spell actually and werewolf or not you couldn’t escape this...”

Draco watched warily as Neville cast an adapted incarcerous charm at the wall and steel chains bound themselves onto it. The others snorted at the look of disbelief on Draco’s face at the fact that Neville had outsmarted him.

“What do you reckon?” Neville asked wickedly, “I think it will work.”

“I hate you,” Draco muttered as he sank into a kitchen chair, “You’re the worst best friend ever.”

“But I am your best friend?” Neville grinned, “Well there’s a first for everything, I thought I’d only hear you said that on public if I was on my deathbed.”

“Unless you shut up you will be on your deathbed when I transform tomorrow night,” Draco retorted half-heartedly.

“But Draco, I’m your best friend!” Neville teased.

“Oh shut up,” Draco said as he attempted to hit Neville with a bat-bogey hex.

The Gryffindor deflected the spell easily and looked at his redheaded friend in disbelief, “Gin! Why the hell would you show him that spell?” he asked as the others roared with laughter.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“All stake-out activity has been suspended. That was the tail end of the discussion you heard last night.”

“On account of my unreliability and tendency to bite anything that annoys me?” Draco asked sarcastically.

“Pretty much,” Neville said, raising his eyebrow at his friend, “Is that what happened to the feather duvet in here?”

Draco nodded, glancing around the feather covered bedroom, “I had a nightmare last night, I don’t even remember doing it. This is why I make Hermione sleep in a separate room around the full moon.”

“I get it,” Neville said honestly, “You’re protecting her, and she knows you do it because you love her even if it does frustrate her. How are you feeling?”

“Tired,” Draco admitted a little breathlessly, “It feels like the smallest things take a huge amount of effort.”

Draco’s face was shining with sweat, and his hair was slightly damp. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, bent over like he was in pain.

“How long does it last for?” Neville asked, “The pain, I mean.”

“It will go away after the full moon tonight,” Draco said through gritted teeth, “Although the transformation will probably still hurt a little, even with wolfsbane...and tomorrow the only pain will be of the self-inflicted sort. I didn’t hurt anyone or myself the last time though, so maybe I won’t this time either.”

“The wolfsbane makes you practically normal,” Neville said reassuringly, “I bet we’ll just sit in the shed and talk all night.”

“Unless you say anything to piss me off,” Draco said with a heavy sigh, “In which case the wolf gene kicks in and I’ll try and maul you.”

“In which case you’ll spend the night chained against the wall,” Neville said matter of factly, “And don’t worry, I’ll avoid touchy subjects.”

“You don’t have to do this Neville,” Draco said quietly, “You’re putting yourself in a lot of danger.”

“If I was being locked in a shed overnight with Greyback I would agree,” Neville said calmly, “But I’m being locked in a shed with you and you are one of my best friends Draco. I’ve known you for years, part-werewolf or not, I’m going to be there for you.”

Draco smiled tearfully, “Don’t say stuff like that, you know I get emotional about the stupidest things around the full moon and...you were the only one who was there through all of this werewolf shit this summer. You and Remus.”

Neville smiled slightly, “Well we’re your pack, we look out for each other.”

Draco laughed weakly, “Thanks Neville,” he said genuinely.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Do you have a plan yet?”

“No,” Harry replied irritably, “If I had a plan I would have told you about it Lilly!”

Lilly glared at Harry as they sat in bed together, “Harry, were you not just talking about Draco being easily pissed off at the moment? I think you were talking about yourself! I’m trying to help you, but I can’t help unless you actually let me in.”

“Let you in and tell you what?” Harry asked sharply.

“The truth!” Lilly exclaimed.

“The truth?” Harry said with a manic laugh, “Fine, the truth is that I have no idea how we’re going to get into the ministry! You all shot down Hermione’s plan of using polyjuice and sneaking our way in. You were the one who said polyjuicing as someone we didn’t know and pretending to be them was a ridiculous idea that would never work! It wasn’t just the best idea anyone had, it was the only one anyone has come up with! What do you expect me to do, find a miraculous secret entrance?”

“I want you to be the leader everyone thinks you are!” Lilly snapped, “You are supposed to be the one telling us what to do Harry, you’re supposed to direct us! You’re so sure that staking out the ministry 24/7 is the only way to go that you won’t listen to anybody else! Draco had a plan that might well have worked but you said it was too risky, and Neville tried to think of a way to get at Umbridge when she wasn’t at work but you shot that down too!”

“Because none of them were good plans!” Harry said, his face flushed with anger and frustration, “And I don’t want anybody else to die, goddamn it Lilly!”

“We’re all going to die of starvation if we sit around and do nothing, Harry!” Lilly said, pulling herself to her feet, “And I have a damn good plan, you’d know that if you listened to me! I’m not just your girlfriend, I’m a bloody intelligent, powerful witch, you can’t shut me in a corner to protect me all of the time!”

“Tell me your plan then,” Harry said, crossing his arms and staring her down as she stood in front of him in her pyjamas.

“Are you going to really listen?” Lilly combatted.

Harry conjured up a chair and sat down in it, he looked at her pointedly, “I’m listening, tell me your plan.”

Lilly narrowed her eyes at him, “One of the people we identified during our stake-outs was Mafalda Hopkirk. She was Umbridge’s assistant when I did my last summer placement at the Ministry the summer before 6th year. I reported to her that summer, she basically taught me everything I know about in-Ministry politics and she’s a good person. She’s not a Death Eater, and if she’s being controlled with imperius she does a good job hiding it. I saw her coming out of the Ministry crying the other day about the way Umbridge was treating her.”

“Alright, she’s not a Death Eater, what’s your plan?” Harry asked impatiently.

Lilly glared at him, “My plan is to polyjuice as her. I know her, I know how she works, I know how she speaks. I go in alone, get into Umbridge’s office which will be easy. I knock Umbridge out, steal the locket and leave before anyone even knows I was there.”

Harry swallowed hard and shook his head, “No.”

“No?” Lilly asked angrily, “That’s all you’re going to say? You’re not even going to give me a reason why! You know why that is don’t you? You don’t need to give me a reason because we both know it’s because you are being stupidly protective of me even now when you know that what I just came up with is a fucking good plan!”

“For the love of God, Lilly!” Harry shouted, getting to his feet, “Everybody I love dies! It’s a pattern, I love somebody and some sick bastard up high decides to take them away from me! I am not letting you walk into the ministry alone to be slaughtered like everybody else who meant anything to me!”

Lilly stared resolutely at him, “I’m not letting you cage me in. If this is what I’m signing myself up for then I’m out and I don’t just mean of our relationship. I’ll take my chances on the run on my own, I’ll fight for myself. You can’t keep a bird locked in its cage to protect it because you love it, it needs to fly free Harry.”

For the first time in his life, Harry completely broke down in front of another human. He supposed he had broken down in Dumbledore’s office after Sirius had died, but not like this. He felt his legs go weak and he slid down onto the cold, dirty floor. His breath came in ragged sobs that wracked his body, but that he couldn’t control and he especially couldn’t stop. All of the pain he had been holding inside for so long was invading his head, it burned and it hurt and he just wanted it to stop.

“I just....want...it...all....to...stop!” Harry choked out as Lilly fell to her knees next to him.

“What do you want to stop?” She asked in a terrified whisper.

“The...pain,” Harry said, clutching his head, “I want it...to...stop...I DON’T WANT ANYONE ELSE TO DIE FOR ME!”

Lilly grimaced and pulled Harry into her arms, she felt terrible as his entire body shook with the trauma of what was going on inside his head. She held him for a long time, murmuring comforting words as he slowly began to return to normal. His body slowly stopped shaking, his breath gradually became less ragged and eventually his tears ran dry. 

When it was all over Lilly sighed and kissed him on the forehead, “Have you ever cried before, like that?” she asked him knowingly.

Harry shook his head, embarrassment took over at the fact that Lilly had just seen him at his most vulnerable. Nobody had seen him that vulnerable, not even Ron or Hermione. The only person who had gotten remotely close was Dumbledore. He pushed himself to his feet shakily and walked towards the door.

“Where are you going?” Lilly asked with a frown.

“Away from here,” Harry said quietly, and he left before she could say another word.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Bang. Bang. Bang.

“Are we being attacked?” Draco asked, his claws instantly extending from his knuckles.

“Calm down Wolverine,” Harry’s voice said as he broke through the locking charm on the shed and slipped in.

“Wolverine?” Draco asked, his eyes flashing red.

“He’s a comic book superhero,” Harry said offhandedly, “He has claws. And you can put yours away, I’m not a Death Eater.”

Neville narrowed his eyes at Harry from where he was lying on an old sofa, “What are you doing here?”

“I don’t want to be with Lilly right now,” Harry said irritably.

“You’d rather hang out with me and wolfy?” Neville asked in disbelief, “How bad a fight did you two have exactly?”

Harry shrugged and chanced a glance at Draco, “You look more wolfish than you did the last time I saw you.”

Draco shrugged, “I’m a half-werewolf, we had no idea how I was going to turn out. Remus warned me that it might get worse over the years, or it might stay the same.”

“You look like an oversized ferret,” Harry said as he took in the covering of white fur, the reddish eyes, the claws and the teeth. He was definitely more wolfish than he had been when Harry had last seen him, but far more human than Remus had been too.

Draco growled and Neville gritted his teeth as he said, “Draco, calm down.”

By some miracle this worked and Draco backed off and stopped baring his teeth at Harry. Neville looked at his friend in disbelief, “Don’t insult him on the full moon, do you have a death wish or something?”

“What the hell did Lilly do to you?” Draco asked, keeping his distance and eying Harry suspiciously.

Harry sat down heavily on the sofa next to Neville. A huge puff of dust was expelled as he did so, but Harry didn’t seem to notice, “She threatened to break up with me and I kind of had a mental breakdown.”

“Why?” Neville asked suspiciously, “And Draco, stop playing games. I know you can control your wolfiness. You can go back to normal now that you know Harry’s not a Death Eater.”

Draco nodded slightly and his appearance began to change, his claws were back in now, and he made his teeth less sharp. The fur became a fine covering of hair and the red eyes became a pinky-grey.

Harry frowned, “How do you do that?”

Draco shrugged, “I don’t know, it’s kind of like I’m an animagus on the full moon. When I get defensive the wolf shit kicks in.”

“And you’re avoiding the question,” Neville pointed out, “Why did you have a breakdown and why did Lilly threaten to break up with you?”

“Because I’m a fucking idiot,” Harry muttered.

“Tell me something I don’t know,” Draco remarked.

Harry snorted and looked at Neville, “Is this him on a full moon? He gets to be sassy to us all and we can’t get back at him because he’ll kill us?”

“That’s pretty much it,” Neville said matter of factly, “So you being in here with him is probably a pretty terrible idea.”

“I’ll take my chances,” Harry said darkly, “Lilly’s pretty capable of ripping my head off with her bare hands too at the moment.”

“What the fuck did you do, Potter?” Draco asked in disbelief.

“Why do you both assume it was something I did? I can’t help that I’m over-protective of her, I mean I love her of course I want to keep her safe!” Harry exclaimed, “I’m not caging her and imprisoning her, she’s a bloody drama queen!”

“You’re speaking to Draco Malfoy, the queen of all drama queens,” Neville pointed out. From the corner of his eye he saw Draco extract his claws and heard him growl. He rolled his eyes, “Draco, put them away.”

“How can you control him anyway?” Harry asked Neville with narrowed eyes.

Neville sighed as he readied himself for a long explanation, “It’s complicated.”

“I’m avoiding my girlfriend, I have all night,” Harry said in amusement.

Neville snorted his amusement, “Right, basically by being turned half-werewolf Draco now has a pack instant. Remus has already established himself as the head of that pack, but this pack is basically a family so loyalty is important.”

“Right,” Harry frowned, “Where are you going with this?”

“Draco has known me since I was a kid, and I was the one who was there for him when he was transitioning through all of this. I’m not saying you guys weren’t, and I know Hermione was but that’s different because he loves her in a different way, not a family sort of way. I don’t know how exactly, but somehow I’ve become part of his pack so he listens to me. Remus wouldn’t, he’s a full werewolf, he’d rip my head off without a second thought. But Draco is loyal to me,” Neville explained calmly, “Think of it as a blood brothers thing, but with werewolves.”

“That is complicated,” Harry said with a frown.

Neville shrugged, “You still haven’t properly explained why Lilly threatened to break up with you or why you had a breakdown.”

“I was hoping you’d keep rolling with the change of subject,” Harry admitted.

“No such luck,” Draco said with a wicked grin that bared his teeth.

Harry sighed heavily, “She said I was being too protective and that she had a plan for getting the locket. I said I’d listen to it, to appease her more than anything else but her plan made me angry...she said she knew Umbridge’s assistant and could get in and out polyjuiced as her without anyone noticing, but she would have to go into the ministry alone.”

“That’s a really good plan,” Draco said after a moment of silence.

Neville nodded his agreement and looked back to Harry, “So apart from the fact it puts her in danger, what’s the problem with it?”

“There isn’t one!” Harry snapped irritably, “That’s the problem! It’s a bloody good plan!”

Draco raised an eyebrow at him, “You’ve got to let her do her bit. She’s not a helpless little girl, she’s perfectly capable and a damn good witch too. You can’t hold her back because you’re scared about-”

“And you wouldn’t do the exact same thing?” Harry asked coolly, “If Hermione was the only one who could do it there is no way you would let her go into the ministry alone Malfoy!”

Draco growled and fought to keep his claws in, “Dammit Potter, are you trying to make me attack you?” he said through gritted teeth as Neville’s eyes warily flitted between them.

“You’re wrong anyway,” Draco said, closing his eyes and controlling his anger, “I would let Hermione go because I know she’s capable. I believe in her magic, I believe in her power and in her brains too. I would be bloody terrified for her, I would be a nightmare to anyone who had to keep me occupied while she was gone but I would let her do what she is meant for and if you want to keep Lilly you have to learn to do the same.”

“Dammit Malfoy,” Harry cursed, “When did you grow up?”

“When I realised that if I wanted to keep Hermione I had to,” Draco said quietly.

“When you jumped in front of that werewolf to save her I’d say,” Neville said with a sad sort of smile.

Draco snorted, “We’re far too emotional. Has anyone got any alcohol?”

“I don’t think that’s going to be very helpful,” Neville said sheepishly.

“Come on, I can’t even get drunk unless I drink moonshine with my stupid werewolf metabolism!” Draco exclaimed.

Harry grinned, “Then we can get drunk and you can watch,” he said as he walked over to one of the cabinets and yanked it open.

“What are you doing?” Neville asked in amusement as Draco muttered irritably behind them.

“This was Sirius’s man cave,” Harry said matter of factly, “There must be some hidden alcohol stash in here somewhere...aha! Here it is!”

He had yanked open a few cupboards and finally found one filled with dusty bottles of Ogden’s strongest firewhiskey. Draco grinned and bared his teeth, “I love your Godfather,” he said as he conjured up three glasses and enchanted the bottle to pour itself into them. 

“I know,” Harry said with a sad smile, “He was great.”

When the glasses had finished being poured out, Draco distributed them and raised his glass.

“What are we drinking to?” Neville asked curiously.

“His memory,” Harry said quietly, “To Sirius.”

Draco and Neville nodded and echoed this sentiment as they raised their glasses and drank deeply.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Why is Lilly angrily cleaning every inch of the kitchen?” Ginny asked Hermione cautiously as she stepped into the kitchen which had a sparklingly clean floor and shining surfaces.

“I have no idea,” Hermione replied, staring at the small, angry girl in confusion.

“I hate Harry!” Lilly said through gritted teeth as she scrubbed the inside of the oven.

“Why?” Ginny asked slowly.

“What has your idiotic boyfriend done this time?” Hermione asked with an exasperated look as she stepped into the kitchen and sat down on the slightly damp kitchen bench.

“I don’t even know if he’s my boyfriend!” Lilly snapped as she scrubbed harder, “I practically broke up with him, in fact I did break up with him because he’s an idiot! He’s an over-protective, self-important, arrogant arse! I hate him, except I don’t hate him, but god he makes me so mad! I just want to turn around and punch him in the face, actually punch him in the face not a punching hex, no a real solid punch right in his bloody face!”

“You’re kinda scary when you’re angry Lilly,” Ginny said as she approached Lilly cautiously, “And that oven is pretty damn clean you know.”

“No it’s not!” Lilly screeched, “It’s dirty, everything is dirty! This whole house is dirty, and this whole war is dirty and goddamn it I can do things you know! I’m a Ravenclaw, I’m smart, I’m not some replacement Hermione Granger that can be chucked in a corner until I’m needed! I have a ton of uses, I could be so useful if that bloody idiot actually let me do something and I’m sick of him enslaving me in that bloody bedroom!”

Hermione hid her amused grin behind her hand, and Ginny was a little bolder. She raised an eyebrow at the Ravenclaw, “Hey what you two in the bedroom stays there,” she joked.

“Argh!” Lilly exclaimed loudly, “My only use is not personal prostitute to Harry Potter to keep him in a good mood! I have a fucking good plan to get into the ministry and he knows it but he won’t ever okay it because he’s an over-protective idiot. He’s putting my life before the lives of everybody who is going to die in this war if we can’t destroy those motherfucking horcruxes!”

Hermione and Ginny shared a vaguely amused look, they felt Lilly’s pain but her outrage was also pretty funny to watch. They were both thinking up a way to calm her down when Harry walked into the kitchen, followed by Neville who was half dragging a half-asleep Draco with him.

Lilly’s eyes narrowed as Harry stepped into the kitchen. He avoided catching her eye as he clapped his hands together and sat down on the bench next to Hermione, “Alright, Lilly has a plan to get into the ministry which is pretty good. We’re going to sit down and talk about it, but first things first, we need some bacon or Draco is going to try and rip my intestines out again. Kreacher!”

“Again?” Hermione asked in horror as Kreacher appeared with a loud crack.

“I irritated him last night,” Harry said with a wave of his hand, “Kreacher, bacon sandwiches all round if you can manage that.”

“Of course Master Harry,” Kreacher said, bowing lowly and disappearing with another loud crack that made Draco whine.

“You tried to rip his intestines out?” Hermione asked loudly, and Draco covered his ears with something akin to a howl.

“In all fairness Harry did call him a ferret, multiple times,” Neville said calmly, “And I stopped him before he could do much more than scratch Harry anyway.”

“You can’t just rip people’s intestines out because they insult you!” Hermione exclaimed in disbelief.

“I wouldn’t have actually done it,” Draco said with a roll of his eyes, “He’s the bloody golden boy, he kind of has to live doesn’t he? But it made him crap himself and it shut him up.”

“Fuck you Draco,” Harry said half-heartedly as he continued to look anywhere but at Lilly.

“You’re going to have to look at me eventually, Harry,” Her icy voice said from along the table.

Harry turned slightly sheepishly to her and grimaced under her glare, “Look, your plan is good alright! I’m going to let you tell the others and if we all agree then we can go ahead with it. I’m doing what you wanted!”

“You ran away and spent the night with a werewolf and Neville to avoid me!” Lilly exclaimed angrily.

“Half-werewolf,” Draco yawned.

Lilly groaned under her breath and Hermione shook her head as if to say, don’t even go there. Harry glanced awkwardly around the kitchen and said, “It’s very clean. Kreacher did a good job.”

Lilly looked ready to explode, and Ginny cut in, “Uh Harry, Lilly did all of this last night while you were in the shed with Neville and the werewolf.”

“Half-werewolf!”

“Why did you do that?” Harry asked with a frown.

“Harry, are you really that clueless?” Lilly raged.

Hermione nodded, “He really is that clueless. You have to spell everything out to him if you want him to get it, subtlety doesn’t work.”

“Thanks Hermione,” Harry muttered sarcastically.

Before anymore could be said Kreacher appeared with three platters full of bacon sandwiches and Draco dove in immediately as Hermione shook her head distastefully next to him. They were silent for a little while, until Harry cleared his throat and said, “Lilly, I think you should tell everyone your plan.”

Lilly grudgingly did so. She recounted the same plan she had pitched to Harry and everyone listened intently. They nodded and frowned at the right moments, and when she was finished they were all silent as they looked to Harry.

“What are your thoughts?” Harry asked as he watched them carefully.

“Good plan,” Draco said with a nod, “I don’t have any objections.”

Neville nodded, “I have a couple of suggestions, but overall I agree with the plan.”

“So do I,” Ginny said, “We don’t have much choice and we don’t have unlimited time either.”

Hermione cleared her throat and also nodded, “It’s the best way, and the safest way too I think.”

“What are your suggestions Neville?” Harry asked diplomatically.

“I don’t think Lilly should go in alone,” Neville said honestly, “The plan is good, but that doesn’t mean it will go off without a hitch. There are multiple variables which could go wrong and if Lilly does get in trouble she should have back-up.”

“I agree,” Harry said with a nod, “But in what form?”

“People who won’t be noticed,” Draco said quietly, “Security wizards. Two of you can polyjuice into them and follow Lilly around in a subtle manner. Nobody has to know what you are doing, and you would essentially be her bodyguards.”

“Why are you immediately discounting yourself?” Harry asked with a frown.

“I can’t use polyjuice,” Draco replied, “I’m part werewolf, it won’t work on me.”

“Right,” Harry said stupidly, “I didn’t know that.”

“I don’t think you should be one of the guards,” Hermione said carefully, “You’re too close to Lilly, too attached. You could make the situation worse.”

“So you think I should stay here helplessly when she puts herself in danger?” Harry asked, his anger building up again.

“I think it would be better for everyone if you stayed here,” Neville said calmly, “And deep down you know that too Harry. You’d be putting Lilly in more danger if you went too. She needs two bodyguards, two people who won’t immediately be killed if they are discovered. Draco can’t use polyjuice, and you and Hermione are far too high profile. It has to be Ginny and me.”

“The disposable ones,” Ginny joked.

“None of you are disposable,” Harry said firmly.

“But do you agree that strategically it makes sense for us to go?” Neville asked.

Harry grudgingly nodded his agreement, “But I have a condition. You let Hermione, Draco and I scope out the perimeter. We’re outside if anything goes wrong that way, Hermione and I will polyjuice into a couple of random muggles and Draco will use the invisibility cloak.”

“Alright,” Ginny said with a nod, “So we all agree that we’re going ahead with the plan. What now?”

“We wait in an alleyway and grab Mafalda and a couple of security wizards we have identified on our stake-outs,” Lilly said, “We drag them into a disused building, knock them out and take their clothes. Then we use the polyjuice potion Hermione has been brewing and we transform into them, change into their clothes and take their wands. We go into the ministry and I proceed as if I’m Mafalda on my way to work. I’ll go into Umbridge’s office to go over our tasks for the day, and when I get a chance I’ll knock her out. Then I’ll leave with the locket before anyone discovers her lying there.”

“And Ginny and I will nearby in case somebody discovers Umbridge before Lilly can get out,” Neville said with a note of finality, “When it’s done we apparate back here and destroy the locket.”

“This plan is too good,” Harry said quietly.

“I know,” Hermione said uneasily, “In your experience that’s when things normally go wrong, but things are different now Harry. It’s not just you, Ron and I, there are more of us, we’re a far better team.”

Harry nodded and swallowed a lump in his throat. It was only the middle of August, they had barely been on the run for two weeks and already they were looking at infiltrating the ministry.

“Do you think we should tell Remus and Tonks?” Ginny asked, breaking the silence.

Harry shook his head right away, “No, that would only put them in more danger. If they don’t know what we’re doing they have plausible deniability. We don’t tell anyone about this, not Remus and Tonks, not Ron and not Daphne. We shouldn’t contact them until Hogwarts starts and that’s still about two weeks away.”

“When are we going to do this, Harry?” Neville asked.

“In a few days, a week at most,” Harry said logically, “We need to find out more about the security wizards that you will be transforming into if this is going to be convincing and we need to think up a better escape plan. Lilly won’t make it out before they discover Umbridge in her office. We are in a hurry but we have time enough to perfect this plan so that nobody gets hurt.”

Lilly nodded and got to her feet, “Sunday then, that’s when we strike. The Ministry is least protected on Sunday because most people still get the day off. Umbridge will be working as normal, like all of the top officials do. It’s our best shot.”

Harry gave her a stiff nod, “Sunday it is.”

“If we’re done I want a word with you Harry, alone,” Lilly said, stalking towards the door and indicating that he should follow.

Harry scrunched his face up and sent a helpless look behind him at his friends as he slipped out of the room after Lilly and followed her into the tapestry room. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Draco, stop eavesdropping,” Hermione muttered.

“But it’s interesting,” Draco whined.

Neville smirked and pulled out a set of extendable ears which he slipped under the door to the tapestry room. Hermione glared at him, but stayed by the doorway anyway.

“Why are you still pissed off? You’re getting what you wanted!”

“I’m not pissed off at what you said, or even at how protective you were being although it was bloody annoying! I’m pissed off at the fact you just ran away from me, what did I do to deserve that?”

“You didn’t do anything to deserve that Lilly. I didn’t run from you, I ran from myself.”

“Don’t give me cryptic crap Harry.”

“I’m not, it’s the truth but since I know we have at least one nosy friend with super-sensitive hearing...muffliato!”

“Argh!” Draco shouted, falling to the ground and grabbing his ears as they rang with the force of the spell.

It was just a dull buzzing for the others, but Hermione smirked at him wickedly and said, “Serves you right for eavesdropping, Draco!” before stalking back into the kitchen.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“It really isn’t you,” Harry said as he took Lilly’s hands in his, “It’s me, I’m overprotective and I’m an idiot. I ran away because I was scared, I ran because you saw me vulnerable and nobody ever sees that Lilly. I never do that, I was embarrassed.”

“Embarrassed?” Lilly asked in disbelief, she sighed and said more softly, “Harry, I love you unconditionally. It doesn’t matter to me if you break down and cry or break down and shout. I’ll always love you at the end of it.”

“You threatened to break up with me,” Harry pointed out, “And that stung.”

“It wasn’t because I don’t love you,” Lilly assured him, “You can break up with someone and still love them. I just can’t stand being held back any longer, I can’t be with you if that’s how things are going to be.”

“I know,” Harry said, looking into her eyes, “You’re a powerful, intelligent witch. You deserve to be set free to unleash that on the world.”

“It doesn’t mean we can’t be together,” Lilly said, her eyes searching his anxiously.

“It means we shouldn’t be together, at least not right now,” Harry said quietly, “Because I find it difficult to love you and let you do things like this.”

“Difficult but not impossible,” Lilly said somewhat desperately, “We could only have a few more months together in the midst of this. Anything could happen at any time, you know that. You know what the prophecy means, you know what the message on the snitch means. I don’t want us to be fighting in that time, I want us to be together.”

“So do I,” Harry said, his voice breaking slightly, “But letting you go on Sunday...”

“It will be hard,” Lilly said with a nod, “I know it will be. God Harry, I know how hard it will be for you because I know that one day soon I’m going to have to let you go and I’ll never see you again but you have to let me do this. I can do it, I can get that locket and help end this.”

“I know you can,” Harry choked out as his windpipe attempted to close itself as he fought his emotions. Lilly had tears shining behind her eyes and running down her cheeks as she stared at him with determination in her eyes, “I trust you, and I have faith in you.”

Lilly nodded and took a tentative step towards Harry, “Are we-”

Harry reached out and pulled her roughly into his arms. He held her as tightly as he could, he cherished the smell of her shampoo as he kissed her on the forehead and let his tears get lost in her hair, “We’re good,” he whispered hoarsely.

Lilly let out a breath she hadn’t realised she had been holding and pressed her face into Harry’s chest, “Thank you,” she breathed.

TBC :)


	41. The Ministry of Magic

Sunday morning dawned bright and early that week. Harry woke up far earlier than he would ordinarily have done and reached absentmindedly for Lilly. He frowned when he realised that her side of the bed was empty, but when he opened his bleary eyes he saw her. She was sitting in the windowsill, her legs pulled up tight to her chest as she stared out of the window watching the sun rise above London.

Harry got to his feet and padded over to her. He stood behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder. Lilly sighed and reached up, putting her hand over his. They were quiet as they watched the world go by, they were both thinking along the same lines. Today had the potential to be a great victory, or a great loss.

“I love you,” Harry said out of the blue.

Lilly looked up at him curiously, “I know.”

“No,” Harry said, kneeling down so he was level with her, “I’m not saying it out of habit or because it feels like the right thing to say. I love you Lilly, more than I have ever loved anyone or anything in my life. I know what the prophecy means, and I know what ‘I open at the close’ means but I’m still determined to live for you.”

Lilly smiled sadly, “I’m not going to die today, Harry,” she promised him.

“You can’t promise that,” Harry said quietly, “You know you can’t and I can’t promise that I’ll live through the war. But I can try my utmost and I can believe until the end. You can do that too.”

Lilly nodded and let her head rest against his forehead, “I love you too Harry. Have faith in me, I can do this.”

Harry stared into her eyes in case it was the last time he ever could. He gave her a very slight nod before getting to his feet and reaching his hand towards her, “Are you ready?” he asked.

Lilly glanced towards the rising blood red sun once more and nodded. She accepted his hand and let him pull her to her feet, “I’m ready,” she said determinedly.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Are you sure about this, Lilly?” Neville asked the Ravenclaw in a whisper as they stood in an alleyway with Ginny.

“It’s too late to go back now,” Lilly said firmly.

Neville took that as a ‘yes’, so he gave Ginny a small nod to set their plan into motion. Their victims turned the corner and they stunned them. They pulled them out of sight before anyone noticed anything amiss and put their plan into action. The first stage worked well, too well, Neville thought uneasily. They stole their clothes, changed into them and then dressed as them. They took their wands and readied themselves mentally. They only had an hour to get in, get the locket and get out before they changed back. This whole mission was a time bomb waiting to explode.

They knew that the new entrance system to the ministry was through a toilet, they had found this out during their stake-outs so it didn’t come as a surprise to them. Neville and Ginny were in the bodies of two male security guards so they separated from Lilly at this point. They had anticipated this, and the plan was for Lilly to come out of her gate in the ministry and continue as normal while Neville and Ginny would catch up.

Lilly’s heart was pounding as she entered the ministry and had her wand checked. She smiled at the guard on duty and said hello’s politely to everyone who passed her on her way to the elevators. She thought she was doing a good job as she stepped inside and pressed the button to the floor where Umbridge’s office was situated. 

“Oh hello Mafalda,” Arthur Weasley said as he stepped into the elevator with her.

“Arthur,” Lilly said with a smile, this was so weird, “How are you?”

“Managing by,” Arthur said with a weak smile, “You know how things are.”

Lilly wasn’t sure what he meant so she just nodded. They were silent as the elevator continued upwards, and Lilly tried not to breathe a sigh of relief as she stepped out of it, and walked towards Umbridge’s office. She reached it and knocked on the door, her heart was in her mouth by this point.

“Mafalda, is that you?” Umbridge’s sickly sweet voice called from within.

“Yes ma’am,” Lilly replied.

“Wonderful, come in!” Umbridge said.

Lilly took a breath to steady her nerves and opened the door, stepping into the office. She tried not to look around too suspiciously, and she instantly saw the locket hanging around Umbridge’s neck, “Good morning ma’am,” she said politely.

“Good morning Mafalda,” Umbridge said brightly, “And what a good morning it is! Have you heard the news?”

“I was a little late ma’am, I haven’t heard any news,” Lilly explained.

“Late again?” Umbridge tutted, she gave her a sympathetic look, “Boyfriend trouble again?”

Lilly wasn’t aware Mafalda had a boyfriend, so she just nodded and hoped it would suffice. 

Umbridge sighed, “Terrible, I really don’t know why you stay with him Mafalda.”

Lilly knew Mafalda was quite shy and struggled to talk about her feelings, so she just glanced down at the floor awkwardly. It did the trick because Umbridge got to her feet and continued, “Yes, it is a good day! I hear in the rumour mill that we have discovered where the vagabond Potter is staying with his merry band of school children!”

Lilly was grateful that Umbridge was raking in her filing cabinet and not looking at her. She knew her shock must have shown on her face briefly before she managed to reign it in, “Oh, how did they manage that?”

“Ah they tracked down a will which left a house to him,” Umbridge said as she continued to search for something, “His criminal Godfather Sirius Black left him a house if you can believe it. It’s under a fidelius charm of course, but there is a team looking back through the censuses, eventually they will find a house in the correct region owned by the family and then there will be the raid.”

“A night raid I expect,” Lilly said, Mafalda had worked in the DMLE for years, she would have understood such procedure.

“Oh Mafalda,” Umbridge chuckled, “I do forget you were a veteran of the DMLE before I brought you into my line of work! Of course it will be a night raid, Potter and his friends will never see it coming. It’s genius, isn’t it?”

“Genius,” Lilly agreed with a nod, her insides froze when she saw what Umbridge was holding. They were files with the names of Harry and Hermione on them, they branded them as wanted criminals. She hid her shock before Umbridge straightened herself up to look at her.

“So,” Umbridge said with a false smile, “Today’s tasks then! Are you ready?”

Lilly nodded and pulled a notepad and pre-inked quill from her pocket, “Yes ma’am.”

“I have to be in the Wizengamot all morning,” Umbridge said, “This new legislation you see, there are so many new acts to agree on. I’ll lunch at noon today, I have a lunch time meeting with Mr. Thicknesse in my office you see.”

Lilly nodded and noted this down, “And this afternoon ma’am? Do you have any meetings?”

“You have always been so efficient Mafalda,” Umbridge said cheerfully, “Yes, I have two meetings. My 2pm is with the head of the Wizengamot and my 4.30pm is with the head of security. Now, I believe that is all. Would you be a dear Mafalda and make the tea?”

“Of course ma’am,” Lilly said, and she began to make the tea on the small table beside Umbridge’s desk. Umbridge looked down and busied herself with the files while Lilly was inwardly cursing. She needed Umbridge to turn her back on her, so she could curse her. Lilly’s best chance would have been when Umbridge was searching in her filing cabinets but she had needed to hear what she had to say about Harry. She had closed the door when she entered the office, she just needed the right moment to come along, and it had to come along quickly. It had already been half an hour since she took the polyjuice potion. Time was ticking away far too quickly.

“Oh thank you ever so much Mafalda,” Umbridge said as Lilly set her pink teacup down on her desk carefully to avoid damage to the paperwork.

Lilly took a step back, “Is that all ma’am?”

“One more thing,” Umbridge said, “I have your latest payslip, you were off sick on Friday my dear and I was so busy yesterday...”

Lilly seized her chance as Umbridge bent down to retrieve the payslip from one of the drawers in her desk. She drew Mafalda’s wand and stunned Umbridge with it, placing a silencing charm on the room seconds later so that nobody would hear the crash as Umbridge slipped off of her chair. She stepped forward and unclasped the locket from her neck, shoving it in her handbag, and then her hand hovered over the files on the desk. She acted quickly and made a copy of them all, including those in the filing cabinet. 

By the time she was finished she only had 15 minutes to escape the ministry and this was the hard part. She slipped out of Umbridge’s office and caught the eye of the security guard who she knew was really Neville. He was standing by the elevator, and Ginny was standing close to the office. Lilly walked towards the elevator as if nothing was wrong, and then the final stage of the plan came into motion. There was a loud bang in the hallway and the corridor filled with smoke, Neville shouted, “Breach of security! Everybody to the evacuation point by the fireplaces! Come on, quickly!”

As everyone ran, Ginny gripped Lilly’s arm and pulled her into the stairwell. It was empty as everyone aimed for the elevators. They jogged down and reached the atrium before anyone on that level had even heard about the security breach above. They got to the apparition point in the atrium and spun and disappeared, landing back on the doorstep of Grimmauld Place and rushing inside. They glanced at the time, it had just ticked to the hour and they began to transform back into themselves, they looked ridiculous in the clothes of people of a far different build to themselves and despite it all they laughed.

“Did you do it?” Ginny asked anxiously.

Lilly nodded and pulled the horcrux from her bag, “I got it,” she said.

“The others should be back by now,” Ginny said as her eyes locked on the clock, “They said we should all reconvene back here on the hour.”

Lilly’s stomach began to do flips as the door clicked open. Harry stepped in, followed by Hermione and an invisible Draco who threw off the invisibility cloak as fast as he could.

“Lilly,” Harry breathed as he darted down the hall towards her and scooped her up in his arms, “You’re alright!”

“I’m fine,” Lilly said, half-crying and half-laughing because she was relieved, and overjoyed at the same time.

Harry gripped her tightly and kissed her, with no regard for the fact that the others were all standing nearby. He kissed her like it was the first time he had, and the last time he ever would, and Lilly laughed weakly as she broke free from his grasp.

Draco’s eyes narrowed as he took his eyes away from the scene and glanced around the hall, “Where’s Neville?”

Hermione scanned the room, “Didn’t he come back with you?” she asked Lilly and Ginny.

“No,” Ginny frowned, “He told me to make sure I got Lilly and myself out, and said that he would follow.”

“He’s been captured,” Draco said anxiously, “They’ve captured him, haven’t they?”

“Not necessarily,” Harry said, glancing to the clock, “He only became himself 5 minutes ago. Give him a minute, I’m sure he’s just running late.”

Another 5 minutes passed, and then another 10 passed. Eventually when half an hour had passed everyone had to admit that they were worried. Draco stalked into the kitchen where everyone was pacing, and threw down a map on the table.

“What the hell is that?” Ginny asked, coughing as Draco blew the dust off of it.

“It’s a map of the Ministry,” Lilly said, cocking her head to look at it, “And it’s totally out of date. What do you expect to do with that, exactly?”

“Rescue Neville,” Draco said calmly

“Draco,” Hermione said in exasperation, “It’s been half an hour, we don’t even know if he needs rescuing yet.”

“His polyjuice has worn off,” Draco said loudly, “He’s been himself for the last 30 minutes. He would have apparated here if he could, and he hasn’t so he’s obviously been captured-”

“Draco, has it crossed your mind that for whatever reason he might not have been able to apparate?” Ginny asked the blonde with a raised eyebrow, “Maybe he’s just lost in muggle London.”

“That would be pretty like Neville,” Lilly said, amusement slipping into her tone of voice.

“Lost in muggle London?” Draco asked irritably, “He is clearly rotting in the dungeons of the Ministry-”

“There aren’t dungeons in the Ministry, Draco.”

“That’s not the point Neville...Neville!”

Neville raised an eyebrow at him, “Yes?”

“Where the hell have you been?” Harry asked, breathing a sigh of relief at the fact he was back safe and sound.

“I ran into some difficulties,” Neville said as he sat down heavily on the kitchen bench, “So I had to walk back here.”

“Did the Death Eaters see you come in?” Hermione asked sharply.

Neville shook his head, “No, I apparated onto the doorstep from the other side of the square.”

“Why couldn’t you apparate from the Ministry?” Ginny asked, “Lilly and I did.”

“I couldn’t apparate from the Ministry because just as I got into the crowd in the atrium I became Neville Longbottom. I had to slip out in the crowd and then transfigure my clothes into this to avoid detection in muggle London.”

The others were vaguely amused, now that they were no longer worried about his welfare. He was dressed in tracksuit bottoms and a hoodie, and he was wearing a cap.

“I was worried about apparating too close to the Ministry, if I could have left from inside I’d have been alright,” Neville sighed, “But in the last war they extended the wards so they could monitor apparition outside of the Ministry. I didn’t want to bring them back here.”

“It wouldn’t have mattered,” Lilly said darkly, “Because we need to leave here as soon as possible anyway.”

“Why?” Harry asked quickly, “Did you get detected?”

“No, but I got some vital intel while I was in the Ministry,” Lilly said, “Umbridge was in a good mood and she was feeling chatty so she told Mafalda why, not having a clue that Mafalda was me. The You-Know-Who run Ministry has been tracking you down, using the excuse that you’re wanted for the death of Dumbledore. They know that Sirius left you a house and they were in the process of looking back through the censuses to find the address. It’s under Fidelius now, but if they can find a time when it wasn’t then they’ll know where to find us and they’ll be able to break through the wards. They are planning a night time attack, and if they find the address today it’s going to be tonight.”

Hermione’s eyes widened with fear, “Then we need to get out of here now!”

Harry nodded, “Grab everything and pack it, especially the tent! It’s time to go to Plan B!”

“Why not Bones Manor?” Ginny asked with a frown.

“Because it’s our safe house,” Draco said, pushing himself to his feet and making for the kitchen door, “It wouldn’t be very safe if we used it all of the time.”

“It’s for emergencies only,” Harry agreed, “And this isn’t an emergency, we have enough time to get out and get to the forest. Make sure you pack as much food as you can, we’re going camping.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Are we ready to go?” Harry asked, looking at his friends standing in the hallway of Grimmauld Place.

“Can we take Kreacher?” Draco asked.

“I’ve already had a chat with him, and he’s coming with us,” Harry said, “His only condition was that the cupboard under the stairs is reserved as his bedroom. Any other questions?”

They all shook their heads, so Harry nodded and took the lead. They were stepping out onto the doorstep carefully and disapparating one at a time to avoid detection. Plan B was their back-up plan, camping around the national parks of Britain and moving once a week at least to avoid being discovered. They arrived at their designated rendezvous point one by one and began to put up the tent and stock it up once more. They worked like a well-oiled machine, quietly keeping to their own business. By the time they had finished nightfall was upon them, so they ate a small supper prepared by Kreacher, and headed to bed early. It had been an eventful day, for everybody.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. BUZZ.

Harry reached to the floor and picked his mirror up, answering the call with bleary eyes. It was getting towards the 1st of September now, but it couldn’t quite be the end of August yet so he knew it had to be Remus or Tonks contacting him.

“Remus, the sun isn’t even up yet,” Harry muttered irritably as he rubbed his eyes and glared at the man through the mirror.

Remus was glaring back at him, and Tonks was standing behind him looking mildly disapproving. 

“Is everyone alright?” Lilly asked, pulling the covers around herself and popping up behind Harry, “You’re not calling with bad news, are you?”

“That depends on your definition of bad news,” Tonks said with a raised eyebrow, “Remus is really pissed off.”

“You broke into the Ministry,” Remus said with quiet disbelief, or anger, Harry wasn’t sure which one it was.

Harry glanced behind him at Lilly, and they shared a grimace, “Uh, yeah. How do you know about that?”

Remus thrust his copy of the Daily Prophet in front of the mirror where the headline blared, “UNKNOWN ASSAILANTS BREAK INTO MINISTRY AND STEAL VALUABLE DOCUMENTATION.”

“We kind of figured it had to be you lot,” Tonks said, amusement shining in her eyes, “Are you all alright?”

“Of course we are,” Harry yawned, “We’d have contacted you right away if we weren’t.”

“You are basically our parents,” Lilly added, and Remus’s glare softened at that.

“They got it wrong anyway, we didn’t steal documentation. We stole the thing, the thing we needed,” Harry said with a pointed look.

“You got it?” Remus asked with a breath of relief.

Harry nodded, “But we haven’t destroyed it yet. That’s today’s job...”

“We did steal documentation too,” Lilly said, biting her lip and anticipating Harry’s irritation, “I just forgot to tell Harry in the drama of yesterday. We were forced out of Grimmauld Place, we’re back on our camping trip.”

“Why were you forced out?” Remus asked, “Did they follow you from the Ministry?”

“No,” Lilly said, “They knew that Sirius left Harry a house in his will. They were using censuses to try and find out the address before the Fidelius charm was placed on it. The raid was planned for last night, so we got out.”

“Did you find out anything more while you were in the Ministry?” Remus asked anxiously.

Lilly nodded and ducked under the covers to reach to the other side of the bed. When she resurfaced she was holding a stack of files, “There are 24 files here, I actually made copies of them but they clearly figured out what I had done. The first 6 are the most worrying, but all of them are pretty disconcerting.”

Remus gave her a solemn look, “I think I know what is inside. I suggest you two get dressed and gather everyone together downstairs. When you’re ready call us back and we’ll discuss this together.”

“Alright,” Harry said, ending the call and dropping the mirror on the bed.

“I didn’t lie to you, and I didn’t mean to keep it from you!” Lilly said quickly, “I really did just forget!”

“I’m not angry,” Harry said calmly, “I’m worried. Come on, get dressed and kick Neville and Ginny out of bed. I’ll head downwards and try and get Draco and Hermione to budge.”

Lilly nodded and they both dressed quickly before wandering around the tent gathering the others. By the time they had gathered everyone downstairs, with the stack of files in the centre of the kitchen table, the sun was beginning to rise outside.

“What the hell is this about?” Draco muttered sleepily.

“The war,” Harry said darkly, he enlarged his mirror and sat it against the jug of water that was left over from the previous night. He called Remus’s mirror and he answered, with Tonks sitting down next to him now.

“What are in those files, Lilly?” Remus asked, getting straight back to the point.

“And where did they come from?” Hermione asked with a frown.

“The Ministry,” Harry said, rubbing his eyes with sleep and stress, “She copied them.”

“And you didn’t tell us?” Draco asked in disbelief.

“I was more concerned about getting us out of Grimmauld Place yesterday!” Lilly snapped.

“And we know now,” Ginny said, glaring at Draco, “So what’s the problem?”

“The problem is that it’s barely 7am for fucks sake,” Draco mumbled, his eyes were bloodshot and red.

Hermione sighed and placed her hand on his leg to try and calm him down, “He was having nightmares last night, cut him some slack, he’s barely slept.”

Lilly looked away from Draco to the mirror, “These files are about us. They are tracking us, and recording our movements or what the Ministry know of them at least. The top 6 are ‘top secret’, they concern the whereabouts of 6 undesirables.”

“Undesirables?” Neville frowned.

“Wanted criminals,” Remus said, “In order of the danger they represent I imagine?”

Lilly nodded and opened the first file, “Undesirable No. 1 is Harry Potter.”

Harry scoffed, “No surprises there. What does it say about me?”

Lilly glanced down at the file and read the information within aloud,

“Undesirable No. 1: Harry James Potter  
Date of Birth: 31st July, 1980.  
Birthplace: Godric’s Hollow, Somerset.  
Eye Colour: Green.  
Hair Colour: Black.  
Weight: 8 stone 1 pound.  
Height: 5 feet 5 inches.  
Any relevant marks/scars: Lightning bolt scar on forehead.  
Schooling: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry - Gryffindor.  
Occupation: N/A.  
Current Whereabouts: Unknown to Ministry records.  
Last Known Location: The Burrow, Dorset.  
Blood Status: Half-blood.  
Family: Father and Mother, James and Lily Potter. DECEASED.  
Marital Status: Single.  
Children: None.  
Security Status: WANTED with a reward of 10,000 Galleons on his head.”

“10,000 Galleons?” Harry asked in disbelief, “Seriously?”

“You-Know-Who wants you dead at all costs, Harry,” Remus said darkly, “The reward is going to be high, without a doubt. However, there is good news within that file. The Ministry do not know where you are, they had a hunch that you might have been in Grimmauld Place. But it clearly wasn’t official, and that means that You-Know-Who does not know either.”

Harry nodded numbly, “Who’s next?”

“Undesirable No. 2,” Lilly said, flipping open the next file, “Is Draco Malfoy.”

“What?” Draco barked, “I’m the second most wanted person in the country? What the hell have I done?”

Tonks replied, “Well Draco I hate to break it to you, but you did try and kill Dumbledore. They will use that to reign you in so that they can punish you. Not only are you now a half-breed, something You-Know-Who hates, you are also a traitor.”

“Fantastic,” Draco muttered.

Lilly glanced down and said, “Do you want me to read this out?”

Draco rolled his eyes, “Go ahead, there can’t be anything worse in there than what all of you already know.”

“Undesirable No. 2: Draco Abraxas Malfoy  
Date of Birth: 2nd of June, 1980.  
Birthplace: Malfoy Manor, Wiltshire.   
Eye Colour: Grey.  
Hair Colour: Blonde.  
Weight: 10 stone 6 pounds.  
Height: 5 feet 9 inches.  
Any relevant marks/scars: Two long thin scars across his face. Scars on his chest and back, and a werewolf bite on his left shoulder.  
Schooling: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry - Slytherin.  
Occupation: N/A.  
Current Whereabouts: Unknown to Ministry records.  
Last Known Location: The Burrow, Dorset.  
Blood Status: Pure-blood.  
Additional Information: Blood traitor due to affiliation with Undesirable No. 3.   
Species: Half-breed. Werewolf.  
Family: Father and Mother, Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy. DISOWNED.  
Marital Status: Single.  
Children: None.  
Security Status: WANTED with a reward of 10,000 Galleons on his head.”

“They’ve put a 10,000 Galleon bounty on me too?” Draco scoffed, “How much does You-Know-Who want me dead?”

“Probably as much as Bellatrix Lestrange wants me dead,” Tonks said darkly, “Our families have a habit of wanting revenge Draco, and I expect your Father is still one of You-Know-Who’s right hand men.”

“Would you rather be the second most wanted person in the country behind Harry Potter himself, or a measly pathetic Death Eater?” Neville asked Draco bluntly.

Draco shrugged miserably, “Both options are pretty shit,” he pointed out.

Lilly cleared her throat, “If you’re done complaining, we have a few more of these to get through,” she said sarcastically, motioning towards the huge pile. She didn’t wait for Draco to make a snarky comment as she pulled the next folder forward and opened it, “Undesirable No. 3 is Hermione Granger.”

“I was waiting for that,” Hermione said honestly, “I am the best friend of Undesirable No. 1 and the girlfriend of Undesirable No. 2 after all.”

Lilly glanced sympathetically at her as she read out the information in the file,

“Undesirable No. 3: Hermione Jean Granger  
Date of Birth: 19th September, 1979.  
Birthplace: St. Albans, Hertfordshire.   
Eye Colour: Brown.  
Hair Colour: Brown.  
Weight: 9 stone 2 pounds.   
Height: 5 feet 5 inches.  
Any relevant marks/scars: N/A.  
Schooling: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry - Gryffindor.  
Occupation: N/A.  
Current Whereabouts: Unknown to Ministry records.  
Last Known Location: The Burrow, Dorset.  
Blood Status: Muggle-born.  
Family: Father and Mother, Elizabeth and John Granger. MISSING.  
Marital Status: Single.  
Children: None.  
Security Status: WANTED with a reward of 8,000 Galleons on her head.”

Hermione had a slight frown on her face as she listened to Lilly. When she was finished she said, “Well there are a few positives in there. The Ministry clearly have no idea where we have been since the wedding, and they haven’t found my parents yet if they think they are missing.”

Neville nodded, “These are confirming our suspicions that we’re doing a good job of staying in the wind. But go on Lilly, which of us is Undesirable No. 4.”

“You are,” Lilly said, pulling the file towards her, “Do you want to hear it?”

“For the sake of intel, read it,” Neville said, looking a little wary about the contents of the file. 

“Undesirable No. 4: Neville Longbottom  
Date of Birth: 30th July, 1980.  
Birthplace: Godric’s Hollow, Somerset.  
Eye Colour: Brown.  
Hair Colour: Light Brown.  
Weight: 14 stone 3 pounds.   
Height: 6 feet.  
Any relevant marks/scars: N/A.  
Schooling: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry - Gryffindor.  
Occupation: N/A.  
Current Whereabouts: Unknown to Ministry records.  
Last Known Location: The Burrow, Dorset.  
Blood Status: Pure-blood.  
Additional Information: Blood traitor due to affiliation with muggle-borns and blood traitors.  
Family: Father and Mother, Frank and Alice Longbottom. CLINICALLY INSANE.  
Marital Status: Single.  
Children: None.  
Security Status: WANTED with a reward of 8,000 Galleons on his head.”

Neville nodded slowly, “Nothing out of the ordinary...I wonder what my Gran will think of me now. She always said I didn’t have any balls, and that I was never as brave as my Father.”

“Well she’ll know how brave you are now,” Lilly said, she looked up at Neville, “Because there are posters of us everywhere with our names, and the bounty on our head.”

“From zero to hero they say,” Hermione said with a slight smile, “Like Hercules.”

Neville looked at her blankly, and Lilly snorted in amusement because nobody else had gotten her muggle reference.

“Your Gran will be proud, Neville,” Remus said sincerely, they had almost forgotten he and Tonks were there for a moment, “Trust me.”

Neville shrugged and looked back to Lilly, “Number 5?”

“Undesirable No. 5 is me,” Lilly admitted, “Because of my affiliation to Undesirable No. 1, I’d expect.”

“Well you are kind of dating the most wanted criminal in Britain,” Draco joked.

Harry rolled his eyes, “I can’t believe they’re branding us as the bad guys.”

“Of course they are, it’s propaganda,” Hermione said matter of factly, “They want to turn the world against us, they want to brainwash them into supporting You-Know-Who and his administration.”

“Hermione is right,” Tonks said gently, “It’s a political tool. Don’t take it personally.”

“We aren’t,” Harry scoffed, “And you don’t have to read that file out if you don’t want to Lil.”

Lilly shook her head, “I’ve read out everyone else’s, I’ll read out my own too...”

“Undesirable No. 5: Lillian Moon  
Date of Birth: 27th of March, 1980.  
Birthplace: St. Mungo’s, London.   
Eye Colour: Blue.  
Hair Colour: Black.  
Weight: 7 stone 8 pounds.  
Height: 5 feet 0 inches.  
Any relevant marks/scars: N/A.  
Schooling: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry - Ravenclaw.  
Occupation: N/A.  
Current Whereabouts: Unknown to Ministry records.  
Last Known Location: The Burrow, Dorset.  
Blood Status: Half-blood or Pureblood. Not certain due to uncertainty over parentage.  
Family: Unknown to Ministry records. Mother went under a false identity on birth certificate and no father named.  
Marital Status: Single.  
Children: None.  
Security Status: WANTED with a reward of 5,000 Galleons on her head.”

“Well that confirms another suspicion,” Harry said calmly, “Even the Ministry haven’t figured out who your parents are, and we managed to do that in a couple of days.”

Lilly chuckled weakly, “But they did know I wasn’t a Muggle-born and I was forced to struggle by in that horrific place for all of those years...I mean my brother wasn’t even my brother and they let me think he was.”

“I know,” Harry said quietly, “It’s disgusting and once this war is over the Ministry will be getting a complete reset, I’m sure of it.”

Remus nodded grimly, “It certainly needs it,” he agreed.

Lilly took a breath and picked up the 6th file, Ginny said with amusement tinging her voice, “So I’m definitely the most disposable.”

“You’re underage, Gin,” Hermione pointed out, “They’ll think you can’t use magic without being detected, so they aren’t going to put you down as a threat.”

“Which you can use to your advantage,” Draco said, “If they don’t think you’re a threat it makes you even more of one.”

“Draco’s right,” Lilly said as she began to read out Ginny’s file.

“Undesirable No. 6: Ginevra Molly Weasley  
Date of Birth: 11th August, 1981.  
Birthplace: The Burrow, Dorset.  
Eye Colour: Brown.  
Hair Colour: Red.  
Weight: 9 stone 0 pounds.  
Height: 5 feet 6 inches.  
Any relevant marks/scars: N/A.  
Schooling: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry - Gryffindor.  
Occupation: N/A.  
Current Whereabouts: Unknown to Ministry records.  
Last Known Location: The Burrow, Dorset.  
Blood Status: Pure-blood.  
Additional Information: Blood traitor from a family of blood traitors.  
Family: Father and Mother, Arthur and Molly Weasley.   
Siblings: Bilius, Charles, Percy, Fred, George and Ronald Weasley. All (with the exception of Percy) tracked.  
Marital Status: Single.  
Children: None.  
Security Status: WANTED with a reward of 5,000 Galleons on her head.”

Harry nodded firmly, “So they don’t know where any of us have been since the wedding. That is handy to know.”

“This is the good news,” Lilly admitted, “The stuff in here is the bad news. I’ve not had a real look yet, just a glance but there are files here for Daphne, Ron and Susan.”

“And?” Neville asked carefully, “What do they say? Do they think Susan is dead?”

“There’s a huge stamp over her file saying ‘DECEASED’ so yes,” Lilly said calmly, “She’s safe. But Ron and Daphne...that’s a slightly different story.”

“Why?” Harry and Hermione asked at the same time, in the same anxious tone. 

“Their files are similar to ours, but they aren’t undesirables,” Lilly explained, “Their security status is described as tracked due to the possibility that Undesirables are likely to contact them. For Ron it’s you and Hermione, and for Daphne I expect it’s Draco. They know their current location.”

“They’ll be safe when they go back to school though,” Harry said, “Won’t they? I mean it’s what the 25th of August today?”

Remus nodded, but a dark shadow passed over his face, “Yes, but I am not certain that they will be as safe as you believe at Hogwarts. The new Headmaster was confirmed today and it is Severus Snape.”

“What?” Harry barked in disbelief, “He killed Dumbledore!”

“Exactly,” Tonks said, “He’s the perfect person to put in charge of the school as far as You-Know-Who is concerned. This confirms what we were worried about, he has infiltrated Hogwarts. Alecto and Amycus Carrow have been instated as Muggle Studies and Defence Against the Dark Arts professors. They are both Death Eaters, loyal ones, they fought in the first war too.”

Harry was fuming inwardly, and Hermione looked pale and worried.

“Don’t worry about them too much,” Neville said, “Ron and Daphne are smart, and tough. They’ll work out a way to get by, and even if there are Death Eaters in there they can’t openly torture the students. The parents would pull them all out of school and rebel.”

Remus nodded, “For the moment we are not concerned enough to launch an attack on the school. We have to let the students go back and then re-assess the situation.”

“If things get too bad there’s always the Room of Requirement,” Ginny said, “They could hide out there and avoid the Carrows and Snape.”

“We have to worry about ourselves and this quest for the moment,” Draco said, “It may seem harsh, but it’s the truth. Is there anything else of significance in those files, Lilly?”

“They just confirm who is being tracked by the Ministry,” Lilly said, “Some people are in the wind, and some have known locations. Arthur and Molly are confirmed as tracked, currently still residing at the Burrow. Fred and George Weasley are tracked, but the Ministry don’t know their current location. They don’t know where Bill or Charlie Weasley are either, but their last known locations are Egypt and Romania respectively.”

“They aren’t on the run,” Remus said cryptically, “But they are doing jobs for us. That’s all I can say.”

“And Fred and George?” Ginny asked anxiously.

“They are on the run,” Tonks said, “They are changing location regularly and running a rebel radio station called PotterWatch to keep up moral and to keep people loyal to you Harry.”

Harry felt oddly humbled by that, but angry too at the fact Fred and George were risking their lives for him. Ginny smiled slightly, “Mum and Dad?”

“They are safe, they know they are being watched and are being very careful,” Remus assured Ginny, “We have a safe house set aside, in case anything goes wrong. Are Dora and I in that pile somewhere?”

Lilly nodded, “Yes, but they have no idea where you are. Your last known location is the Burrow, at the wedding.”

“Good,” Tonks breathed, “The last thing we need is Death Eaters on our trail right now.”

“Why? What’s going on with you right now?” Lilly asked curiously.

Remus shot Tonks a look and said, “That’s not important right now. Who else are they watching?”

“McGonagall, and they know her current location is Hogwarts,” Lilly said, “Kingsley Shacklebolt who is in the wind...Augusta Longbottom who is also in the wind.”

“My Gran is on the run?” Neville asked with mingling disbelief and amusement.

Remus chuckled, “That should not come as a surprise to you Neville.”

“It doesn’t,” Neville said, allowing himself to laugh, despite the situation.

“The others are Fleur Delacour-Weasley whose location they don’t know, Xenophilius Lovegood who they know is residing at his usual home, and Luna Lovegood who they know is due to return to Hogwarts,” Lilly said, closing the final file.

Remus bowed his head, “Thank you for that intel Lilly, it could save lives. In fact I think it will save lives.”

Lilly nodded, and Harry said, “So if business is over, you can tell us why it would be bad for you to have Death Eaters after you right now.”

Remus looked sheepish as he said, “Well, we have news in fact. We are sorry we have to tell you this way, but meeting would not be practical...”

“Spit it out, Remus,” Draco said irritably, he was still tired and therefore grouchy.

Tonks smirked from behind Remus as he said, “We’re going to have a baby.”

Harry’s jaw dropped as Hermione squealed, and Ginny beamed. Lilly looked just as stunned as Harry felt, and Draco’s arm slipped off of the table as he gaped. Neville was the most put together of them all. He smiled broadly and said, “Congratulations!”

“You’re having a baby?” Harry asked in disbelief.

“Harry!” Hermione scolded, “Be happy about it!”

“I am happy,” Harry said, laughing and shaking his head, “I just can’t believe it after you gave me that awkward talk about Lilly and I being careful to avoid accidents because ‘this is a time of war, Harry’, do you remember that?”

Remus’s cheeks flushed, and Tonks laughed loudly.

“Yes, and I am a hypocrite,” Remus admitted, “However Dora and I are significantly older than you and Lilly, and even I must admit that while I am thrilled at the prospect of being a father, the timing is not ideal.”

Tonks shook her head, “Not at all ideal, but these things happen for a reason they say.”

Harry smiled, “I am happy for you both, I really am.”

Draco nodded numbly, “Yeah congratulations Dora,” he said.

“This is too early in the morning for Draco to take in all of this information,” Neville said in amusement. Draco just nodded his agreement.

Tonks smiled at them all, “We have to go, I don’t want to make this too long and risk our communication method being discovered. But take care of yourselves.”

“We will,” Ginny said.

“And take care of yourself,” Lilly added.

Tonks chuckled, “I will, don’t worry. No more order missions for me, I promise.”

Harry nodded, “Alright, well take care, both of you. We’ll be back in contact when we have any significant news.”

“As will we,” Remus promised, smiling at them all and ending the communication.

Harry shook his head in disbelief as he shrunk his mirror back to its normal size, “Bloody hypocrite!”

TBC :)


	42. The Tales of Beedle the Bard

“Who should do it?”

Harry looked up at Hermione, “Do you want to destroy it?”

“I helped destroy the diadem,” She said with a shake of her head, “Somebody else can destroy this one.”

“I don’t want to do it,” Ginny said, pulling her cardigan closer to her as they stood in a clearing close to the tent. The horcrux was on a log in the middle of the clearing, just waiting to be stabbed.

Harry turned to Neville and Draco, “I’ve already destroyed one, so I think it should be one of you guys.”

“Draco should do it,” Neville said, looking at his friend, “Think of how much shit it’s brought you, the pressure to be in Slytherin, the pressure to be like Slytherin. It’s only fitting that you destroy the horcrux in his locket.”

Draco nodded and took a step forward, “Alright, but if I’m destroying this thing I’m doing it my way. I am not using the sword of Gryffindor, I’m not that much of a traitor.”

Hermione hid her amusement as she pulled the basilisk venom from her bag, “I thought you might say that. If you want to kill it with the venom you’re going to have to douse it with this entire jar.”

Draco nodded and looked warily at the locket, “Will it fight?”

“Probably,” Harry said honestly, “The diadem screamed, the diary I destroyed...the projection of You-Know-Who inside it fought back.”

“It might play mind games on you,” Hermione warned Draco, “To try and turn you against us so that you don’t destroy it. Just ignore it and focus on what you have to do.”

“I’ll tell it to open in Parseltongue,” Harry said, “And when it does...well just destroy it quickly before it has a chance to get to you.”

Draco nodded and took another step towards the locket. The others all moved back towards the treeline, with the exception of Harry. He muttered under his breath, “Whatever it says or does, just remember who you’re doing this for.”

Draco didn’t need to look behind him to remember that. Hermione’s face was permanently burned into his mind. He nodded and said quietly, “I will.”

There was no further communication between them, Harry stared at the snake on the locket and spoke to it in the harsh tongue of the snake. It began to open, and he retreated to the treeline with the others.

Draco’s heart was in his mouth as the locket opened fully and a black smoke engulfed him, blocking the others from view and from hearing range. He held the jar of Basilisk venom tightly as he waited for the locket to react, but nothing happened. He took a step forward, and it began to defend itself. It hissed and spewed images in front of him, ghostly projections of people that he knew. 

The first was Ginny. She stepped forward and spoke in a whisper, “You are a failure Malfoy. You are a failure to all of us, you’re going to get us caught. You’re going to get us killed. You’re going to get her killed.”

Draco stared resolutely at her and took another step towards the locket. She vanished in a puff of smoke and became Lilly.

“Harry was always right about you,” She said cruelly, “You are a weak, pathetic coward. You are of no use to us, you are just a liability. Hermione is going to get caught and tortured to death because of you, you’re an animal.”

The horcrux was making him angry, but that made him want to kill it¸ not turn on his friends. He took another step forward and the projection in front of him changed again so that Harry was standing before him.

“You are the worst thing that could have happened to Hermione,” Harry said coldly, “She will never really love you, how could she love an animal like you? You’re going to get her killed, she’s going to die a horrible, humiliating public death because of you. They’ll make an example of her because of you, and you can do nothing to save her because you are a weak, pathetic, useless coward.”

Draco gritted his teeth and took another step forward. Each step was more difficult, like there was a wind blowing in his face, trying to push him back. The horcrux didn’t seem to be getting any closer, regardless of the amount of steps he took towards the damned thing. With this next step however the projection changed again, to the worst one yet, Neville.

“Everyone was right about you,” Neville said over the wind, “I wanted to believe you were different. I thought you were still the kid that I was best friends with, but you’re not. You’re a coward, a weak coward. Do you really think I’d be your best friend? I’m a Gryffindor, I have morals, I am brave. How could I be friends with such a coward? You know that Hermione will die because of you, will die for you. You can’t do anything to save her because you are a selfish coward and you value your own life more than hers-”

“No!” Draco spat, trying to force himself forward, “No I don’t! I took this punishment for her! I hate what I am, but it means that she is safe so no, I am not SELFISH!”

On the final word he managed to take the step, although he was breathing heavily afterwards, as if he had been running. He tried to catch his breath, aware of the wetness around his eyes. But his fear turned to horror when Neville morphed into Hermione.

She looked at him with emotionless eyes, “I don’t love you Draco,” she said, “How could anyone love you? You are a coward, just like they say you are. A coward and an animal. Who could love an animal? You are worth nothing to anyone, you are of no use to any of us. You mean nothing to me.”

“NO!” Draco shouted, he tried to run into the wind, “SHUT UP!”

His anger drove him forward a good few steps, he was so close to the locket. He only needed to take one more step and then he could destroy it. His eyes were burning, from the tears and the wind and his throat felt constricted and tight as he fought the angry voice in his head telling him to turn back and unleash his anger on those waiting by the treeline. 

It couldn’t get worse than Hermione, or so Draco thought. He thought he just had to push forward now, he didn’t think anymore sick projections would appear before him. But that was where he was wrong, because in front of him stood a ghostly projection of his Father. 

Draco felt transported back in time, the fear he felt in front of his Father instantly kicked in and he found himself frozen to the spot, frozen so close to the damned thing.

“What use do you think you have to them?” He drawled, “Potter is far more magically powerful than you, even Longbottom has more power than you. Granger is smarter than you are, and so is the Ravenclaw muggle-born. Even the youngest Weasley knows more than you. You mean nothing to them, you are pathetic. You had everything Draco, and now you have nothing. You are no son of mine, you are no pure-blood, you are a half-breed, a monster. You have nothing.”

Draco’s fear became anger at his words, “I don’t have nothing” he hissed, “I have more than I ever had when you were my Father!” he roared over the wind, pushing forward ever so slightly, but he wasn’t close enough, not yet.

“You have Granger?” Lucius asked with a wicked laugh, “You would have made a good marriage. Now you will father her filthy half-blood children. She is nothing Draco, she is worthless-”

“SHE IS NOT WORTHLESS!” Draco roared, and his anger propelled him forward to the point where he was standing right above the horcrux. The point where it had the most influence on him. All of their voices rang in his head, they all whispered as they danced around him.

“Worthless...useless...you mean nothing to me Draco...you are an animal....you have nothing.”

“ARGHHH!” Draco practically screamed, upending the jar of venom onto the horcrux. It screeched and screamed loudly, and the pitch was so high that it made Draco’s ears ring. He fell to his knees, clutching his ears and shouting out in pain as the smoke receded and the screaming became quieter. Within a few minutes the clearing had returned to normal, and as soon as it did the others rushed forward. Hermione fell to her knees on the muddy ground and wrapped her arms around Draco.

“You are not worthless,” Hermione whispered, “And I do love you, I love you so much and I am so proud of you.”

Draco nodded, his eyes still tightly shut and his head pounding. He felt a hand grip his shoulder and squeeze it. He knew it was Neville before he said quietly, “You did great in there Draco.”

“Good job,” Harry agreed, dropping the horcrux into another jar of Basilisk venom for good measure and putting the lid back on. He glanced over at the blonde boy, “It really tried to fuck with your head.”

“I noticed,” Draco said darkly.

Hermione and Neville helped pull him to his feet. He was still a little shaky, and his head was pounding and his ears were ringing. Ginny joined them at the edge of the clearing as they took him back to the tent to check on him, she was probably the best at healing magic of them all.

“Another one down,” Lilly said softly, her hand finding Harry’s as they stood in the clearing alone.

Harry nodded and his scar burned angrily, as if he could feel Voldemort feeling a piece of soul die. They didn’t know if he knew what they were doing yet, but they imagined that he surely suspected something by now. 

“Another step closer to my death,” Harry said miserably.

“We have to talk about that,” Lilly murmured, but Harry didn’t turn to look at her, “With everything about the horcruxes...we haven’t spoken about the items Dumbledore left you, Hermione and Neville in his will.”

“What about them?” Harry asked, “We both worked out what the message on the snitch meant. It just confirmed that I’m going to have to die.”

“It did,” Lilly agreed, “But Dumbledore must have known that the first thing we would have tried was flesh memory. He obviously wanted you to see that message, he cared Harry, he wanted to warn you.”

“Or prepare me for slaughter,” Harry said darkly, sitting down on the log that they had destroyed the horcrux on.

“What do you think is inside it?” Lilly asked quietly, sitting down next to him.

“I don’t know,” Harry sighed, “What would Dumbledore give me to help me die?”

“That’s what I’ve been wondering about,” Lilly admitted, “And I couldn’t work out how the book and the Deluminator were linked...but I had a thought, a crazy one probably.”

“Crazy thoughts are better than no thoughts,” Harry said with a weak smile, “And if it helps me not die then I’m all for it.”

“Well I still have no idea about how the Deluminator fits into this whole thing. But the book that Dumbledore gave Hermione, “The Tales of Beedle the Bard”. It’s basically a book of wizarding fairytales from what I’ve read. Did you ever read fairytales as a kid?”

Harry raised an eyebrow at her, “Are you really asking me that?”

Lilly smiled sadly, “I know, I never did either...not really. But I found this old copy of Grimm’s Fairy Stories in a book shop once and I was such a miserable looking urchin that the woman said I could keep it. I loved that book, I still have it actually...but the stories weren’t like the movies made them out to be. In “The Little Mermaid” she is cursed to be in pain every time she takes a step, and she doesn’t get the prince. She basically kills herself in the end actually...and in “Cinderella” the ugly sisters cut their toes off to try and make the shoe fit them. Beedle’s stories are like Grimm’s, the originals.”

“And what’s the Disney equivalent then?” Harry asked in amusement.

“Beatrix Bloxam,” Lilly said, rolling her eyes, “Unlike Disney who wanted to make as much money as possible out of these stories, Bloxam just thought they were too violent for kids and taught them the wrong messages so she rewrote them with ridiculously happy endings.”

“Alright...” Harry said slowly, “What does this have to do with the message on the snitch?”

“Well it’s not so much that, but what could be inside the snitch,” Lilly admitted, “Hermione and I have been pouring through the book, and there’s really only one story that could be read as a message from Dumbledore. The others are morality tales of a wizarding variety, “The Wizard and the Hopping Pot” is about an old man who used his pot to make magical potions for people who needed his help, including Muggles living in his village. He dies and leaves the pot to his son with a slipper inside it, he’s bitter and closes the door on everyone asking for his help and the pot takes on all of their symptoms. Eventually he provides aid to the people of the town, and the pots symptoms go away. The slipper falls out, he puts it on the pot to stop it hopping around and they walk into the sunset.”

“In other words, help those in need,” Harry said, “Even if they are Muggles.”

“Exactly,” Lilly said, “A morality tale for all, but perhaps pure-bloods more than others. The next story is called “The Fountain of Fair Fortune”. It’s about a fountain that you can bathe in once a year to have your problems fixed. It follows three witches, one suffering from an incurable disease, another who is penniless having being robbed, and the third who was left by her lover. They try and reach the fountain together, and a knight joins them along the way. They have to provide proof of their pain, and bring the fruit of their labours. Then they need to pay with the treasures of their past. At the fountain one of the witches’ collapses from exhaustion and another brews a potion that cures her of her disease. She realises her skills are a means to earn money and she doesn’t need the fountain. The final witch paid the final challenge by summoning memories of her beloved, and realises her regret about her lover is gone, she falls in love with the knight. So in the end none of them needed the fountain. Do you know what the life lesson is?”

“Magic isn’t always the answer,” Harry said thoughtfully. 

Lilly smiled broadly, “You’ll make a good Father one day, that’s exactly it. Friendship and love are often more powerful than magic.”

“I’ll be grateful if I make it to 18, let alone become a Father,” Harry said pointedly, “What are the other stories about?”

Lilly knew that he wanted to take the attention off of himself at the moment so she indulged him, “Well the next one kind of grossed me out. It’s called “The Warlock’s Hairy Heart” and it’s about a young handsome warlock who decides never to fall in love so he uses dark magic to lock his heart away. One day he hears servants whispering about his lack of a wife so he decides to find a talented, rich, and beautiful witch to marry so that everyone will be jealous. He meets a girl who is both fascinated and repelled by him and she comes to a feast at his castle. She tells him she needs to know that he has a heart so he shows her his heart beating in a casket, it’s hairy from lack of use and she begs him to put it back inside himself. He does and she hugs him, but because it had been away from his body for so long his heart developed a savage taste and degenerated into an animalistic state. He wants a truly human heart so he rips the witches out, but he can’t take the hairy heart out of his chest so he cuts it out with a dagger and they both die.”

“That’s disturbing,” Harry said with a frown, “And a pretty horrific way to end “Beauty and the Beast” too I’d imagine.”

“I thought you hadn’t read fairytales,” Lilly said with a raised eyebrow.

“I did see that film,” Harry admitted, “Dudley went to the cinema to see it at Christmas, the Dursley’s couldn’t find anyone to watch me so I had to go too.”

“Well I suppose the morality tale is rather different from that in “Beauty and the Beast,” Lilly said thoughtfully, “The whole moral of the muggle story is that beauty is on the outside and that we should look beyond a person’s looks. Like Hermione, seeing past the werewolf aspect of Draco, and seeing the man she loves inside. I think the message in ‘The Warlocks Hairy Heart’ is more morbid, the obvious message being that dark magic is never a good thing of course.”

“And the less obvious message?” Harry asked curiously.

“It depends on how you read it, but I think the other message is that no amount of magic can make us invincible,” Lilly said, “We’re all human, and using dark magic to try and prevent normal human function just makes us monsters.”

“Like You-Know-Who,” Harry said darkly, “Do you think that’s the message? That he’s not human anymore because of the horcruxes?”

“No, I don’t think that’s what Dumbledore is trying to tell us,” Lilly said honestly, “We already know that he’s not human, not really anyway. I think it’s another story that contains the secret message. The next one is called “Babbitty Rabbitty and her Cackling Stump” and it’s about a king who wants to keep magic to himself. So he captures and imprisons anyone in the kingdom who can use magic and tries to learn it himself but he’s a muggle of course. He is ‘taught’ magic by a charlatan who isn’t magical himself but knows simple tricks that convince the king he is. The king’s washerwoman Babbitty is a witch and laughs as she sees him trying to do magic with a twig so the king says he will do a demonstration of magic and the charlatan sees Babbitty doing magic and blackmails her into helping him. The king convinces the crowd, but then is asked to bring a horse back to life, but Babbitty can’t bring anything back from the dead so the crowd think the previous acts were tricks. The charlatan exposes Babbitty and she disappears at the base of an old tree. They cut the tree down, the stump starts cackling and the charlatan confesses he’s a fake. The stump demands that the king must stop hurting wizards and that he should build a statue of Babbitty to remind him of his foolishness. He agrees and later a rabbit with a wand in its teeth hops out of the stump.”

Harry raised an eyebrow, “That’s an elaborate kid’s story.”

“It is, but the message is clear enough,” Lilly said, “Don’t you think?”

“No magic can raise the dead?” Harry said quietly.

Lilly glanced at him sadly, “That wasn’t the message I read, but I can understand why you get that out of it. I had always thought it was a ‘treat others as you wish to be treated yourself’ tale. Muggle or magical, black or white, we’re all the same really and if you treat somebody as inferior they will inevitably prove you wrong and you’ll have your comeuppance.”

Harry smiled sadly, “You’ll make a good Mother one day you know. With morality tales like these under your sleeve you’ll bring up your kids well.”

“Stop talking like you won’t be there to bring them up with me,” Lilly said sincerely, “We might find a way around this Harry. Don’t give up hope yet.”

Harry sighed and shook his head, “I don’t want to talk about it Lilly.”

“Alright,” Lilly said simply, “The final story is the important one. It’s called “The Tale of the Three Brothers.” It’s about three brothers travelling together who reach a treacherous river. They make a magical bridge to cross it and halfway across the bridge they meet Death who is angry that they cheated him. He pretends to be impressed and grants each brother a wish as a reward. The oldest brother asks for an unbeatable duelling wand so Death gives him a wand crafted from an Elder tree on the riverbank. The middle brother asks for the ability to resurrect the dead so he can have his old love back, so Death gives him a stone to resurrect the dead. The youngest brother is wary and doesn’t trust Death, so he asks for a way to stop Death following him and Death reluctantly gives him a cloak of invisibility. The brothers go their separate ways after they cross the bridge, and the oldest brother is murdered in his sleep and has the wand stolen from him after bragging about its power. The middle brother uses his ability to bring back his love, but she is not fully alive and he kills himself to join her. The younger brother evades Death for many years, and eventually removes the cloak and gives it to his son. He greets Death as an old friend and chooses to leave the world with him as his equal.”

“So what’s the message? Don’t be greedy and, again no magic can really bring back the dead?” Harry asked.

Lilly nodded, “Yes, I think so. But that’s not the thing that interests me. The wand, stone and cloak combined together are called the Deathly Hallows and some people think they are real.”

“How do you know this?” Harry asked with a frown.

“I found a small section about it in a book Hermione copied from the Hogwarts library,” Lilly said, “It was a book of conspiracy theories she thought might be useful for finding the horcruxes. It was barely a paragraph to be honest, but it stated that conspiracy theorists believed that the Hallows were real and that if they were combined their owner could beat Death.”

Harry’s frown deepened, “Do you think You-Know-Who believes that?”

“I don’t know,” Lilly said honestly, “I don’t know if it’s a warning from Dumbledore or a message, that you could defeat You-Know-Who if you could combine the Hallows. The odd thing is that there’s a drawing on the copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard that Dumbledore left Hermione. It’s on the page where “The Tale of the Three Brothers” begins and it looks like this...”

Lilly raised her wand and drew a symbol in the mud. She draw a triangle with a circle in the centre, and then a line down the middle.

“What is it?” Harry asked.

“We don’t know for sure,” Lilly said, “But the circle could be the resurrection stone because in the story it’s a pebble. The line could be the wand which was supposedly crafted from an elder tree by the river. And that would make the triangle the cloak.”

“Do you really think they’re real?” Harry asked, looking over at Lilly.

“I think Dumbledore thought they were, and even if his motives were slightly skewed at times, have you ever known him to be wrong?” Lilly asked logically.

“No,” Harry admitted, looking back to the image, “Do you think my cloak could...?”

“I don’t know, I did wonder about it,” Lilly admitted, “You’re from a very old, very noble family. If it was a family heirloom it could well be, but it depends on how old it is really. Invisibility cloaks normally begin to become see-through or suffer from wear and tear after 20 years.”

Harry screwed up his face in concentration, “Well I was given the cloak when I was 11, and my Father had it when he was at school. So at the least it’s about 26 years old.”

“And it still looks brand new,” Lilly said thoughtfully, “I mean even the stains go away on their own in time, don’t they?”

Harry nodded, his eyes shining with excitement, “Lilly, do you realise what this means? It means I already have one hallow!”

“You might well have two,” Lilly said with a frown, “You could fit a small pebble in a snitch, couldn’t you?”

Harry’s eyes flashed, “You think that’s what’s inside of it?”

Lilly bit her lip, “I think Dumbledore would have known that you always wanted to bring your parents back. I think he would have known that seeing them and knowing that by dying you would be with them again...well I think he would have known that it would have made dying less painful for you.”

Harry’s throat had constricted itself, so he only nodded and looked down at the muddy ground as he tried to comprehend this information. 

“But if it is true Harry...Merlin only knows where the Elder Wand is.”

Harry nodded and cleared his throat. He wiped his eyes hastily and looked up at his girlfriend, “Do you think we ought to tell the others about this?”

“That’s your choice,” Lilly said honestly, “Because telling them involves telling them what we think is inside that snitch and why it’s there.”

Harry sighed and thought back to the snitch inside the tent, “For the moment then, this stays between us.”

“We will have to tell the others eventually,” Lilly said, prodding ever so gently.

“I know,” Harry said, pushing himself to his feet, “But for now we have to focus on finding the cup.”

“Alright,” Lilly said because she knew when to accept defeat. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Why has the train stopped?”

“Probably because Death Eaters are going to search the whole bloody thing for Harry,” Ron said under his breath.

Daphne looked up in surprise, “What?”

“Well the last time the train was stopped it was Dementors looking for Sirius Black,” Ron pointed out as the brakes screeched loudly and the train slowed. He glanced around the compartment he was sharing with Daphne, her younger (and very quiet) sister Astoria, and Luna. They were the only ones who had really returned from their friend group, Daphne of course had become a part of that group over the summer. Dean had gone on the run because he was a muggle-born and if Seamus was back Ron hadn’t seen him yet. 

“Do they really think he would be stupid enough to come back to school?” Daphne asked in disbelief.

“Well they’re going to search the whole train for him, so obviously,” Ron said through gritted teeth.

The train had now completely stopped, and Astoria slid closer to Daphne fearfully. Luna looked outside at the darkening sky and said quietly, “No Dementors.”

“We’d have felt them by now,” Ron agreed.

“I wonder if they rebelled,” Luna said, “Nobody can control Death or his disciples.”

Ron frowned at the oddness of Luna’s comment and simply said, “Yeah, maybe. Or maybe he just doesn’t need them anymore, now that’ he’s taken over the Ministry.”

“Be careful what you say here,” Daphne muttered under her breath, “In the last war there were people everywhere listening and being rewarded for bringing information back. Saying things like that will get you dragged right to You-Know-Who’s front door and killed.”

Ron shot her a vaguely amused look, “Careful Greengrass, you almost sound like you care.”

“She does,” Luna said matter of factly, “She just doesn’t know how to show it.”

Daphne scoffed, “Right, listen to the loony one,” she remarked.

“I’m not insane,” Luna said, looking directly at Daphne.

“Just eccentric,” Ron said with a chuckle.

Astoria was silent as she gripped Daphne tighter. There was a scream from further up the train and she jumped out of her skin, whispering, “Are they going to torture us Daphne?”

“They aren’t going to torture us Tori,” Daphne said softly, “They’re just searching the train to make sure-”

She cut herself off when the door to their carriage was flung open roughly and a Death Eater stalked in. He was tall, thin and gaunt looking so Ron deduced that he was one of those who had recently been broken out of Azkaban.

“What do you think we’re doing?” Ron asked boldly, “Hiding Harry Potter in our cloaks? Smuggling him into school in our trunks?”

The Death Eater glared at Ron and pointed his wand at him, “Where is he, Weasley?”

“I have no idea,” Ron replied honestly, “But he’s not stupid enough to come back to school, I know that much.”

“You really expect us to believe that you have no idea where he is?” The Death Eater asked, “You’re his best friend.”

“I was his best friend,” Ron corrected, “We had a falling out, hence why I’m not on the run with him.”

“A falling out?” The Death Eater scoffed, “Well this outta loosen your tongue - crucio!”

Ron fell to his knees and shouted in pain at first. But he then gritted his teeth and refused to give the Death Eater the satisfaction he wanted.

“Where is he, Weasley?” The Death Eater snapped.

“I don’t bloody know!” Ron shouted through gritted teeth.

The Death Eater ended the curse, and grabbed Ron by the collar, lifting his feet off of the floor, “Where is he?”

“It might have escaped your notice but he became best friends with Draco Malfoy and went on the run with the bastard. I’m not lying, we haven’t been talking,” Ron said, which was kind of the truth.

"He’s on the run with your sister, and you really think I believe you’ve had no contact with him?" The Death Eater hissed.

“Believe it, because it’s the bloody truth,” Ron snapped, “And if you see my sister, tell her I’m pissed off about that.”

The Death Eater dropped him and hissed angrily. He turned his attention towards Daphne, “Where’s the traitorous Malfoy scum?”

“How the hell am I supposed to know?” Daphne retorted, “He’s obviously with Potter and if Weasley doesn’t know where he is, how am I supposed to know where Malfoy is?”

“He’s your best friend,” The Death Eater said irritably.

“Is he?” Daphne asked sarcastically, “Because I thought he was my ex-boyfriend actually. The ex who cheated on me in fact, so I don’t really give a shit about where he is to be honest.”

“Crucio,” The Death Eater said with a lazy flick of his wand. Daphne didn’t even shout in pain as the curse brought her to her knees on the floor of the compartment. She simply gritted her teeth and said, “I don’t know where he is!”

“Maybe you’ll be more inclined to tell me the truth if your sister is suffering,” The Death Eater said, turning his wand on Astoria.

“Oh for fuck sake,” Ron said loudly, “Harry isn’t here and Malfoy isn’t here. She has no idea where he is so why don’t you run back to your Dark Lord now?”

The Death Eater hissed angrily and shouted, “Crucio!” once more. He left Ron writhing in pain and stalked from the compartment, slamming the door behind him and smashing the glass inside. As he left the spell disengaged, and they heard him smash windows down the entirety of the train. Daphne pulled Ron back onto the bench seat. They didn’t say a word to each other until the train began to slowly move along the tracks once more.

Daphne glared at him, “You’re an idiot! Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

“No, I was trying to make sure he didn’t torture your sister,” Ron said as he leant back against the wall and closed his eyes, “And it worked, didn’t it?”

“I can take care of myself and Astoria,” Daphne said hotly, “I don’t need you, Weasley!”

“Yes, you do,” Ron said darkly, “Because I get that you can take the cruciatus curse, but you can’t take all of it all of the time or you’ll never survive this war.”

He had caught her eye, and Daphne held his gaze for a moment, “You’re an idiot.”

“It’s not idiocy, it’s bravery,” Ron muttered, “I’m a Gryffindor.”

“Exactly, idiocy and bravery are one in the same for you bloody lions!”

“It was bravery.”

“No, you’re just an idiot.”

Luna smiled slightly at the interaction and looked out of the window as the train began to pick up speed once more, hurtling them towards Hogwarts.

TBC :)


	43. The Deathly Hallows

“Did I just hear you right?”

“Yep,” Harry said with a nod.

“You think the Deathly Hallows are real?” Remus asked in disbelief.

“I think Dumbledore thought they were and regardless of whatever else he was, he wasn’t wrong very often,” Harry said in a long winded manner.

“Have you run this by the others?” Remus asked, a frown knitting itself onto his face.

“Only Lilly...” Harry said slowly, “Because it has connotations that I’ve only told her about so far.”

“But you’re about to tell me,” Remus guessed.

Harry nodded, “You’re the closest thing I have to a Father Remus, and I need that right now.”

Remus sighed, “Alright, go on, tell me your theory.”

“Lilly and I think that I’m a horcrux,” Harry said.

Remus’s eyes flashed, and Harry instantly read his expression, “But you already suspected that, didn’t you?”

“It had crossed my mind,” Remus said honestly, “Ever since your 5th year when I learned he could get inside your head and you could get inside yours. It sounded almost like you were part of him, and when you told me about his horcruxes earlier this year...yes, I did wonder if he had accidentally made you one the night he tried to kill you.”

“So you’ll also know then that another person isn’t meant to be a horcrux,” Harry said darkly, “And that the only way to make it come out of me, and therefore to kill it is for me to die.”

“Do you know that for certain?” Remus asked, his face very pale, “Or is that just a theory?”

“It’s a theory, but it’s the only one we have,” Harry said darkly, “And it’s obviously what Dumbledore thought too. The snitch he gave me in his will had a flesh memory. I caught it in my mouth by accident, so when I put it to my lips a secret message appeared. It said ‘I open at the close’. We think it has the resurrection stone inside it, so that I can see my parents before I die.”

Remus looked down, unable to hide the emotions in his eyes. 

“You think I’m right,” Harry said, “That’s why you’re upset.”

“Yes,” Remus said, his voice a little rough, “I do think you are right, and I think you might also be right about the invisibility cloak. Your Father was given it by his Father and it still looks brand new. It’s no ordinary cloak.”

“So you think I’m right? About the stone too?” Harry asked quietly, there were silencing charms all over the tent but he was paranoid about Draco and his wolf hearing.

“I think your theory is convincing,” Remus conceded, “And I can understand why you do not want the others to know. People have a tendency to treat you differently if they know your death is imminent.”

“Imminent,” Harry said bitterly, “What a lovely way to put it Remus.”

“I’m sorry Harry, but I promised myself a long ago that I would not fudge my words around you,” Remus said honestly, “James hated it, and I don’t think it’s fair to do it with you.”

“Fair enough,” Harry sighed, “But the reason I wanted to talk to you about this wasn’t because I needed a counsellor. I wondered if you knew anything about the Elder Wand.”

“I know the conspiracy theorists have a field day with it,” Remus admitted, “I went to school with a guy, they all thought he was bit of nut job. He was always going on about conspiracy theories, he would tell anyone who listened about the bloody trail of the Elder Wand.”

“What was his name?” Harry asked curiously.

“Lovegood,” Remus replied, “I can never remember his first name, just that we all called him Xeno...he believed that the wand was real and that you could trace it back through history because every time it switched hands its owner was killed. However wandlore is not my area of expertise and the only person I know who is an expert on it was kidnapped.”

“Who?” Harry asked sharply.

“Ollivander,” Remus replied, “He was kidnapped and his store in Diagon Alley ransacked, by Death Eaters.”

“He knows,” Harry said darkly, “You Know Who knows about the Elder Wand, and he thinks it’s real too. That’s why he kidnapped Ollivander, to try and find out where it is!”

Remus bowed his head, “That’s what I’m afraid of, yes.”

“I don’t suppose there’s anyone else who would know the trail?” Harry asked miserably.

“There was another wandmaker once,” Remus said, “In Germany...he was called Gregorovitch but as I am soon to be a Father and you are on the run, I don’t know how you expect to find anyone willing to travel there to track him down.”

“Leave it with me,” Harry said thoughtfully, “I might be able to do something, but I won’t leave the country I swear.”

“Alright,” Remus said, seemingly convinced.

“I’ve got to go Remus,” Harry said, “Ron and Daphne will be back at school now and I have to get back in touch, to make sure they’re alright.”

“I understand,” Remus said honestly, “Speak soon Harry.”

Harry nodded and ended the communication, sighing heavily as he let the mirror fall onto the bed. Every time he thought he was figuring out the puzzle another piece appeared and he was getting more and more frustrated by it. He threw his head back against the pillow and was grateful for the silencing charms as his scar burned painfully. He shouted out in pain and shut his eyes tightly. The pain reached its peak, and Harry saw through Voldemort’s eyes once more, something that hadn’t happened since 5th year...

He saw a street and a woman answering a door, talking in German as Voldemort asked for Gregorovitch. He watched Voldemort kill the woman, and he snapped back to reality before he had to watch him kill her two children as well. He scrambled to his feet, grabbing the mirror and calling Tonks. 

“Harry, what’s wrong?” Tonks asked, seeing his forehead glistening with sweat.

“Tonks, do you know where Bill is? I need a way to get in touch with him, it’s urgent,” Harry gasped. He knew she was good friends with Bill, and of course she had dated Charlie as a teenager.

Tonks frowned, “I know where he is, but I don’t know how you can get in contact with him securely...the best shot you have is asking Remus to go to him, and talking to him on his mirror.”

Harry nodded, “Alright, thanks Tonks,” he said, waiting for Tonks to take the mirror to Remus. When the handover was complete Remus looked anxiously at Harry.

“What’s happened to you?” He asked.

“I saw through his eyes again,” Harry said breathlessly, “He was looking for Gregorovitch in Germany, we have to find him before he does Remus! Tonks says you know where Bill is, you’ve got to take the mirror to him and let me speak to him.”

Remus nodded, understanding the urgency, “I will. I’ll call you as soon as I get there.”

Harry ended the call and paced the room frantically, half expecting someone to come up and sarcastically tell him he’d be falling into the kitchen in a minute. But nobody came, and the room remained silent. Harry was unsure how long he had to wait for, it felt like hours but it could easily have only been 15 minutes. He kept his mirror gripped tightly in his hand and nearly dropped it when it actually rang.

“I’m here,” Remus said, “Here’s Bill.”

The mirror was handed over and Bill smiled, “Nice to see you alive and well Harry-”

“Bill, I need your help,” Harry said desperately, “And I hate what I have to ask you to do because it’s dangerous. Really dangerous. I need you to go to Germany and find an old wandmaker called Gregorovitch. I need you to do it right now, and I think you should take Charlie with you if you can because-”

“What exactly is it you want us to do?” Charlie asked, stepping into the frame.

“I need you to find Gregorovitch and kidnap him,” Harry said, “Take him somewhere secure in the UK and keep him there until I can get there but you have to do it quickly because if you don’t You-Know-Who is going to get there first and-”

“Harry,” Bill said loudly, “We’ll do it, just calm down. I’ve just got one condition, where the hell is Ginny?”

“She’s fine,” Harry said quickly, “She’s downstairs cooking with Hermione.”

“Well I want to see her,” Bill said, “That’s my condition.”

“Sure, when you get back,” Harry said offhandedly.

Bill raised an eyebrow at him, “I might not come back if I get to this guy at the same time as You-Know-Who, let me see her now.”

“Fine,” Harry conceded, he unlocked the bedroom door and shouted down the stairs, “Ginny! I need you up here now!”

He slipped inside the room and shut the door, standing against it so that nobody else could barge in. He heard her jog up the stairs, and opened the door, shutting it and locking it after her. 

“What’s wrong?” Ginny asked anxiously, “Is it my family? Are they alright?”

“They’re fine,” Harry said as he handed her the mirror, “Bill and Charlie want to talk to you.”

Ginny grimaced as she looked into the mirror, “Hey Bill, Char, it’s good to see you.”

“What are you doing on the run with Harry Potter?” Charlie asked his sister, “You’re 16 Gin!”

Ginny rolled her eyes, “And just as capable of doing my bit as you two! Don’t give me this talk, you ran away and started playing with dragons and fire at 17 Charlie! And Bill, you defied every single one of Mums wishes at 16 and took a gap year to Egypt!”

“This isn’t a gap year,” Bill said darkly, “It’s a war Ginny, and Mum and Dad are worried sick.”

“They would be worried sick if I was at Hogwarts,” Ginny countered, “There’s a war everywhere Bill. I’m safer with Harry than I am under Snape’s regime.”

Bill and Charlie clearly knew she was right because they shared an irritated look but stopped scolding her. 

“If we all survive this war we’re gonna beat you up at the end of it,” Bill said sincerely.

Ginny snorted, “I’m your only baby sister Billy, you’ll never lay a finger on me.”

“Alright,” Charlie conceded, “We’ll be very pissed off with you for a long period of time, but we won’t beat you up.”

Ginny smiled sadly, “We’ll all survive, I’ll look forward to your silent treatment.”

Harry didn’t miss the dark look in their eyes as Bill and Charlie told Ginny to take care of herself, and said that they missed her. She didn’t speak to them for much longer after that, and when the conversation was over he rudely shoved her from the room and put up his locking and silencing charms once more.

“Right so where do we find Gregorovitch?” Bill asked, “Because Germany is a pretty big country you know.”

“Yeah and Charlie was an unofficial bounty hunter for years,” Harry said with a raised eyebrow, “I do know these things being best friends with your little brother you know. It was your job to find people Charlie.”

“This guy is clearly off the grid hiding from You-Know-Who,” Charlie said, “You know it’s a long-shot at best that we’ll find him before he does, right?”

“Yeah,” Harry admitted, “But it’s the only shot I’ve got at stopping him. If he finds Gregorovitch and gets the information he needs from him...we’re screwed and this war is definitely lost.”

“Go to Germany and kidnap an old wandmaker,” Bill said with a shake of his head, “What the hell are you up to Harry?”

“You know I can’t tell you that,” Harry said apologetically.

“Probably better for us that we don’t know,” Charlie said bluntly, “I’d take a fast death from You-Know-Who rather than prolonged torture.”

Bill nodded, a darkness in his eyes, “You owe us, Harry.”

“I know,” Harry said simply, “Good luck.”

Bill and Charlie both nodded and the communication was ended. Harry dropped his mirror and paced the room a few more times before deciding that he needed to tell the others of his burden, or at least some of it. If he didn’t he was going to drive himself insane trying to keep this from everybody that he was close to.

He took a deep breath, grabbed his mirror and walked downstairs. Everyone was congregated in the kitchen when he walked in and enlarged his mirror. 

“Alright, stop what you’re doing!” Harry snapped, “And sit around the table, it’s urgent!”

Nobody put up a fight as they dropped what they were doing and obeyed his orders. Harry activated the mirror and called Ron’s mirror on it. It took a few minutes, but he answered and Daphne was with him.

“Good,” Harry sighed, “Daphne’s with you. Is there anyone else?”

“No,” Ron replied, “We’re in the Room of Requirement. It’s our safe haven, but this is our private room. Only Daphne and I can get in, it’s activated by a wand signature, a fingerprint and a retina scan.”

“And it’s where you’re keeping the mirror,” Hermione realised.

Ron nodded, “We’ve basically turned it into a hotel, well more like a youth hostel. We’d been back here for a week when we realised that it wasn’t safe. Snape doesn’t actively do anything bad, but he does let the Carrows torture students and I mean torture, they use the cruciatus curse on 1st years and put us in isolation for weeks at a time in the dark tower. We’re gathering a rebellion here, Daphne’s rallied some Slytherins who disagree with what they’re doing and we’re running our operation from here.”

“You aren’t going to classes?” Hermione asked in surprise.

“There’s not much left of classes,” Daphne said darkly, “Things here are really bad. The other teachers try and help, but the Carrows have taken over the school. We have to leave the room to get food from the kitchens, and to rescue students from the dungeons and the tower but other than that we’re safe here so we stay here.”

Harry sighed and shook his head, “Things here aren’t great either. Although we did find the locket and destroy it.”

“So there are only two more?” Ron asked, hope coming into his voice.

Harry nodded, trying to ignore the gash on his cheek, “Yes, but there’s something else and it’s bad.”

“What is it?” Draco asked with a frown.

“Only Lilly and I know about it at the moment,” Harry said apologetically, “But I can’t keep it from you anymore. It’s a long story, so do you have time on your end?”

Ron glanced at Daphne, and the blonde girl nodded, “We have time.”

Harry stood up and began to pace the kitchen as he spoke, “Are you all familiar with “The Tales of Beedle the Bard”?”

There were frowns at the significance of this, but everyone nodded. Harry continued, “Good, the story in particular that causes concern is “The Tale of the Three Brothers”. There are conspiracy theories that the three objects given to the brothers by death are real. The theorists call the Elder Wand, resurrection stone and invisibility cloak together the Deathly Hallows. They think they really do exist, and Dumbledore thought that they were right. That was why he gave Hermione the book with the symbol of the Hallows drawn onto the start of that chapter.”

“And you believe him?” Daphne asked in disbelief, “He was a mad old fool.”

“Maybe,” Harry agreed, “But he was never wrong. I have never known him to be wrong, if he thought the Hallows were real I’m inclined to believe him. The trouble is You-Know-Who thinks they are real too. He wants the Elder Wand, he’s captured Ollivander and now he’s looking for Gregorovitch too. He can’t find Gregorovitch because if he does and he finds out where to get the wand...well what we’re doing now would be pointless because he’d be unbeatable.”

“But...” Ron frowned, “If you think they’re real then is your cloak...?”

“I think so,” Harry said honestly, “They are supposed to lose their invisibility after 20 years, or show signs of wear. My cloak was my Fathers and his Fathers before that, and it still looks brand new.”

“So you have a Hallow?” Ron asked in awe, “Does that mean the three brothers were Potters?”

“No,” Daphne said with a shake of her head, “Merlin Weasley, you don’t know your wizarding history at all.”

“His favourite activity in History of Magic was sleeping,” Hermione said, smirking a little, “So no, he doesn’t. But you’re right Daphne, the Potters only came to Britain with the Norman invasion of 1066. The tale of the brothers must date to a time far earlier than that, meaning that whichever family the Potters are descended from are the family that owned the wand.”

“But there are no records going back that far,” Draco pointed out, “So there would be no way to find out.”

Daphne nodded, “I know, that’s the trouble. But still, if you do have the cloak then you have one hallow out of three. Do you think You-Know-Who is trying to collect them?”

“No, I think he just wants the wand,” Harry said honestly, “But they say that the holder of all Hallows can defeat Death so maybe that’s his ultimate goal. But at the moment, it’s the wand he wants and I have to make sure I get that wand before him.”

“Well how are you planning on doing that?” Neville asked, “We’re the 6 most wanted people in the country, we can’t just go looking for Gregorovitch. He’s German, isn’t he?”

Harry nodded, “Yes, and we don’t need to. I already have a couple of people on it.”

Ginny’s eyes widened, “Harry...”

“I couldn’t tell you Ginny-” Harry began to say.

But Ginny had already gotten to her feet and walked towards him, “You sent Bill and Charlie to find Gregorovitch! You know You-Know-Who is looking for him too and you sent my brothers!”

“There was nobody else!” Harry snapped, “Tonks is pregnant and Remus is trying not to do anything foreign so that he can be there for his child! They were willing to do it, they want to do their bit too you know!”

“You sent Bill and Charlie?” Ron asked angrily.

“I had no choice!” Harry shouted, “And if I didn’t send them You-Know-Who was going to find the wand and then we would never win! As it is we have a chance of winning now, if we can find Gregorovitch before he can!”

“And if my brothers die in the process you don’t care!” Ron exclaimed, “You’re just sending people out to die for you!”

“It’s not for him!” Neville snapped, “Bill and Charlie aren’t doing this because Harry asked them to. They are doing it because they know that if they don’t we will most definitely lose this war! It’s for all of us, for our people, so we can live!”

Ron’s anger ebbed slightly, and Daphne watched him warily. She placed her hand on his shoulder, “They’re doing what you would have done Ron,” she said quietly as she looked back to the mirror and the surprised faces staring at her.

“Look, he’s had the cruciatus curse used on him twice today rescuing 2nd years from the Carrows,” Daphne said defensively, “Any other day he’d understand, but he needs rest and he needs to stop being an idiot and walking in front of the cruciatus curse for people.”

“Better me than 2nd years,” Ron said irritably, “And it’s not stupid, it’s brave.”

“Same thing,” Daphne muttered, “Especially where you’re concerned.”

Hermione and Draco shared an amused smile, despite the situation. It even cheered Harry up a little, but the situation was serious, “I’m sorry Ron, but everyone is fighting for what they believe in. People aren’t fighting for me, they’re fighting to bring You-Know-Who down and this is so important in doing that.”

“I get it,” Ron said, sighing heavily, “But you’d better call when they’re back.”

“I will,” Harry promised.

“We’ve got to go, it’s about time to try and source dinner for the night. Call us back soon,” Daphne said, ending the call.

Harry sighed and shrunk the mirror to size, turning to look at his friends.

“How long did you know about this for before you told us?” Neville asked, looking from Harry to Lilly.

“Only a week or so,” Lilly said honestly, “Harry wasn’t sure what to do with the information. We weren’t even sure we were right until Harry called Remus today and then came downstairs with all of this. So I’m assuming that was what confirmed our suspicions.”

Harry nodded grimly, “I wasn’t keeping this from you because I wanted to. I wasn’t sure whether it was relevant and I didn’t want to add anything else to our plate.”

“Now we have two more things to find,” Ginny said irritably, “And my brothers are out there in danger, while we have no idea where the cup is, no way of getting to the snake and now no idea where the resurrection stone or the wand is!”

“Nobody asked you to come, Ginny!” Harry snapped, “So you can’t complain when we have nothing to do! If that’s how you feel you might as well just go home!”

Ginny glared at Harry and stalked from the room. Harry groaned angrily and kicked the table.

“She’s right, we do have more things to find,” Neville said quietly, “And her brothers are in a lot of danger. She has a right to be snappy.”

“Well if that’s your opinion go and comfort her then!” Harry shouted, “She’s not my problem!”

Neville raised an eyebrow at Harry, “Fine,” he said calmly, following Ginny from the room.

“Are you sure you aren’t a werewolf?” Draco joked, “This is how I feel around the full moon.”

Harry sank onto the bench, “Shut up Malfoy,” he said through gritted teeth.

Lilly sighed and got to her feet, “You can’t take your frustration out on everybody else Harry. If you do that you’ll have no one left within a very short time.”

Harry bit back a retort as Lilly left the room, and Hermione glared at Harry. 

“A word.”

“What?”

“I want a word with you in private,” Hermione said simply, “Now.”

“Fine!” Harry snapped, following Hermione upstairs into the room she shared with Draco. 

She shut the door, locked it and put up a few silencing charms before turning to face him, “You have two Hallows.”

“What?” Harry asked, feigning innocence.

“The snitch,” Hermione said, “It’s just the right size to have the resurrection stone inside of it and snitches have a flesh memory. You caught it in your mouth so put it against your mouth and see if it opens.”

“No,” Harry said, “That would be stupid.”

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him, “You’ve already done that haven’t you?”

“I-”

“Harry, you’re my best friend,” Hermione said simply, “Don’t even bother lying to me.”

“Yes!” Harry snapped, “And it didn’t open, it just came up with a message.”

“What did it say?” Hermione asked, her eyes scanning his anxiously.

“It said ‘I open at the close’, Hermione,” Harry said half-heartedly, “And I know you’ve had a suspicion for a while now, and I’ve been trying not to confirm it because I don’t want you to walk around on eggshells around me just because I’m going to be dead in a few months!”

Hermione’s breath caught in her throat, and she paled significantly. Her eyes were wide, like those of a deer caught in the headlights of a car.

“You’re one of them, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” Harry said irritably, “And I have to die for the thing inside me to die. I have to die so that somebody else can kill Voldemort.”

Hermione nodded, and tears began to fall from her eyes freely. She rushed forward and enveloped him in a hug, “I was afraid of that! The connection between you worried me and when we found out about the horcruxes...oh Harry there has to be a way to kill it without killing you!” she sobbed.

“There isn’t,” Harry said quietly, “You know there isn’t Hermione. This is what the prophecy means, neither can live while the other survives. I have to die to make You-Know-Who mortal.”

“Does Lilly know?” Hermione asked tearfully.

Harry nodded and turned away from his best friend, “She’s known since the summer. She knows I’m going to die, although she’s still holding out some stupid hope that we’ll find a miraculous way to save me.”

“We might!” Hermione gasped.

“Everyone knows we won’t!” Harry shouted, “And you have got to keep this to yourself! I want to spend my last few months as a normal person, I don’t want people crying around me all of the time!”

“I can’t,” Hermione cried, “I can’t act normal and pretend I don’t know about this!”

“Well you have to,” Harry said firmly, pulling his wand out, “Or I’ll have to obliviate you.”

“Harry James Potter!” She shrieked, “You will not obliviate me!”

“Then you will not tell anyone,” Harry said, unaware of his own tears until he felt them on his cheeks, “Think of it as my last wish.”

Hermione’s tears fell even harder, but she nodded, “I won’t tell anyone,” she promised.

“Thank you,” Harry said, sighing heavily and feeling guilt flood him when he realised quite how much the secret had hurt his best friend. He pulled her in for a hug and held her tightly, closing his eyes tightly and relishing in the moment, because he had no idea if he would ever hug his best friend again.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Pretty good numbers.”

Ron glanced over to the blonde girl next to him, “What?”

“We have pretty good numbers,” Daphne said again, looking out at their small gathering of fellow rebels.

They were sitting at the top table of what was essentially their mess room. There were wooden tables scattered everywhere, they ate here, they entertained each other here and they got their marching orders from here. To the left was the female dorm room, and to the right was the male dorm room. At the far end of the hall was a large unisex bathroom, and behind the table where Ron and Daphne currently sat, was the room only they had access to. The room that contained the mirror. If someone was calling a light flashed red above the door and they knew to hurry inside. The others knew that orders came from there, intel, but the secret stayed with Ron and Daphne.

Some people had joined them immediately, people like Luna and Seamus Finnigan. Others like Astoria were here to remain safe more than anything else. It had barely been a week and people had been approaching Ron, telling him to bring the DA back so he had done, in a form anyway. But with Daphne’s help they now had Slytherins on their side too, Slytherins who knew the dungeons and wanted to get the younger kids out of danger as much as anyone else did. The majority of the DA were back, minus those who had been banned from returning to school because of their blood status. That wasn’t just Dean, it meant Justin Finch-Fletchley, Megan Jones, Anthony Goldstein and Lisa Turpin. It even meant Colin and Dennis Creevey, and Ron found it weird to think that he actually missed the hyperactive kids.

However on the bright side their membership had grown too. The old members had come back, people like Hannah Abbott, Ernie MacMillan, thankfully not Zacharias Smith. Lavender Brown was here, as awkward as that was for Ron, and the Patil twins had joined them too. They had Terry Boot and Michael Corner, Ginny’s old flame. And now, thanks to Daphne, they had Theodore Nott, Blaise Zabini and Tracey Davis too.

“Which one of you is actually in charge?” Theo asked, standing in front of them.

“I am,” Ron said, at the same time that Daphne said, “That would be me.”

They caught each other’s eye, and glared. They opened their mouths to argue but before a single word came out Luna said calmly, “They both are. Why do you need to know?”

“Someone has to sort out the Carrows latest mess,” Theo said darkly.

Daphne and Ron instantly forgot the animosity between him as they asked simultaneously, “What mess?”

“They caught Hannah, Seamus and Terry on their way to the kitchens to steal food,” Blaise said, stepping up from behind Theo.

“They’ve taken them to the dark tower,” Theo added.

“Looks like it’s time to put one of those rescue missions you were talking about in place, Weasley,” Daphne said, looking pointedly at the redhead.

Ron’s eyes darkened, “We’ll need the best duellists...and those with the most experience with this sort of thing. I think a team of four should do it.”

“Me,” Daphne said firmly, “And you. Who else?”

Ron surveyed the room for a moment, “Luna and you, Zabini.”

Luna and Blaise both nodded, although Daphne did look incredulous about Ron’s first choice. She said nothing about it as the group of 4 gathered at the edge of the room to put their plan in place. It was a simple case of using disillusionment charms, sneaking into the tower, breaking out their friends and sneaking back. It shouldn’t have worked, but it did. They slipped through the dark, empty hallways with barely a sound. They ascended the stairs of the tower, leaving Blaise to keep watch at the bottom. They reached the cells at the top and broke them open, as quietly as they could. They gathered their friends, placed disillusionment charms on them, and then they left the tower before anyone even knew that they had been there. They slipped back to the Room of Requirement, moving in the shadows and avoiding being seen or heard by anyone. 

They didn’t breathe easily until they were safely back in the Room of Requirement, but as they took off their charms Daphne looked at Ron and said, “That was actually pretty impressive.”

Ron just grinned at her when he said, “Well you don’t stay friends with Harry Potter for 6 years and learn nothing.”

Daphne laughed, but they both knew that this was the start of their real rebellion. The Carrows didn’t know where they were hiding, but they had just broken their own out of the Carrows imprisonment. Everything would be more heavily watched from now on, and the punishment was going to be kicked up a notch. It truly began that night.

TBC :)


	44. Rebel Yell

"You can’t stay mad at him forever, Gin.”

“I can,” Ginny said, staring resolutely at the frosty lake ahead of her.

Neville sighed and sat down next to her on the rock by its bank. They were really getting into September now, and as it wore on the cold set in. When you were sleeping in a tent it wasn’t ideal, no amount of warming charms could hide how draughty it was and they had taken to sleeping fully clothed rather than in pyjamas. They moved regularly to avoid detection, so their encampment in the Forest of Dean had ended after one week, and they were now in Snowdonia, the Welsh national park. It was the safest way for them to avoid being found and ironically enough to avoid Muggles too. You didn’t get as many dog walkers in a national park in September as you did in a bog standard wood somewhere.

“I do understand why you’re angry,” Neville said, “But you’ve got to realise something else too. Harry isn’t just your friend anymore, he’s the person leading the side of the light in this war. When Dumbledore died, whether he wanted it or not, that role fell to Harry.”

“So that makes it okay for him to send my brothers to their death?” Ginny asked angrily.

“He didn’t send them to their death,” Neville said quietly, “For a start, you can’t say things like that unless you know they are dead. And second, Harry did ask them to go but they went willingly. It was their choice, Harry didn’t make it for them.”

Ginny glanced down, but didn’t say another word. Neville knew she knew he was right but she wouldn’t say so. She was too proud to admit that she had been wrong about something. 

Neville just continued to speak, “He’s our leader and being the leader is a hard job. You have to delegate and you have to make decisions that not everyone is going to agree with. If Harry didn’t send anyone to find Gregorovitch then You-Know-Who would definitely get the wand, this way we’ve got a chance and it’s because of your brothers and their bravery.”

“It doesn’t make me any less angry about the fact he did it without telling me first,” Ginny said.

“Which I understand,” Neville said honestly, “You can be angry with him after the war. You can ignore him for years if that’s what will make you feel better. But for now you have to follow him, if you don’t and we don’t stand united then we don’t stand a chance at all.”

“You’re right,” Ginny admitted, pushing herself to her feet, “But if my brothers don’t come back I’m leaving, and I’m killing Harry before I go...”

Neville knew she wasn’t serious, but all the same he said, “And that wouldn’t make you feel any better. It would only make you feel worse.”

Ginny sighed heavily, but said no more as she walked away in the direction of the tent.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The following two weeks dragged on for everybody. They had no word from Bill and Charlie, and Ginny continued to barely speak to Harry. They had no idea where the cup was, and no amount of research was bringing them any closer. It was safe to say that everyone was getting frustrated at their lack of progress as the full moon arrived. They made their camp close enough to a rocky outcrop with several caves, and they put Draco in one of those caves for the night. Neville stayed with him, as he always did at the full moon and they warded the cave so that no unsuspecting Muggles accidentally became a victim of his frustration. He was harder to control that month, but Neville still came out without a single scratch. Draco had taken his frustration out on himself, but as he lay in bed the following day the cuts gradually began to heal themselves.

After the minor drama of the month, the days wore on once more. Harry was beginning to get anxious when two weeks had passed and there had been no news. There had been no visions from Voldemort either though, and he imagined that he would see Voldemort kill Bill and Charlie, or kill Gregorovitch, if that had happened yet. His hunch turned out to be right because late one night towards the end of September he was contacted by Remus on the mirror.

“I’m with Bill and Charlie,” Remus said calmly, “They have what you want and ask that you come to their secure location. The wards will only allow you to bring one other person, so choose wisely.”

“What is this secure location?” Harry asked, his heart pounding fast with the thought that he might unlock another piece of the puzzle tonight.

“Shell Cottage,” Remus said, telling Harry the co-ordinates, “And get here as fast as you can. Alright?”

“Alright, I’ll be there,” Harry promised, ending the call and darting downstairs. Everyone was congregated in the living area. Hermione hadn’t given up on the researching game yet and was pouring over an old book. Lilly was obsessing over Hermione’s copy of “The Tales of Beedle the Bard”, Ginny was staring into the fire in the middle of the hearth, and Neville and Draco were playing chess.

“They have him,” Harry said, his eyes flashing with excitement, “They’re back, they’re safe and they have him in a secure location. The wards will only allow two people in, and as much as I know you want to see your brothers Ginny, I have to pick someone who can help me interrogate him.”

“The obvious choices are playing chess in front of you,” Lilly said pointedly.

Harry nodded, his eyes going from Draco to Neville, “The question is, which of you is going to help me get the most out of Gregorovitch?”

“Well I’m more brutal,” Draco said honestly, “But he’s probably more diplomatic.”

“I think he’s going to be afraid, so I don’t think aggression is going to be the way to get him to talk...come on Neville,” Harry said after a moment’s consideration.

Neville rolled his eyes but got to his feet, ignoring the glare that was being aimed at him from Ginny’s direction, “We’re going now?”

“Right now,” Harry said, “This is a matter of urgency. We’ll be back, hopefully with good news.”

Harry didn’t wait for anything more to be said, and he steered Neville out of the tent. They stepped out of the wards and apparated, landing in soft sand. There was a small cottage, adorned with shells rising out of the seaside mist. They walked towards it and Harry rapped his knuckles against the door three times.

“Identify that you are Harry Potter.”

“I’m Harry James Potter,” Harry said, “I’m your little brothers best friend, your sister had a giant crush on me when we were kids and I was at your wedding. Not to mention the wedding your brother officiated which was definitely interesting.”

There was a snort of amusement as the door swung open and Bill stepped back to let them in. They stepped into the house and followed him into the kitchen where Charlie and Remus stood over an elderly man who was magically bound to a kitchen chair.

“What do you want with me?” He asked.

“Well you’re better off with us than you would have been if You-Know-Who had found you first,” Harry said pointedly, “So I think that should loosen your tongue. We want to know about the Elder Wand.”

“I don’t have it,” Gregorovitch said fearfully as Harry drew his wand, “I swear to you! It was stolen from me.”

“Stolen?” Neville asked slowly, “And you weren’t killed? The wand leaves a bloody trail in history, it’s owner is almost always killed before it is taken from them.”

“He was just a boy,” Gregorovitch said quickly, “Not capable of killing for it. But he stole it, and I only caught a glimpse of him as he was leaving. I don’t know his name, I swear, I don’t know who he is.”

Harry’s heart sank, the trail ended here.

“I can use Legilimency to extract his memory of the thief,” Remus said quietly, “Somebody might recognise him.”

Harry nodded, “Do it,” he said simply.

“I’ll give you it,” Gregorovitch said, closing his eyes, “I’ll bring it to the front of my mind. Just let me go, please.”

Remus’s eyes flashed guiltily, but he raised his wand and performed the spell anyway. He extracted the memory and conjured up a phial, placing the silvery object inside it. 

“Did you recognise him?” Harry asked anxiously.

“No,” Remus admitted, “I am sorry, Harry.”

Harry shook his head and took the memory from Remus, “It’s alright, maybe somebody else will.”

“What are we going to do with him?” Charlie asked, gesturing towards Gregorovitch. 

“Hand him over to the Order,” Harry said, “He isn’t safe. You-Know-Who wants the Elder Wand, and he’ll kill anyone who gets in his way, regardless of what they know. We can’t risk him finding out that we have a lead that he doesn’t.”

Bill nodded and unbound the man, “We’re going to take you somewhere you will be safe. You-Know-Who is after you, we’re going to take you somewhere he won’t expect you to be.”

Harry walked away as Bill explained this to Gregorovitch. He stood by the patio door and groaned in frustration, trying not to punch a wall. Remus appeared behind him, placing his hand on his shoulder, “I understand your frustration Harry. But at the very least we may have stopped You-Know-Who from finding the wand.”

“At the very least,” Harry said, staring angrily out to the ocean, “We have nothing Remus. We have no idea where the cup is and no idea where the wand is. The others are already getting frustrated about our lack of progress. What am I supposed to do now?”

“Lead them,” Remus said, “That’s all you can do. You’ll find a way, Harry.”

Harry sighed heavily, not for the first time in his life he wished that the weight of the world didn’t have to bear down on him all of the time.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When they got back to the tent Harry informed the others of the news. He showed them all the memory, but nobody recognised the young thief. He began to give up then, he wanted to be alone so he went to his bedroom and shut the door, hoping Lilly would give him some time to come to terms with another dead end. He had barely sat down on the bed when his scar throbbed angrily and he fell back on the bed in agony. He gritted his teeth as Voldemort’s anger seeped into him. He didn’t see much, just an empty house and Voldemort shouting as he destroyed anything within reach inside of it. The moment ended as quickly as it had begun, but Harry gathered one thing from it, Voldemort was not happy that somebody else had gotten to Gregorovitch before he could.

Harry hadn’t told anyone that he was seeing into Voldemort’s mind again. He was letting it happen, and he knew that Hermione would be annoyed about that if she knew. He knew she would say the connection was dangerous and tell him to fight it. He had at first, and fighting it was a lot easier now that he had Lilly. His happiness made it harder for Voldemort to break through, but when he was angry he lost control and Harry could see everything. He had to use that, it gave him an advantage, he could always be a step ahead of Voldemort. This exercise with Gregorovitch had proven that. Nobody had asked him how he knew that Voldemort wanted Gregorovitch. But he could lie and say that he got intel from Remus and he would tell that lie if anyone apart from Lilly asked him.

Just as Harry turned his thoughts towards her, she knocked on the door. He unlocked it and she slipped in, putting up a silencing charm as she did so. She walked over silently and sat down next to him on the bed.

“I need to tell you the truth,” Harry said, “I thought you’d have asked and it’s been weeks and you haven’t.”

“I knew they were back,” Lilly admitted, “I could tell that you were trying to hide it from me. But when you knew that You-Know-Who was after Gregorovitch I knew that your visions were back.”

“Hermione always told me to fight them, she’s scared he’ll be able to possess me again,” Harry admitted, “But it’s different this time. Because of you I have so much happiness inside of me that I think it would be agony for him to try and be inside of my body. But when he’s angry he loses control and I see through his eyes. I’m not fighting it because it gives us an advantage, it meant we were a step ahead of him, it meant we got to Gregorovitch first.”

“I agree,” Lilly said, “It is helpful and I don’t think you should fight it either. When he’s angry by all means let yourself look. But don’t get too comfortable, don’t let him in, and don’t try to get inside of his head when he’s not pushing you towards it first.”

Harry nodded, “I won’t, I learned my lesson last time. I’ll never truly believe everything I see. But we can’t afford to not use this connection.”

“Just be careful,” Lilly said softly.

“I will,” Harry promised.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

September wore on, and became November. The ground got frostier, the air got colder and the rain began to pound against the tent, keeping them up all through the night. They continued to change campsites once a week, and as November set in their food supplies began to dwindle. It wasn’t enough to make them starve, but it was enough to reduce their rations slightly so that portions were smaller and breakfast sometimes had to be skipped. Tensions were rising, and the number of arguments over menial things was growing by the day.

Meanwhile, at Hogwarts, the situation was just as dire...

“We need to act now,” Daphne was saying firmly, addressing her task force, “Hes been locked up in there for three days, he’ll barely be alive if they haven’t been giving him water!”

“There are dementors, and Death Eaters up there,” Theo pointed out, “It’s not like our other simple; go in, grab our guy, get out missions, Daphne!”

“He’s the leader of this rebellion, we aren’t leaving him to rot!” Daphne exclaimed, “If none of you will come I’ll go on my own. My Patronus is pretty weak but I can cast one-”

“I’ll come,” Susan said, stepping forward, “I cast a great Patronus. I can keep the dementors at bay.”

Susan had joined them not long after the start of the school term. She had communicated with them, wishing for a way to return to Hogwarts so that she could be useful. Because of the nature of the Room of Requirement they had found a way. Susan had enlarged her mirror and stepped through it, emerging into the small secret room at the back of the Room of Requirement. When she emerged in the mess hall Hannah burst into tears and launched herself at her, sobbing about how she thought she was dead. Her other Hufflepuff friends had swamped her with hugs, and she finally seemed a little more like herself now she wasn’t stuck in a stuffy old library with nothing to research and no leads.

“I’m coming too,” Seamus said defiantly, “Ron’s my friend and he got caught helping 1st years out of the Carrows clutches. The least we can do is get him back.”

“I’m not risking my life for one person,” Theo said with a shake of his head, “I’m not going up against Death Eaters for a Weasley.”

“I will,” Luna said, she had lost her dreaminess in recent days, “He’s my friend, and I can help. I fought Death Eaters before, at the Ministry.”

“I’ll come too,” Lavender said, stepping forward.

Hannah nodded and stepped up, “So will I.”

“And me,” Terry said firmly.

Daphne smiled proudly, “Good! Then we finally have enough people to put a plan in place! Susan, Seamus and Terry...you three have the best patronuses...we’ll get to the tower the usual way, under disillusionment charms. When we get in you three take the lead and scare the Dementors off. Myself and Luna will follow and stun the two Death Eaters guarding the cells while Lavender and Hannah will guard the entrance. I’ll break Ron out and if he’s badly hurt I’ll need your help Seamus, to get him back here.”

Seamus nodded, “Understood.”

“Do we know where he is in the tower?” Susan asked carefully.

Daphne’s eyes darkened, “The top cell.”

“Fantastic,” Theo said sarcastically, “I’ll take over the rebellion when you lot all get yourselves caught and killed then, alright?”

“Aren’t you just a bundle of joy tonight, Theo?” Daphne asked sarcastically, glaring at the boy as her sister grabbed her wrist from behind.

“Don’t go Daphne,” Astoria said quietly.

“I have to,” Daphne said firmly, “If we don’t help our friends we’re no different from them Astoria. He’s taken the cruciatus curse for both of us, it’s time to repay the favour.”

Astoria didn’t look happy about her sister’s choice, but she didn’t argue. Daphne looked around at her motley crew of a task force and said, “Right, disillusion yourselves and get ready. We’re moving out!”

The team of 7 got ready straight away, and within 10 minutes they were all disillusioned and in position. They used every secret passageway they knew of to get to the tower undetected and that went to plan. However, when they got to the tower the hard work started. The entrance was unguarded so Lavender and Hannah were left there to ensure the others weren’t followed up. Halfway up the tower was a landing and from that point there were cells. This was where the dementors were positioned. There were 4 of them, and three patronus casters. Susan, Seamus and Terry hurried up first, sending their patronuses towards the dementors. They made an inhumane shrieking sort of sound and soared out of the window, leaving the rest of the tower for the taking. Daphne and Luna took point after that, ascending the next few stairs and stunning the two Death Eaters atop them. They fell with loud thuds and the others stepped over them, jogging up the steps to the very top of the tower. The top cell was open to the elements, it was freezing up here and pouring with rain. Through the bars they could see Ron, curled up in the corner shivering.

“Bombarda!” Daphne shouted, wrenching the cell open and rushing in.

Ron looked up and his bloodshot eyes lit up, “Daphne?” he asked into the darkness because he couldn’t see anyone but he could sense her presence and smell her shampoo.

“We’re here,” Daphne said softly as she unbound his arms, “Sorry it took so long. Can you walk?”

“I don’t know,” Ron said weakly. He tried to get to his feet, but he was shaky and unsteady. 

Daphne waved Seamus and Terry over. They propped Ron up between them and they began their descent of the tower which took far longer than the ascent due to Ron’s incapacitated state. At the foot of the tower they ran into a Carrow, fortunately they saw Alecto before she saw them and they stunned her and stepped over her before she could perform her favourite spell, the cruciatus curse. They half-dragged Ron back to the Room of Requirement and Daphne thought it was a miracle they weren’t caught, but the corridors were quiet that night, luckily for them.

When they were safe and sound in the Room of Requirement with the door firmly locked behind them they took their disillusionment charms off. Daphne called, “Susan, Hannah, I need you both and anybody else who is a good healer!”

Terry and Seamus lay Ron down on one of the makeshift beds in the male dorm. Daphne, Susan and Hannah knelt by his side, performing diagnostic charms.

“He’s dehydrated,” Susan said quietly, “And hungry. His blood sugar is ridiculously low, he’s got mild hypothermia too.”

“Warming charms,” Hannah said, “Lots of them.”

The others nodded and began to cast as many warming charms on Ron as they could. He had slipped out of consciousness the moment they had lain him down on the bed. When they were satisfied that he was sufficiently warmed up and wrapped in blankets, they had to find a way to make him eat and drink.

“I’ll do it,” Daphne said with a wave of her hand, “Just use the passageway to the kitchens and go get food. The others will get grumpy if they have to go without it again tonight.”

“Are you sure you’ll be okay Daphne?” Susan asked quietly, she could see that Daphne’s hands were shaking.

“I’ll be fine Suse,” Daphne said, “I just...I know I’m supposed to be there for them but right now I need to be here for Ron. You’re practically my second in command, can you just make sure that the dinner for tonight ends up on the table?”

Susan nodded and got to her feet. Before she left the dorm room she whispered in her best friends ear, “Be careful Daphne, it’s starting to look like you care.”

Daphne didn’t have it in her to glare at Susan for the comment, or to deny it. She just rolled her eyes and turned back to Ron, gently trying to shake him awake as Susan retreated into the mess hall.

He mumbled nonsense, and Daphne sighed, “Ron, you have to drink something. You’re thirsty,” she had filled a glass with water using aguamenti. She just needed to convince him to drink some. Daphne held his head in her hand and lifted it up slightly, pressing the glass to his lips. He choked on the first couple of sips, but drank reluctantly after that and his delirious mumblings seemed to ease. She knew she had to get him to eat too, but right now she could barely keep him awake. She put the glass of water down and let her hand drop. She nearly jumped in surprise when he found it in his sleep and gripped it tightly but Daphne didn’t have the heart to take her hand away, and she found herself having to admit that she didn’t want to either.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“I feel obsolete.”

“It’s 6am,” Draco mumbled into his pillow.

“I know,” Hermione said miserably, “I can’t sleep.”

“Stop thinking about big words and shut your eyes,” Draco muttered, he was not a morning person.

“I do though,” Hermione said, “I feel so obsolete. I mean what am I even doing here? Lilly is smarter than me, her plans are better than mine and Harry is doing everything she says.”

“She’s his girlfriend,” Draco yawned, turning his head to look at Hermione, “Guys generally do what their girlfriends want.”

Hermione continued to stare at the roof, the rain was battering down loudly this morning. Draco wasn’t surprised that it had woken Hermione up, “But I’m his best friend. My opinion used to matter, it used to be me who he listened to, my plans that he acted on. But now it’s Lilly, so I have no purpose do I?”

“Are you jealous of Lilly?” Draco asked in disbelief, “Should I be worried here?”

“No,” Hermione sighed, “There’s nothing like that between Harry and I. It’s more of a brother-sister thing, but it just sort of feels like...now he has a girlfriend he’s not interested in his little sister. Does that make sense?”

“If it wasn’t 6am it would,” Draco muttered irritably, pushing himself up into a sitting position, “But you’ve woken me up now so go on.”

“What am I doing here, Draco?”

“Winning a war,” Draco said bluntly, “We don’t all have a specific purpose Hermione. What have I done apart from turn into a werewolf a few times and cause trouble for everyone? You’re here to support Harry and I’m here to make sure you don’t die. Anyway Lilly hasn’t done everything, it was both of you who came up with the theory about the Hallows from that book and it was your plan to use polyjuice to get into the Ministry, Lilly just expanded on it.”

“I suppose,” Hermione said.

“So you’re not obsolete and you know Harry would go mental if he heard you say that,” Draco yawned, “I guess that’s just the problem of having a best friend of the opposite gender, you do get pushed out a bit when they get another half. Have you been as forthcoming with him since we started dating?”

Hermione frowned as she thought about that, “No,” she admitted.

“Exactly,” Draco said calmly, “You’re growing into yourselves and your own relationships. It doesn’t mean you’re friendship is suffering, give it time.”

“Time?” Hermione asked with a sad sigh, “We don’t have time.”

“You don’t know that we won’t all survive this,” Draco said firmly, “And thinking that way isn’t going to make you feel any better. You’ve got to be more optimistic and...in the future could you wait till 7am to wake me up with your random thoughts?”

Hermione smiled despite herself and reached over to playfully hit him. He grabbed her before she could and pulled her towards him for a good morning kiss. She chuckled as he pinned her down, shoving her hair aside so that he could actually see her face.

“As a consequence of waking me up, I think I’ll need some payment,” Draco mumbled, kissing her neck, and her nose and looking into her sleepy eyes.

“What kind of payment?” She teased, her eyes sparkling.

“I think you know exactly...” Draco paused and kissed her on the neck, “...what...” he lowered his mouth again, “...payment...” Hermione gasped as his lips continued downwards, “...love.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Mione?”

“No, I’m Daphne.”

“Daphne,” Ron mumbled, prying his eyes open and watching as she swam into view.

Daphne nodded, “You’re alive, I did wonder for a while last night if you’d kicked the bucket.”

Ron frowned, his head pounded, “What happened?”

“Well you haven’t eaten and you’ve barely drank for three days,” Daphne said, “So you aren’t in the best shape. Last night was a little touch and go, you were recovering from mild hypothermia.”

“Explains why I feel so shit,” Ron muttered, trying to push himself up but realising fairly quickly he needed Daphne’s help to do so. When he was sitting up his vision stopped swimming so much, and his stomach growled angry.

“You’re definitely on your way to recovery,” Daphne retorted as she put a bowl of cereal down in front of him, “I don’t have to feed it to you, do I?”

Ron glared at her and picked the bowl up, albeit a little shakily, “Bugger off.”

“Hey I saved your life, you should try being a bit more grateful,” Daphne retorted.

“She did you know,” Susan said, perching next to Ron’s camp bed, “Nobody wanted to go on a rescue mission that involved dementors and Death Eaters to save one person. Daph rallied the troops, she told them they couldn’t let their leader die of starvation up there.”

Ron smiled slightly, “Leader?”

Daphne rolled her eyes, “Well you are, and you know it. I help, but you lead this whole thing. People respect you, probably because your favourite thing to do is jump in front of dangerous curses for them...”

Ron laughed weakly and coughed as he did so. Daphne gripped his shoulder and said, “Take it easy Ron, you barely survived that ordeal.”

“Ron now, am I?” He asked in amusement, “When did I stop being Weasley?”

“Around about the moment you got captured and imprisoned in the dark tower,” Susan grinned, “It became Ron then.”

“Oh shut up Suse,” Daphne said with a pointed glare, “Don’t you have 1st years to fix up?”

Susan just smirked and pushed herself to her feet. She left without another word, and Ron grinned broadly at Daphne, “I knew it.”

“You knew what?” Daphne asked defensively.

“I knew you cared,” Ron said triumphantly.

“Of course I care about people Weasley, I do have a heart you know,” Daphne said matter of factly, “Despite what they call me.”

“No,” Ron said, putting down the empty bowl and looking at her properly, “I knew you cared about me.”

Daphne scoffed, “I saved you because you’re our leader and we...and I need you. There’s no deeper meaning.”

“Whatever you say,” Ron said, still smiling.

Daphne cleared her throat and got to her feet, “It’s true Weasley,” she said firmly, leaving the dorm.

Ron just grinned at Seamus whose bed was next to his and said, “She just said she needed me, didn’t she?”

Seamus laughed and said, “Aye, that she did.”

“I knew it,” Ron said with a smirk, “I bloody well knew it!”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Does my opinion still matter to you?”

Harry glanced at Hermione in surprise, “Did you seriously just ask me that?”

“Yes,” Hermione said calmly, “Does it?”

“Hermione,” Harry said in disbelief, “Your opinion is one of the most important opinions to me.”

They were sitting by a lake trying to catch some fish to add to their tiny amount of rations, they had been sitting in silence for the best part of an hour before Hermione’s question had come out of the blue.

“Yes but the point is, if Lilly gave you an opinion on something and I said something else, you would agree with Lilly’s opinion wouldn’t you? Because she’s your girlfriend,” Hermione pointed out.

Harry narrowed his eyes at the brunette, “Hermione, are you jealous?”

“No,” Hermione replied sharply, “Of course not! I just...well I suppose I’m feeling a little pushed out since you and Lilly started dating. You’ve been keeping all of these secrets and you’ve been doing everything Lilly says...I guess I just feel a little obsolete.”

“Obsolete?” Harry scoffed, “Merlin for such a smart girl you can say some daft things. I love Lilly, I really do and being with her makes me happy but that doesn’t mean I think she’s right all the time. For starters she doesn’t like Disney-”

“What?” Hermione asked in surprise, “Who doesn’t like Disney?”

“Exactly,” Harry said in amusement, “And her music taste sucks. It doesn’t make me love her any less, but the next time I want to go to a Weird Sisters gig I’d be taking you not her. That’s the difference between a best friend and a girlfriend.”

“What the fact you can take one to a Weird Sisters gig and not the other?” Hermione asked with a laugh.

“The fact that you pick a best friend because you have a ton in common and you get each other,” Harry said, “And a girlfriend...well that sort of thing picks you. You don’t mean to fall in love, it just happens and you learn to love the bad along with the good because you just love the person.”

“That was very wise of you,” Hermione said thoughtfully, “And very true.”

Harry nodded and glanced back to the lake, “Are you still feeling insecure about our friendship?” he teased.

Hermione rolled her eyes, “Oh shut up,” she said half-heartedly.

Harry laughed a little louder and said, “Do you know something? I don’t think this lake has any fish in it.”

“There’s a far easier way to do this,” Hermione admitted. She got to her feet and transfigured some stray twigs on the ground into a basket. Then Hermione pointed her wand at the lake and said, “Accio fish!”

About 10 fish flew out of the lake and landed in the basket, Hermione winced as they flapped around in the basket so she quickly put them out of their misery.

Harry stared at her in disbelief, “You could have done that an hour ago.”

“Oh come on,” Hermione said, rolling her eyes and picking up the basket, “We don’t have anything better to do at the moment, and I was feeling insecure about our friendship.”

Harry shook his head, torn between amusement and disbelief at the way her mind worked. He chuckled and put his arm around her shoulder, “Hermione, you are my best friend and I love you like the sister I never had but I will never understand you.”

“The feeling is mutual,” Hermione remarked as she ducked inside the tent with her basket of fish.

TBC :)


	45. Hungry Like the Wolf

“So the bad news is that we don’t have any leads about the Elder Wand. But the good news is that we got Gregorovitch before You-Know-Who did so he has no leads either.”

Daphne raised an eyebrow at him, “So the trail ends there?”

“Pretty much,” Harry said, “How are things on your end?”

“Well Ron nearly died last night,” Daphne said as the redhead himself trudged in and sat down heavily next to Daphne.

“How the hell did he nearly die last night?” Harry asked sharply.

“It was a mixture of hypothermia, hunger and dehydration,” Susan piped up, slipping onto the bench on Daphne’s other side.

“He was caught a few days ago rescuing some 1st years,” Daphne elaborated, “They put him in the open air cell at the top of the dark tower. It was guarded with Death Eaters and dementors so by the time we got a plan together to get him out he was practically gone.”

“But Daphne nursed him back to health,” Susan said with a smirk.

“And admitted she cares about me,” Ron grinned, “You even said you needed me.”

“I meant that the rebellion needed you because you’re its leader,” Daphne said matter of factly, she turned back to the mirror and added, “He was delusional last night, clearly it hasn’t worn off yet.”

Ron shook his head, “She can’t hide how much she wants me, right?”

Hermione snorted in amusement, “I think Daphne might be right, are you sure you aren’t still delusional?”

“Oh shut up Mione,” Ron said half-heartedly with a pathetic wave of his hand.

Daphne shook her head, but the others saw her attempt to hide her amused smile, “So yes, we are all still in one piece, just. Do you have anything at all on that end?”

“Nothing,” Harry admitted, “We don’t know where the wand is or where the cup is. We got too close too quickly I think, and I don’t know when we’ll catch a break now.”

“Well good luck with it,” Susan said, “We’ll keep gathering intel on this end and we’ll talk again soon.”

“Sounds good,” Harry said with a nod, “Oh and Daphne, try and keep my best mate alive, alright?”

Daphne chuckled and saluted Harry, “Aye aye Auror Potter sir!” she teased before cutting the connection. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

November wore on, and the colder it got, the more tensions in the tent rose. They were scraping by on the last of their rations and the fish and meat they could catch. Technically it was illegal poaching, but they had no other option and they would take the muggle authorities over the wizarding ones at the moment...

Towards the middle of the month the full moon approached. Draco was grumpy as sin at the best of times around the full moon, but things were amplified this month. He was hungry, and he was even more frustrated than he had been the previous month. With all of their leads having led to dead ends they had absolutely nothing to go on and nothing to do apart from read books all day. None of which actually gave them any new leads anyway. 

As a result of this, Draco was snapping at everyone on the day of the full moon and they were looking forward to the peace and quiet they would get later when he curled up in a hole somewhere to see the night out. He had a go at Ginny for speaking too loudly, and then he took a pop at Lilly for beating him at chess. Harry’s patience was dwindling when Draco came up to him after dinner that night and said, “So what’s our next move?”

“If I knew I’d have told you Malfoy,” Harry said irritably, he was trying not to irritate him because Hermione and Neville always said that he could get dangerous if he was annoyed on this particular day.

“What are you two arguing about?” Hermione asked sharply as she stepped into the kitchen.

“Potter has no idea what to do, as usual,” Draco said irritably, he opened a cupboard and scoffed then slammed it shut, “And we have no bacon! Why have we not got any bacon?”

“Because you’ve eaten it all!” Hermione snapped, “You’ve eaten your way through most of our bloody rations!”

“I have needs!” Draco said angrily, “My metabolism is faster than yours! Do you have any idea how hard it is to crave meat when there is no meat? My body rips itself apart once a month, the least you could do is make sure theres bacon!”

“You aren’t the only one who goes through a shitty time once a month!” Hermione glared, “Sometimes I want chocolate, but guess what? There’s none of that either so suck it up!”

Draco growled angrily, and Neville stepped into the kitchen warily, “Calm down wolfy.”

“Oh shut up!” Draco shouted, “Will one of you go and find me some bloody meat?”

“No!” Hermione snapped, “It’s not our job to cater to your animalistic tastes! If you want bacon so much go out and kill a fucking pig tonight!”

Draco growled again and snapped in her face before storming from the tent.

Neville grimaced, “Maybe taking a semi-werewolf on the run with us wasn’t a good idea.”

Hermione shook her head angrily, “Don’t get me wrong I love him every day of the month apart from full moon day. I feel like I’m dating a PMS-ing teenager...”

“Fucking bacon,” Harry said with a shake of his head, “I just want food. Kreacher’s a good cook, but he can’t make a meal out of flour and out of date eggs.”

“Do you think we should check on Draco?” Hermione asked, glancing out of the kitchen ‘window’ which was really just a clear bit of plastic. The sky had darkened and the moon was hiding behind a tree.

Neville shook his head, “Nah, let’s let him handle this full moon on his own. He’ll appreciate everything we do that way. Is he still off of the wolfsbane?”

Hermione nodded, her eyes anxiously watching the moon break through from behind the clouds, “We ran out after we left Grimmauld Place.”

“Well he was aggressive towards himself last month, but not to anyone else,” Neville said optimistically.

“Do you think he’ll leave the wards?” Harry asked.

“If he’s ever going to do that...it would be this month,” Neville admitted as a howl sounded in the distance.

“That sounded pretty far away,” Hermione said, chewing on her lip anxiously.

Harry sighed and put his arm around the girl, “It did. You aren’t going to sleep tonight, are you?”

Hermione shook her head miserably.

Harry nodded, “I thought so. How are we spending the night then? I’ll be honest, reading is at the bottom of my list of fun things to do on an all-nighter. I can handle chess, and then there’s that portable DVD player of Lilly’s upstairs...”

“She hates Disney,” Hermione pointed out, “So what DVD’s does she have?”

Harry looked sheepish, “Well she has a lot of horror...it would definitely keep you awake but we should maybe shy away from films like The Howling...”

Neville snorted in amusement, “Have fun with that,” he said.

“Horror films,” Hermione said with a shake of her head, “She hates Disney and she likes horror films.”

“I know, she’s practically a sadist,” Harry said in amusement, leading Hermione into the living room, “If we survive the war I’ll take you to the cinema to see Hercules. There are posters for that everywhere at the moment.”

Hermione laughed weakly, “Thanks Harry, but you don’t have to stay up with me all night.”

“Don’t be stupid, I’m not going to leave you to sit up all night worrying about your idiotic werewolf boyfriend alone,” Harry said with a smile, “I mean what are friends for?”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When Draco woke up he was very confused. When he used wolfsbane he was completely aware of what he was doing all night. He was basically human on the inside, even if he wasn’t on the outside. But without wolfsbane he had no idea what he was doing until the morning and even then it came back in flashes throughout the day. 

The world came into focus, and he squinted as the sun shone down brightly on him. He was freezing and the ground was cold. He sat up and realised why, not only was he stark bollock naked, he was also lying in the middle of a field. The sun was rising above him and the sky was grey, rain was threatening to fall very shortly. 

Draco didn’t have his wand, he had left it in the tent after his argument with Hermione. He came to the conclusion as he got shakily to his feet that he was in the middle of nowhere, Merlin knew how many miles from the campsite and he was bloody well naked. His body ached and his vision finally stopped blurring as he steadied himself on his feet. He was covered in cuts, and blood but not all of it was his own. His frown deepened and his heart quickened, had he hurt somebody? He wasn’t a full wolf but it was close enough to do real damage...he surveyed the surrounding field and then he spotted his victim.

“Fuck,” Draco muttered as his eyes fell on the mauled pig lying a few metres away from the spot where he had decided to pass out.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“What do you mean he’s not there?”

“I mean we were right,” Neville said, “He left the wards last night.”

“And his wand is here,” Lilly said, picking it up from the kitchen table.

“He could be anywhere by now at the speed he can run in his wolf-ish form!” Hermione exclaimed, “And without his wand he has no way of getting back!”

“He really is a bloody idiot,” Harry yawned.

“How the hell are we going to find him?” Ginny asked in disbelief.

Neville had been fairly quiet as he considered their options. His eyes lit up and he laughed out loud.

“What?” Hermione asked anxiously.

“The last thing that happened was your fight,” Neville remembered, “You told him to go kill a pig or something. In his animalistic state last night I bet that’s exactly what he set out to do. He’ll be in a field somewhere near here I reckon.”

“A field?” Hermione asked, sitting down and shaking her head, “There are a lot of fields around the Lake District!”

“Don’t worry,” Neville said, pulling on his thick winter coat, “I’ll find him.”

“I’ll come with you,” Harry said, grabbing his own coat and walking towards the flap of the tent with Neville, “Keep an eye on Hermione, I think she’s in shock,” he added in an undertone to Lilly and Ginny before he slipped out of the tent with Neville.

They went for a little walk along a country lane and picked up his trail after only 5 minutes. He had darted through the trees, leaving carnage in his wake and Harry scoffed irritably about the fact they would have to change campsites after only 2 days because of this mess. They followed the trail for about half an hour and then they bumped into the man himself. They froze in their tracks when they saw him walking along the path towards them. He had clearly grabbed the biggest leaf he could find to cover his most vital area and he was shuffling along, covered in cuts and blood.

“Nice clothes,” Neville said with a grin.

Draco rolled his eyes, “Shut up. I’ve been walking for an hour to try and find my way back to the bloody tent!”

“Did you see any Muggles on your walk?” Harry asked as he chortled with amusement.

“Thankfully, no,” Draco said, “I feel like I’m doing penance for my sins. My feet are bleeding.”

“All of you is bleeding,” Neville pointed out, “Did you get in a fight last night?”

“As a matter of fact there was a particularly vicious fox that had a go at me last night...and a pig which definitely lost judging from the state and smell of it this morning,” Draco said sheepishly.

“I knew that’s what you’d done,” Neville said, shaking his head in disbelief and giving Draco his jacket, “You’re a bloody idiot.”

“It’s not my fault,” Draco grumbled, happily accepting the jacket and pulling it tightly around himself, “I hate not having wolfsbane.”

“We’ll see what we can do,” Harry said as they turned around and walked back in the direction they came in, “If there’s a way Remus can bring some to us we’ll work it out. I’d prefer it if you were under control too, I had to stay up all night watching horror films with your girlfriend while she freaked out about the fact you were out there doing god knows what.”

“I’m going to have to prepare the mother of apologies, aren’t I?” Draco asked, grimacing at the very thought.

“Oh yeah,” Harry said, nodding and giving him a look that said, and it serves you right too.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Are you speaking to me yet?”

Hermione turned the page of her book particularly loudly, and said nothing.

Draco rolled his eyes, “Hermione-”

“You woke up naked in a field next to a dead pig, Draco!” Hermione said, shutting her book loudly.

“I’m a werewolf, Hermione!” Draco snapped, “You can say I’m not an animal as much as you want but that doesn’t make it true! Once a month I am an animal and without wolfsbane I will act like that animal!”

“You aren’t a full wolf, Draco,” Hermione said angrily, “So don’t try that excuse.”

“I don’t turn into a wolf entirely, you’re right,” Draco said, getting to his feet and pacing the bedroom, “But I grow teeth sharp enough to do real damage and fucking huge claws! Without wolfsbane I have the characteristics of a wolf, if not the full strength. Without wolfsbane I can’t control what I’m doing!”

Hermione stared at him resolutely, “You aren’t an animal. I refuse to believe that!”

“Because you see me like this,” Draco said quietly, “You see me as human and whole, or at least as whole as I can be with all of this,” he gestured from his face down to his chest, he was gesturing at the scars that covered his body.

“Because this is who you are,” Hermione said quietly, tears brimming in her eyes.

“Every day of the month but one, yes,” Draco said, “But this isn’t who I am on the full moon. I don’t want you to see that because I hate it, I’m ashamed of that person. I hate that I can’t control him, not without wolfsbane and Neville at least. I don’t ever want you to see that side of me.”

“But you let Neville see that side of you,” Hermione said.

“Neville has known me for pretty much my entire life,” Draco said honestly, “Even without wolfsbane some part of me knows that I know him. But Hermione, if I hurt Neville it would kill me...if something happened to him because of me the guilt would kill me but I could cope. If I hurt you...it would be the end of me.”

Hermione sighed and tore her eyes away from him, “You’re protecting me from yourself.”

Draco sat down on the bed and took her hand, taking her chin in his fingers and turning her head to face him, “I love you more than I have ever loved anything or anyone on this earth. I will never put you in danger and that is why I don’t let you anywhere near me on the full moon. I learned my lesson this month, next month we find a cave or somewhere you can put me and lock me in so that I can’t hurt anyone. Alright?”

“Alright,” Hermione said, clearing her throat and wiping her eyes, “I’m sorry...I just can’t see you as an animal. I can’t ever think of you like that.”

“I’m glad you don’t,” Draco said honestly, “But that scares me too. I’m scared one day you’ll see what I am and your opinion of me will change.”

Hermione shook her head and wiped her eyes again, “Nothing can change how much I love you. I mean that, and I promise that things will be different when this is all over I...I just...there’s so much on my mind.”

Draco nodded and gripped her hand tightly, “I know,” he said softly.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

November died out in a frosty, snowy blizzard. The tent needed a good deal of fixing from the winds that had battered it on the last night of November. They even had to move campsite to somewhere in Britain not so affected by the storm that seemed to be raging in the heavens above. They had gotten no further in the final weeks of November, and Harry had decided that it was time to take drastic action.

He contemplated bringing his idea up with Lilly before he ran it by the group, but then he remembered his conversation with Hermione about keeping secrets and decided against that idea. Instead he waited until they had all eaten one night. Their food situation had drastically improved when Neville returned to the tent with heaps of it one day. They had been so focused on catching food and cooking it on a fire that none of them had considered the obvious option. They were magical, they could take advantage of that. Neville had snuck into the store room of a Muggle supermarket while invisible and stocked up on enough food to last them for another two months. The meat cupboard however had an anti-werewolf lock on it, every time Draco opened the door a high frequency was emitted that hurt his ears. As a result their meat had been lasting a great deal longer.

Everyone was sitting together in the living area of the tent. They were miserable because they were around a week into December and it didn’t feel at all like Christmas time. Harry got to his feet and said, “I think we should go to Godric’s Hollow.”

Hermione dropped the pawn she was holding in her hand, “Are you insane?”

“It’s probably the most guarded place in Britain!” Ginny agreed.

“You-Know-Who must expect you to go back there,” Draco said, “There will be Death Eaters everywhere.”

“I know,” Harry admitted, “But it has been months and we’ve got nothing. I feel like there could be a clue there, or maybe even a horcrux. It would be just like him to hide it in plain sight.”

“You might be right,” Neville admitted.

“You’re agreeing with this suicidal plan?” Hermione asked her friend in disbelief.

Neville looked sheepish as he nodded, “Harry’s right about one thing. I don’t know about a horcrux, but Godric Hollow does hold the answer to at least one mystery...the origin of the three brothers.”

“And that’s relevant how?” Ginny asked with a raised eyebrow, “It won’t help us find the wand.”

Harry sighed and glanced at Lilly, “You’re very quiet about this matter.”

“I understand that you want to go back,” Lilly said honestly, “You want to see the place where you were born, but is it really the right time?”

“Are you sure there’s enough reason to risk going back?” Hermione asked, cottoning on to what Lilly was saying.

“I have a feeling that going back is important,” Harry said, “And in the past my feelings have generally been right.”

“Apart from the one time they weren’t,” Hermione said quietly, “And you don’t want another repeat of that.”

Harry swallowed, he knew she was referring to Sirius’s death. He bit back an angry retort, “I have to go back Hermione.”

“Then I’m coming with you,” Hermione said, “You can’t go back there alone. It’s far too dangerous.”

“He won’t be going alone,’ Neville said, “I’ll go with him. I grew up in Godric’s Hollow, I know it like the back of my hand. If you want the best chance of coming back from there, you need to take me with you.”

Harry nodded and looked to Hermione, “I appreciate the sentiment Hermione, and I was going to suggest that three of us go.”

“So you’ll be taking Lilly then,” Hermione guessed.

Harry smiled at her, “If Lilly was alright with it, I was actually going to take you. Nobody has helped me through my parent’s deaths more than you. I think you should come back with me to the place where it all began.”

Lilly smiled at them, “Of course I’m alright with it. You and Hermione have 7 years friendship on the less than a year you and I have been dating. I understand.”

Hermione smiled tearfully at Harry and nodded, “How do you want to do this?”

“Polyjuice is the safest option,” Draco put forward.

“I was born there,” Harry said with a shake of his head, “I want to go back as myself. Why don’t you and Hermione use polyjuice potion and I’ll use the cloak?”

“If you use a masking charm to cover up your footsteps in the snow I’ll agree to that,” Hermione said.

Harry nodded, “Deal...there’s just one other catch...”

“Which is?” Lilly asked.

“Nobody can tell Remus and Tonks about this until after we’ve done it,” Harry said sheepishly, “He’d say it was a terrible idea and get angry. It’s best if we just stay quiet about it.”

“Well to be fair, he would be right,” Draco remarked, “It is a terrible idea.”

Ginny nodded, “He’s not wrong you know.”

Hermione snorted, “Well I never thought I would see the day when you two agreed on anything.”

“It’s not a good thing,” Ginny said diplomatically, “If we both think it’s a terrible idea then you have to accept that it probably is a terrible idea.”

“Maybe it is,” Harry said honestly, “But it’s also the only idea we have so we’re going to have to run with it.”

“Fair point,” Draco sighed, “But if you get my girlfriend killed or captured in this stupid homecoming adventure of yours, I will kill you.”

“I wouldn’t blame you,” Harry said calmly.

“Good to know I have your permission,” Draco smirked.

Harry actually laughed and clapped his hands together, “Alright! Let’s get planning so that nobody gets captured and killed on this ‘homecoming’ adventure as you so poetically put it, Draco.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“It still doesn’t feel very Christmassy.”

“Well it wouldn’t yet,” Daphne said, “There’s only one tree and it’s bare.”

“What are we supposed to decorate it with, exactly?” Ron asked, cocking his head and looking at the fairly small tree adorning the corner of the Room of Requirement.

“These!” Hannah said, appearing out of the secret passage from the kitchen with a huge tray of gingerbread men, “Dobby helped me make them and he even found me some string.”

Ron shook his head in amusement but took a gingerbread man and began to tie a piece of string through it so that it could be hung from the tree. Daphne sat down next to him and picked up a gingerbread woman. She sat closer to him these days, in fact a lot of small things had changed since Ron’s brush with death the previous month. She sat a little bit closer to him, her hand lingered a little longer when she handed him something. Her gaze lingered a little longer when their eyes met over a mission plan. 

As a whole they had managed to stay out of danger relatively well in the past few months. Maybe it was the spirit of Christmas, or maybe there were bigger things going on in the world of You-Know-Who but the Death Eaters were less frequent visitors to the school and the Carrows reign of cruelty seemed to be on a break. They had gotten more careful too so there had been no more captures or rescue missions since Ron’s rather epic one the previous month. 

Ron glanced over at the calendar on the wall that was keeping them right. The Room of Requirement had no windows, it seemed to be one of the things it couldn’t do but they suspected that was because if it had windows it wouldn’t be unplottable anymore. They kept track of the time and the day carefully so they didn’t lose their place in the world.

“Full moon tonight,” Ron remarked quietly.

Daphne nodded as she finished tying the ribbon to her gingerbread lady and began on her second edible ornament, “Let’s hope it’s not as eventful as last months,” she said with a knowing smile in his direction.

Ron grinned and mumbled, “You mean let’s hope Malfoy doesn’t start craving bacon, kill a pig and wake up naked in the middle of a field?”

Daphne couldn’t contain her laughter, and she ignored the odd look sent her way by Theo. She looked over at Ron and said, “Yes, that was what I was trying to say in a slightly more polite manner. Although from what I hear they’re chaining him up in a cave somewhere this month.”

“Probably a safer option,” Ron said, still smiling in amusement.

“I feel for them at the moment,” Daphne admitted as she looked at their tree, “I know things here are shit at times but we managed to steal a tree from the grounds. We have a passageway to the kitchens...we’re pretty safe and self-contained here. Christmas must be lonely for them.”

“Yeah,” Ron said sadly, “It must be...”

“You miss them don’t you?” Daphne said softly, “Ginny, Harry and Hermione.”

“Most of the time I can focus on what we’re doing here,” Ron said, “Most of the time I can focus on the good that we’re doing here and I can forgot about it. But it’s Christmas time...and I just...I can’t not think about them.”

Daphne surprised Ron then, she slipped her hand into his under the table and looked over the hall to Astoria who was laughing as Luna showed her a cool trick with fake snow. She tightened her grip on his hand and said, “I can’t imagine Christmas without Tori...I can’t imagine life without her, not after...”

Ron frowned, he knew her brother had died but she didn’t talk about it. Not to him, not to anyone in fact. Daphne cleared her throat, “Not since my brother died.”

“I’m sorry about that,” Ron mumbled, “I know I didn’t know you then but-”

Daphne shook her head, “Don’t apologise for the death of someone you never knew. It only makes the person you’re talking to angry...I know it’s the polite thing to say but that doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to say.”

“Sorry,” Ron said sheepishly, and his ears burned bright red.

Daphne looked at him again and caught his eye, “The thing is...I miss my brother but I don’t feel angry anymore. They say that revenge is never the answer, but Greyback killed my brother and I shot him in the back with a killing curse after he attacked Draco. I didn’t feel any worse for doing it, I felt better, like a weight had been lifted and a monster taken away from this world.”

Ron watched Daphne with interest as she spoke. When she had finished speaking he said, “If anyone did that to any of my siblings...if someone hurt Ginny...I would feel the same, I would do the same.”

“I had a feeling you might understand,” Daphne said honestly, “Harry never did. His morals are too set...sometimes I wonder if he’s capable of killing at all. I wonder if he’s capable of killing You-Know-Who.”

“He is,” Ron said, “As much as he plays the moral high ground he wants revenge too. You-Know-Who killed his parents and he’s the reason Sirius is dead. Harry wants him dead, he’ll be able to kill him.”

“You’re certain?” Daphne asked.

Ron nodded, “I’m sure of it,” he said with complete confidence. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The fact that they had something to plan for heightened the spirits of everyone in the tent. The full moon came and went, and Draco didn’t hurt a soul in the cave they had locked him up in. Neville stayed with him and kept him calm, he was almost a replacement form of wolfsbane for Draco in fact. As Draco recovered the following day, Harry, Neville and Hermione prepared themselves for their visit to Godric’s Hollow. They had planned so much that there was nothing more they could possibly do. 

They had to take the plunge now, they had to hope for the best and expect the worst. They waited for Draco to recover after the full moon because they were going to need all hands on deck back at the tent in case anything went wrong and they needed assistance. By the time Draco was back to full health and after they had moved campsite for the week, Christmas was really creeping up on them. They were never sure of exact dates, they just guessed from the weather and the time the sun set and rose in the sky. They knew months, and whenever they caught up with those at Hogwarts, or with Remus or Tonks they asked for the date to set them back on the right track.

The night that the trio left for Godric’s Hollow was icy, cold and snowy. There was no mistaking it as a December evening, and although Harry didn’t know how many days there were until Christmas he did expect that it would be a white one this year.

Harry took a deep breath as he stood outside the tent with his invisibility cloak pulled tightly around himself. It wasn’t keeping the cold out, or at least he didn’t think it was from the amount that he was shivering. Then again that could be the nerves or the excitement, they had mingled together. Neville and Hermione stood on either side of him, in the form of a couple of Muggles whose hair they had managed to steal a few days ago. Hermione asked him if he was ready and Harry nodded weakly as they all spun on the spot.

He was going home.

TBC :)


	46. Godric's Hollow

The ground was covered in snow when they arrived in Godric’s Hollow. Harry’s initial thought was that he felt incredibly grateful to Hermione for thinking of a masking charm to hide his footprints. That thought dissipated very quickly however, when he looked around him for the first time. They were standing in the town square, and at its centre was a statue of a couple holding a baby. His breath caught in his throat as he stared at the monument, the monument to his parents. 

“Only wizards can see it,” Neville said quietly, “To the Muggles it’s just another war memorial, like the ones they have in every other village across the country.”

Harry could only nod although he knew Neville couldn’t see that action because he was invisible. His voice had become lost in his throat and he was glad of his invisibility as a few tears fell from his eyes.

“We shouldn’t linger too long,” Hermione said softly, “Come on.”

Harry knew she was right, and more to the point Neville nodded firmly. Harry and Hermione followed Neville because he was the only one who actually knew where he was going. As it turned out they didn’t have to walk for long to reach their first destination, and Harry realised what it was very quickly. A church loomed out of the darkness, its bright windows like a beacon in the dark night. The sound of a singing choir inside was audible and it created a rather eerie atmosphere as they stepped into the graveyard.

“I think it’s Christmas Eve,” Hermione whispered, “Do you hear the hymns?”

Neville nodded, “I knew it was close to Christmas...but you’re right. I think it’s Christmas Eve.”

Harry remained silent under the cloak. He had spotted what he was looking for, and without a word to Neville or Hermione he walked towards it and stood frozen in front of the two gravestones. He had always known that his parents were dead, he had never held out hope that it was all a lie. But seeing it in stone really cemented everything for him, their bodies were beneath his feet and these stones were all that was left of them. Harry knelt down in front of the graves and touched the ground as his tears spilled out onto the ice cold snow. 

Coming here had nothing to do with their mission, not really. But Harry had needed to come, and Lilly had understood why. Harry was fairly certain that Hermione understood too...he was 99% sure that he would not live through this war and he had to see his parent’s graves, he had to see the place where he had been born, before he died.

Harry jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. But he relaxed when he realised that it was only Neville who had found him without any issue. He pulled himself to his feet and wiped his eyes, glad that his friend couldn’t see the state he had gotten himself into.

“Hermione saw something interesting on a grave and got side-tracked,” Neville mumbled, “Does seeing them help?”

Harry sighed and sniffled slightly, “It’s closure I suppose. Where is the house?”

“Just down that street,” Neville said, nodding his head at the street towards the right and catching Hermione’s eye in the process. She waved him over, and Neville let go of Harry’s shoulder, “Do you need a minute longer or can we move on?”

“We can move on,” Harry said, glancing behind him to the graves one last time as they made their way to the grave where Hermione was standing.

“Look,” Hermione whispered, “The symbol, it’s the same as the one in the book.”

“The symbol of the Deathly Hallows,” Harry said quietly.

Hermione nodded, “It’s the grave of Ignotus Peverell...do you think he was the brother Harry is descended from?”

“Judging from the fact he’s buried here, probably,” Neville said quietly, “But we have to move on. We can’t linger anywhere for too long here...I’ll tell you who would know about this stuff though, Bathilda.”

“Bathilda Bagshot?” Harry asked as they weaved their way through the graveyard, “My parents neighbour?”

Neville nodded, “She was always nice to me when I was a kid. She even used to bake me cookies,” he said as they stepped out onto the street and began to head along it, “We should pop in and see her.”

“How do you know we can trust her?” Hermione asked pointedly.

“She’s a harmless old lady,” Neville promised, “We can trust her.”

Hermione didn’t look convinced, but she fell silent as they walked along the same street for the next 5 minutes. When they reached the ruin of the house Harry froze once more. He stood by the gate and took in every single detail as he tried to pull at least one memory from the depths of time. The wreckage didn’t jog his memory however, it only fuelled his anger for Voldemort and his hatred towards him. He had to be careful to think about Lilly and his happiest memory with her before the anger could fill him up. He didn’t ever want to get to the point where he was angry enough to let Voldemort in.

“Look there’s Bathilda,” Neville said out of the blue, waving to a woman standing at the gate next-door.

Bathilda waved back, in fact she waved them into her home and shuffled up to the door. Neville stepped away from the Potter home and said, “Are you two coming?”

Hermione nodded, “Harry,” she said softly.

“I’m coming,” Harry said quietly. 

The trio walked towards the house and slipped inside after the elderly woman. When they were inside, at Neville’s insistence Harry took off his cloak and shoved it in Hermione’s expandable bag. The house stunk, and even Neville wrinkled his nose, Harry thought he would have been accustomed to it if he had known Bathilda. 

The entire place was unkempt Harry thought warily, Bathilda walked into the sitting room and called, “Come!” she then gestured towards the room.

Neville led the way, and Harry and Hermione followed, Hermione the most warily. Dust crunched beneath their feet and Neville’s frown deepened as he looked down at it, “Harry...”

Harry turned to Neville, “Yeah?” he asked.

Hermione was in her world of her own, holding a book she had found on the sideboard. 

“Something isn’t right here,” Neville said quietly as Hermione put the book in her bag, “Bathilda was always a bit batty, but not unclean...she wouldn’t have left the house in this much of a mess.”

“She’s an old woman, she probably just needs a carer or something,” Harry said under his breath as Bathilda continued to stare at them.

Neville opened his mouth to argue against this when Bathilda pointed at herself, then at Harry and finally at the roof. 

“You want me to go upstairs with you?” Harry asked.

Bathilda nodded, and when Neville took a step forward to lead the way upstairs Bathilda blocked him and shook her head. Neville narrowed his eyes and took a few steps back, pulling out his wand when he was at a safe distance, “This isn’t Bathilda,” he said darkly and loudly. The sound rung around the dirty old house and Harry’s faith in Neville was such that he pulled his own wand out immediately.

What happened next happened very quickly and stunned them all. Silently Bathilda’s body crumpled and a snake emerged from the place where her neck had been. The snake was not just any snake, it was Nagini, she was a horcrux and they had no means of killing her.

Hermione screamed in fear and jumped back against the door as the snake lunged forward towards Harry. He had barely raised his wand to defend himself when he felt a fang sink into his arm. He shouted in pain and Neville hit the snake with a spell that forced it back. It was lunging forward again, towards Neville this time, when Hermione took action. She ran forward and grabbed Harry’s hand in one of her own, and Neville’s in her other. Before anyone knew what was happening, and in a haze of pain and nausea, they found themselves panting and gasping on the cold, snowy ground outside of the tent.

“Help!” Hermione called weakly.

Her plea brought the others out immediately, and Lilly’s face paled when she saw Harry. He was pale, bleeding and barely conscious.

“He was bitten by Nagini,” Hermione said desperately, “And I don’t know how to use Basilisk venom to heal him without killing him!”

“Get him inside Draco!” Neville rasped, pushing himself up and leaning against the nearest tree, he was bleeding heavily from a gash on his leg, “Get him on a bed and someone call Susan now!”

Harry gasped as the lights shone brightly and his blood ran cold. He tried to hold on, aware of strong arms picking him up as black spots obscured his vision and his breathing quickened.

“Hurry, he’s dying!” Harry heard Lilly scream before he lost consciousness. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Daphne!”

Daphne spun around at Susan’s shout. She instantly saw what had caused her distress, the light above the secret room that flashed to signal an incoming call on the mirror had changed colour. It flashed green usually, but it was red right now. She ran to the door and put her wand in the lock, pressing her finger against the surface and looking into the retina scanner. 

“Red means urgency, doesn’t it?” Susan asked anxiously.

“Red means someone is dying,” Daphne said darkly as the door beeped to allow her access. She pushed it open and ran in, with Susan right behind her. The mirror activated when the door unlocked so when they arrived and looked down they could already see the drama unfolding.

“Susan, we need you to tell us how to save Harry’s life!” Ginny said desperately, “He was bitten by Nagini and he’s hardly conscious. Nobody knows how to use the Basilisk venom!”

“Enlarge your mirror,” Susan said quickly.

“What?” Ginny frowned.

“Enlarge it so it’s big enough for a person to crawl back and take a step back,” Daphne ordered, “Don’t ask questions, just do it!”

Ginny did as Susan and Daphne had asked, and stepped back. Susan climbed into the mirror and dropped out in front of a stunned Ginny. 

“Where is he?” She asked, clutching her wand.

“Bedroom,” Ginny said quietly.

Susan jogged up the stairs to his bedroom where the rest of their friends were gathered. They were all stunned to see her there, but they moved aside to allow her room to treat him.

“Where’s the venom?” Susan asked, looking around them.

Hermione shakily handed her the jar, and Susan set it down on the bedside table, “Look, I need you all to take a step back! Neville, get me some dittany and anything acidic...orange juice would even do. Can you find me something numbing too, doxy venom if you have any?”

Neville nodded and disappeared immediately to raid their small potions cabinet downstairs. 

Susan pressed her hand against Harry’s head, and took a wet cloth from Hermione’s hands. She pulled his head up and placed it behind his neck before conjuring up a bucket. 

“What’s that for?”

“The sick that will inevitably come when I administer the cure,” Susan said, “He’s going to be delirious. Has he said anything strange yet?”

“He just keeps screaming for his parents,” Hermione said tearfully. 

“Take a step back,” Susan said again. They had all inched closer, “I need space to work.”

Draco nodded at her and pushed everyone back with a powerful spell. He glanced around at his companions as Susan checked Harry’s heart rate and shot him in the chest with an adrenaline pumping spell.

“What did you do that for?” Ginny asked with wide eyes.

“His heart just stopped,” Susan said darkly, “I started it again.”

Lilly sobbed loudly at those words and Draco subconsciously put an arm around her. Hermione was clutching him from the other side. Ginny was watching tearfully and biting her nails down to the quick. In that moment as Draco watched the reactions of his friends he realised quite how much Harry bound them all together. Without him they would be aimless, he saw for the first time how much they all needed their leader.

Harry’s body began to convulse, and Susan struggled to hold him down. Draco stepped forward and pressed one hand against Harry’s chest. It was enough to stop him from thrashing and Susan sighed gratefully as Harry’s delirious mumblings became louder.

“Don’t let her die...”

“Nobody is dying, Harry,” Draco said calmly.

“She can’t...don’t let it.”

“Lilly’s safe,” Susan said softly, “Nobody is going to die.”

“Me,” Harry mumbled, shaking his head from side, “I am, don’t let them hurt her after...don’t hurt her!”

Hermione and Lilly’s tears were falling harder than anyone else’s because they knew that Harry wasn’t talking about dying now, he was talking about the fact he would have to die for Voldemort to be mortal.

“I have everything,” Neville said, skidding into the room and kneeling next to Susan by the bed. He grimaced as his injured leg touched the floor then added, “And a jug to mix it in.”

Susan nodded and caught his eye, “I need your help Neville, he’s dying.”

Neville nodded, they had been Herbology partners for years. Regardless of any recent disagreements they worked well together. He held the jar while she carefully extracted the right amount of Basilisk venom. When it was in the jar Neville measured out the dittany and handed it to Susan.

“Something acidic?” She asked.

“This is all I could find, and I’m pretty sure it’s off,” Neville said, passing her a bottle of orange juice.

“He’s going to be throwing up all night anyway,” Susan said quietly, pouring the smallest amount she could into the mixture. She mixed it with her wand and it went a disgusting dark brown sort of colour.

“I have the doxy venom,” Neville said, “Do you need it diluted? What do you need to numb exactly?”

“His entire body” Susan said, looking at the oozing bite on his arm, “Because I don’t want him to be able to feel me extracting the venom from his veins.”

“But we have to make sure it hasn’t spread first,” Neville realised.

“Hence why we’re going to need this bucket,” Susan said, “Draco, can you lift him up into a sitting position please?”

Draco nodded and forced Harry into a sitting position.

“Hold his head,” Susan ordered, “And Neville, keep his mouth open so I can get the first dose of this in.”

They both nodded and did as commanded. Harry swallowed the mixture, and threw up 5 minutes later.

“Not even close to the entire contents of his stomach,” Susan muttered, “Hold his mouth open Neville, he needs more.”

The others watched, or averted their eyes as this happened two more times before Susan was satisfied that Harry was going to live. 

“The doxy venom,” Susan said, holding her hand out.

Neville gave her the phial and Susan conjured it into a needle, she injected it into his neck, and Hermione gasped, “Why are you giving him more poison?”

“Have you got a healing qualification, Hermione?” Neville snapped, “Susan knows what she’s doing!”

“No need to take your worry out on Hermione,” Draco said diplomatically, “We’re all worried about Harry, Neville.”

Susan frowned and said, “Be quiet, or he will die.”

She shut her eyes and placed her wand on Harry’s arm, just where the bite was. She uttered some incoherent words under her breath and the others watched in amazement as she pulled her wand back. From the wound came a jet black liquid, a liquid which Susan transferred into a jug that Neville was holding. The moment it had been extracted from his arm she vanished it and checked his heart rate once more. She breathed a sigh of relief, and everybody in the room felt themselves relax a little bit more. 

“I pumped him with more poison to heal him,” Susan said as she drew herself up to full height and sat down on the edge of the bed. Draco was on the other side, still holding Harry’s head up in case he was sick again.

“The Basilisk venom made him throw up which got anything nasty out of his system,” Susan said, “But I had to wait for him to throw up all of the Basilisk venom before I could inject the doxy venom. All venoms are different, so the doxy venom counteracted Nagini’s. It was quickening his heart rate, he went into cardiac arrest earlier and I had to bring him back. The doxy venom slowed his heart rate right down for long enough for me to extract Nagini’s venom without putting him in agonising pain. It put him a semi-coma like state, but I didn’t get all of the venom, that’s not possible.”

“You got enough to save his life,” Neville said, “And the rest is up to Harry now.”

Susan nodded, “He’s going to have a rough night while the remains of the venom leaves his system. He might well be sick again so Draco, you’re going to have to stay with him all night.”

Draco nodded and glanced down at the dark-haired boy he had once hated, “I will.”

“And he’s going to be delirious, I have no idea what he’ll talk about but in this coma-like state he’ll have access to all of his memories, including the ones he blocks out while he’s conscious,” Susan said.

“I’ll stay with him too,” Lilly said, getting to her feet shakily.

Susan nodded and stood up, “He’s alive Lilly, and he’s out of the danger zone now,” she said as she drew her friend in for a hug. She could feel Lilly shaking in her arms, so she held on more tightly and eventually pulled back.

Lilly immediately took her spot on the edge of the bed, and Draco pulled his legs up onto the bed, getting himself comfortable for the long night ahead.

“You don’t have to do this,” Neville said weakly, “I can sit with him.”

“You’re hurt yourself,” Draco said, “And I’m basically a werewolf, I’m pretty good at staying up all through the night. Don’t worry about Harry, sort yourself out.”

“Where’s your room, Neville?” Susan asked, looking at the gash on his leg, “That looks pretty deep and it’s already going a horrible colour. I hope it’s not infected...”

“It’s fine,” Neville said, “Ginny can sort it out-”

Susan glanced sideways at Ginny who looked distraught, “She’s in no state to do that, don’t let your pride get in the way here. You need someone to look at that leg for you.”

Neville knew she was right, so he sighed and hobbled towards the door, “It’s on the top floor, come on.”

The others didn’t even notice them leaving as they crowded around Harry’s bed anxiously. Neville hopped up the stairs, wincing and grimacing all the way. When they finally reached his room he gave the door a nudge and it swung open. He hobbled in and sat down heavily on the bed, only feeling the burning pain in his leg now that the adrenaline of the night was wearing off.

It was still dark outside, but Neville had no idea of how much time had passed since their little trip to Godric’s Hollow. Susan propped his leg up and he hissed in pain. She cut the fabric of his trousers away from the gash on his leg. She still had the supplies from earlier in her hand, but she cut away some of his bedding and transfigured it into bandages too.

“It’s infected,” Susan said after she had performed a cleansing charm on the leg.

“I’m not surprised, that house was fucking disgusting,” Neville said, gritting his teeth as she dripped pure dittany onto the wound, “Can’t you do a bloody numbing charm?”

“You’re supposed to know a thing or two about healing,” Susan retorted, “No I can’t use a numbing charm because if I do I can’t regrow the skin. How the hell did you get this? Who’s house were you in?”

“Bathilda Bagshot’s,” Neville said.

“You went to Godric’s Hollow?” Susan asked in disbelief.

“We thought there might be a horcrux there,” Neville said sheepishly, groaning in pain as she poured more dittany over the infected wound.

“You’re such a girl,” Susan snorted, “My Grandmother swore off dittany after she used it while pregnant with my Uncle and he ended up being born deformed. Every time I got hurt as a kid I got iodine poured on my cuts, and that stung.”

Neville laughed weakly, “Are you nearly done with the dittany bath?”

“I’m done,” Susan said, “But I have to let it work before I regrow the skin and even then I’m not going to be able to do it fully...I’ll have to tell Ginny to redress your bandages in a couple of days. She was always pretty good in the healing classes we took.”

“She’s good at the small things, but she crumbles under pressure,” Neville admitted, “Not like you, you were great in there.”

“I was terrified he was going to die the whole time,” Susan admitted, “But don’t undersell yourself, you were great under the pressure too.”

Neville shrugged, “I’ve been kind of used to pressure since I came out on the run...it’s everywhere...you learn to think on your feet.”

Susan nodded, “Yeah, that’s just the war never mind being on the run,” she got to her feet and walked over to the window, “I’ve had minor things to deal with at Hogwarts...hypothermia, cuts, bruises and the odd concussion but never a poisonous snake bite.”

“Hey don’t complain, it all looks good on a CV,” Neville joked.

Susan smiled slightly as she looked out into the darkness, this was the first conversation they had really had since the break-up, “How did that cut get infected so quickly Neville? What on earth were you doing at Godric’s Hollow?”

“We really did think there might be a horcrux there,” Neville said honestly, “But there wasn’t. Well, actually there was but foolishly we didn’t take anything with us to kill it because we thought it would be an inanimate object that we could bring back and destroy here...we didn’t think that Bathilda Bagshot would really be a snake...”

“What?” Susan asked sharply, spinning around to look at him.

“You-Know-Who had obviously killed her,” Neville said miserably, “Just because she was convenient I guess. He used her body and put his snake inside of it...when I realised that the person in front of us wasn’t Bathilda the snake came out and attacked Harry. I hit it with Confringo but I blew up half the living room at the same time which is how I got this. Bathilda had obviously been dead a long time, the house was disgusting...I’m not surprised it got infected.”

“Well it should heal up nicely in a few days, and Harry will too,” Susan said calmly, “But I think this might have given you a kick up the arse that you needed.”

“We need to be more careful,” Neville agreed, “I know that. Now, how on earth did you get here?”

“I came through the mirror, Ginny nearly passed out when she saw me do it,” Susan said, she chuckled despite herself, “The Room of Requirement gives you what you need, I needed to get here so it let me. It’s opened up a portal between the mirror in Bones Manor and the ROR too...we’ve been thinking about using it to smuggle students out of Hogwarts if things get worse.”

“Good plan,” Neville said thoughtfully, “How bad are things there?”

“Students are being tortured and imprisoned,” Susan said darkly, “But there have been no deaths and although he’s clearly running the ship, there’s no sign of You-Know-Who either so we can’t complain really...compared to what you have to go through here.”

Neville nodded and glanced to the window she was standing by, the dawn was just beginning to come towards them out of the darkness. He laughed a little bitterly and said, “Merry Christmas.”

Susan didn’t laugh as she looked over to him, “It doesn’t feel like Christmas has come this year, does it?”

“No,” Neville said darkly, “It’s skipped us this year, I think.”

She nodded, and sat down on the edge of his bed, “So you and Ginny?”

Neville raised an eyebrow, “Really?”

“It just seemed a little like that,” Susan said carefully, “Aren’t you?”

“We’re just friends,” Neville said honestly, because nothing had happened between them since that kiss at Grimmauld place, the kiss that they had never talked about.

“Do you have anyone at Hogwarts...?”

Susan shook her head, “No, just my work as designated matron of the Room of Requirement,” she joked.

Neville smiled at her very slightly, and Susan glanced down, biting her lip, “Look Neville, I wanted to apologise for the way things ended. I’ve never really been able to hold anything down because I’m terrified of commitment. I didn’t say what I was trying to say very well, it wasn’t that I only wanted to be with you to make you happy in case we died. I was trying to say, in a very screwed up way that the war was the reason we got together because if I only had a few months left I wanted to spend them with you.”

“I know what you were trying to say,” Neville admitted, “But it’s still a shitty basis for a relationship.”

“Is it?” Susan asked, “Or is it natural that you are pulled towards the person you love when you find out you might not have much time left?”

Neville’s eyes scanned hers carefully, “Love?”

Susan nodded, “I never realised it before because there was this tiny little transition that I didn’t notice. I still don’t know when it happened, but at some point you stopped being my sweet Gryffindor friend Neville, and became...well at some point without knowing it I realised what you meant to me.”

“All this time apart has had you thinking, hasn’t it?” Neville asked her.

Susan sighed, “Honestly, yes. It’s had me rethinking a lot of things about my life and myself. I always swore off commitment, I figured everybody would hurt me or leave me one day like my parents and my Aunt...I never wanted to get married, and kids were definitely off the cards. But being the rebellions designated healer is changing my perception, seeing these 1st years...caring for them and giving them advice, it makes me want that for myself one day.”

“You’re growing up, Susan,” Neville said with a soft smile, “The war is just making it happen faster than it would do normally.”

“I know it doesn’t change anything,” Susan said, “For us, I mean. Things ended badly, and I’ll be grateful if we can get our friendship back, let alone anything else.”

Neville glanced down, but remained silent on the matter. Susan sighed and touched his leg, “Does that hurt?”

“No,” Neville replied simply.

“The dittany killed the worst of the infection,” Susan said, softly whispering a spell that made Neville’s skin knit itself back together. They were silent until the bright, raw pink skin had finished knitting itself, then Susan gently wrapped the bandages around it. When she was finished she stood up and said, “I’ll tell Ginny on the way out to change them again in a couple of days...with the skin being new it might rub and the cut might open itself again. Do you need anything else before I head back to Hogwarts?”

“Yes,” Neville said simply. He looked up and Susan was surprised to see tears in his eyes, “Can you promise me that everything you said tonight was true?”

Susan frowned slightly and sat down on the edge of the bed once more. Neville pushed himself up into a sitting position and looked her in the eye as he awaited her answer. She kept her eyes firmly locked on his as she replied, “Every word of it.”

He stared at her, his eyes searching hers for the truth. He clearly believed her words, because they were true.

“You had better not be lying,” Neville said quietly as he reached across and touched her cheek, “Because I don’t want to regret this in the morning.”

Susan didn’t have to ask him what ‘this’ was, because he wasted no time in leaning forward and closing the gap between them. He captured her lips in a searing kiss. It was passionate and filled with emotion, but slow and sensual at the same time. Her logical mind told her that this would lead down a dangerous path, it told her that Neville was injured and she should end this right now and go back to Hogwarts. But her logical mind was over-ruled by that wicked demon known as lust.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Do you regret it?”

“No,” Neville said softly as he glanced down at Susan. She was lying with her head on his chest, sleep in her eyes and all, “Do you?”

“Not at all,” Susan said, leaning up to kiss him.

Neville smiled slightly, “My leg regrets it, I don’t know what kind of state it’s in, but it bloody hurts. The rest of me however, definitely does not regret it.”

“I’ll have a look at your leg in a minute,” Susan yawned, her eyes going to the window where the sun was trying to break through, “But first I have to know...what does this mean?”

“What do you want it to mean?” Neville asked, “Because the way I see it, this can go one of two ways. We can say that this was closure and go our separate ways, or we can agree that things have changed between us and go our separate ways knowing that.”

Susan smiled slightly as she understood his subtle meaning, “In other words we’re either not back together at all, or kind of back together but living several miles apart with no means of private contact.”

“Exactly,” Neville said, chuckling at her ability to read between the lines.

“I prefer the second option,” Susan said honestly.

“There is a third option,” Neville said quietly.

“Which is?”

“Stay,” Neville said softly, “Stay here.”

Susan sighed and looked up at Neville as he stared hopefully at her, “I was afraid you would say that, and I can’t. You know I can’t.”

“You have a job to do at Hogwarts,” Neville said, “I know that, I knew that would be your answer. It’s one of the things that made me fall in love with you...your loyalty.”

Susan smiled weakly, “I’m sorry, but there are kids there being tortured for giving the wrong answer in class. They trust me, they look up to me, I can’t abandon them Neville.”

“I know,” Neville said with a nod, “I’ll just miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too,” Susan said, “And I wish I could stay here all day but I have to go...”

“It’s Christmas,” Neville said miserably, “And you wouldn’t think it today...”

“Not here,” Susan agreed, “But in the Room of Requirement it almost feels like Christmas. We stole a tree, and decorated it with gingerbread men and women. Hannah even convinced Dobby to rustle us up a Christmas-ish dinner for later.”

“Rub it in why don’t you?” Neville sighed.

“That’s not what I’m doing,” Susan said with a slight smile, “Ginny’s mirror is now linked to Hogwarts. Just like my mirror in Bones Manor is, you can come through it, all of you, we can spend Christmas together at Hogwarts.”

“I don’t think Harry will go for that idea,” Neville said with a frown.

“You’ll never know unless you run it by him,” Susan said, reaching to the side of the bed for her clothes, “And I have to go and see him anyway, I need to check on my patient.”

“How are you going to get around the fact you spent the night in my bed?” Neville asked, amusement shining in his eyes.

“I haven’t quite worked that one out yet,” Susan admitted sheepishly.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Merry Christmas sleepy head.”

Harry frowned, his head pounded and his body ached...and he was lying in bed with Draco Malfoy, “What?”

“Don’t worry, you didn’t get drunk and sleep with your best friends boyfriend,” Draco said in amusement, “You did however get bitten by a snake and nearly die. I had to keep your head up in case you tried to throw up and choke yourself last night, which you did try to do a couple of times.”

Harry’s frown deepened as the memories flooded back to him, “Susan was here.”

“Susan still is here,” Draco said with a grin.

“How?”

“Well she needed a way to get here and she was in the Room of Requirement, so she was able to step through the mirror and come out of Ginny’s,” Draco explained, “And as for why she’s still here...well her and Neville rekindled their passion last night.”

Harry made a face, “And you listened?” he asked in disgust as his eyes fell on Lilly. She was curled up on an armchair next to the bed, her hand inches away from his.

“I tuned out when I realised what I was listening to, trust me,” Draco snorted, “And she stayed with you all night you know. She only fell asleep a couple of hours ago.”

“What time is it?” Harry asked groggily.

“About 11am,” Draco replied, “You were out cold for about 11 hours. How do you feel?”

“Like I’ve been battered by a mountain troll,” Harry grunted.

A soft laugh came from the doorway, “I’m not surprised, your heart stopped last night.”

Harry blinked a couple of times before looking at Susan, “Thank you for everything you did last night.”

Susan shook her head, “You never have to thank me for saving your life. I have a little concoction to make you feel better if you feel up to taking it.”

“You’re the healer, am I healed enough to take it?” Harry joked, pushing himself up into a sitting position.

“Well that depends,” Susan said, “Any nausea?”

Harry shook his head, “No, I just feel hungry.”

“That’s normal,” Susan assured him, “Any dizziness?”

Harry shook his head again, and Susan handed over the phial in her hand, “Then this will do the trick. It’s basically just sugar and diluted doxy venom. It will numb everything a little while your body heals.”

Harry took her word for it and downed the drink in one go. He scrunched his face up as the taste hit him and Draco snorted in amusement. Draco turned his attention to Susan as Lilly woke up and smiled brightly at Harry. He eased himself out of the bed and hobbled towards the doorway with a dead leg.

“You better not have been listening in with your wolfy hearing,” Susan said carefully and quietly.

“Trust me, I stopped when I realised what I was listening to,” Draco said under his breath, “And as much as I’m sure what you and Neville did last night will stop him from being the grumpy git he has been recently...I also want to have a word with you about it.”

“You’re going to tell me not to hurt him again,” Susan guessed.

“Yeah, I am,” Draco said darkly, “Because you weren’t the one who had to deal with him after you hurt him the first time. Never mind hurting him, you broke his bloody heart. He’s a tough guy, but he’s sensitive too. If you screw him over again...well you won’t be in my good books and I have this tendency to become a hairy, angry creature once a month...”

Susan raised an eyebrow at the blonde boy, “Draco Malfoy threatening me so that I don’t hurt his best friend. I never thought I would see the day that you truly became a reformed man. I thought it would be Hermione who managed that feat, not Neville.”

“It’s a combination of them both,” Draco said honestly, “But I mean it Susan. Don’t screw him over.”

“I won’t,” Susan said, “Because I’ve had a lot of time to think during this war and all I’ve done is wish that I could go back and change the way things played out between Neville and I. He’s given me a second chance that a lot of guys would never have given, so I don’t plan on screwing it up Draco.”

Draco nodded, satisfied with her answer, “Good,” he said simply.

Susan bowed her head slightly and stepped past him towards Harry, “I have a proposition to run by you Harry.”

“If this is about you and Neville, I’m fine with it as long as you don’t use the Room of Requirement mirror to communicate privately-” Harry began.

Susan cut him off, shaking her head, “This isn’t about me and Neville. It’s about all of us and Christmas. Ginny’s mirror will remain connected with the Room of Requirement mirror now which means that we can all go back to Hogwarts. Not permanently, just for today so that we can spend Christmas together.”

“What if the wards are set up to detect me at Hogwarts?” Harry asked anxiously.

“The wards don’t cover the Room of Requirement,” Susan replied, “They never have done.”

“Well what if someone betrays him?” Draco asked, “How do you know you can trust everyone in this rebellion?”

“Because everyone signs a contract when they enter the Room of Requirement,” Susan said, “It was Daphne’s idea and it makes it impossible for us to be betrayed. If someone thinks about it their memory of the past week is erased and their tongue is tied for 2 months. She got the idea from Hermione’s cursed DA list.”

Harry nodded slowly, “I always knew she had a penchant for wicked curses, but I guess it came in handy.”

Susan chuckled, “Yes, it did,” she agreed.

“Alright,” Harry said with a smile, “We’ll go with you. Just for a few hours, I think it will give everyone a much needed moral boost.”

Susan smiled broadly, “I’ll get Neville to give you a hand downstairs and I’ll tell the others of the plan!” she said brightly as she darted from the room.

Harry’s heart leapt slightly as he smiled at Lilly and gripped her hand tightly in his own. Suddenly it felt a little more like Christmas.

TBC :)


	47. Do They Know It's Christmas?

The Room of Requirement was sparsely furnished with Christmas decorations. It was essentially a large mess hall with a tree, and some fairy lights but to Harry it was perfect. He was barely able to stand without leaning on someone, and he had been feeling more and more depressed by the day. Something as simple as a Christmas tree filled him with hope, and almost brought tears to his eyes. He had stepped out of the secret room into the mess hall, leaning on Neville for support, and the group of people gathered there had gone wild. They had gotten to their feet and cheered, and Ron had grinned broadly as he walked over to his best friend and hugged him hard.

“I’m glad you’re okay, mate,” Ron said under his breath, “Daphne and me stayed up all night worrying.”

“I’m fine,” Harry said weakly, “But I do feel like crap...I like what you’ve done with the place.”

Daphne laughed, “It’s just a stolen Christmas tree curtesy of Dobby, and some gingerbread decorations,” she said as she reached them. She hugged Harry carefully and launched herself at Lilly, “I’ve missed you so much!”

Lilly laughed, her eyes were still bloodshot and there were bags underneath them, they had all had a late night, “I’ve missed you too.”

‘Dobby’s been helping you?’ Harry asked brightly.

“Yeah, he’s been great!” Ron said, “Ever since we managed to create this passageway to the kitchen he’s been rallying the others elves to provide us with food. All he wants in return is our old clothes, I collect them and Daphne shrinks them.”

Harry beamed, “That’s awesome! Kreacher has been helping us can you believe? Ever since we gave him Regulus’s locket he’s been a totally different elf. We took him with us, he lives in the tent and cooks for us. He even lets Hermione and Lilly help sometimes.”

“Although sometimes the word Mudblood does slip out,” Hermione admitted, “But he always apologises.”

Lilly nodded, “I think it’s just second nature to him after all this time.”

Ron shook his head in disbelief, “I never thought I’d see the day,” he admitted.

Harry chuckled, “Nah, me neither. I can’t believe you’re getting Christmas dinner here.”

“We didn’t even realise it was Christmas Eve yesterday until we heard hymns being sung in the church in Godric’s Hollow,” Neville admitted, “We lose track of the days when we don’t call you guys or Remus and Tonks.”

“How are Remus and Tonks?” Daphne asked, “We haven’t spoken to them in ages.”

“They’re good,” Hermione replied, “They’re laying low with Tonks having a baby and all. Remus is doing some missions for the order, but only domestic ones.”

“How pregnant is Tonks exactly?” Ron asked.

Daphne raised an eyebrow at the redhead, “How pregnant? Well she has a baby inside her.”

Ron rolled his eyes, “I meant how many months.”

“Five and a half,” Ginny said, watching her brother and the blonde girl in amusement, “The morning sickness is over, and she’s got a pretty big bump.”

“And Remus already looks exhausted,” Lilly laughed, “But it’s nice to have happy news amongst all of this.”

“It is,” Susan said with a smile.

Daphne fixed her friend with a knowing look, and said, “Anyway guys, the main table over there has been enlarged so go get comfortable. I think Christmas dinner is going to be more like Christmas lunch today so it won’t be long.”

They gradually trickled over to the table until Daphne was left standing alone with Susan.

“So your patient must have been very ill,” Daphne smirked, “Since you stayed with him all night.”

“He was dying,” Susan said seriously, “And to be honest I was healing him well into the night. But Neville had a pretty bad gash on his leg too and that had gotten infected so...”

“So you just had to heal it,” Daphne said, her smirk widening, “All night, in his bedroom?”

Susan fixed her friend with an amused look, “I have absolutely no idea what you are insinuating Daphne.”

“Of course you don’t,” Daphne said with a grin.

“But you and Ron, I hear you stayed up together all night worrying about Harry?” Susan quipped, raising her eyebrow.

Daphne’s cheeks flushed slightly, “We were talking, and waiting. That was all, we had to wait till dawn to get news because you were unavailable.”

Susan’s cheeks flushed at that comment, “Come on, let’s have Christmas dinner with our friends,” she said evasively.

Daphne laughed, but followed Susan to the table that they were all gathered around. Dobby arrived with their food, and Harry had a good long chat with the elf. They didn’t have crackers or presents, but they had food and a Christmas tree and good company. They talked and laughed throughout the entire meal, their minds on anything apart from the war. In fact, they nearly forgot that there was a war on at all because it really didn’t feel like there was that day. After they had eaten Daphne put the radio on, she switched over from ‘Potterwatch’, the illegal radio station Fred and George were running, and put on a more conventional station. 

The music was upbeat and everyone got up to dance. Harry was in no state to do so, his body still ached and the doxy venom that had helped earlier had worn off now. He sat in a comfortable chair and watched everyone else and he was quite content to do so. Hermione was laughing as Draco spun her around in circles and pulled her close to him, occasionally getting a sneaky kiss. Ron had convinced Daphne to dance, and she was shaking her head about the amount of times he was stepping on her feet. Ginny was dancing with Seamus, she was throwing her head back and laughing as Seamus attempted and failed to impress her with his mediocre dance moves. Neville was dancing with Susan, he was standing a little closer to her than the others were to their partners, murmuring things in her ear that were making her smile. And Lilly, well she was looking like an angel as she stood on the side-lines talking to Hannah. She glanced over and caught his eye, she smiled broadly and waved. Harry lifted his hand and waved back. The small smile of fondness on his face was real, but the tears in his eyes were too. This war would come to an end eventually, and he knew that for that to happen he had to die. He had to die so that all of these people, dancing without a care in the world, could live. In that moment as he watched their smiles and listened to their laughter he finally began to realise that the price he had to pay was worth it so that those he loved could live.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“We have to go back.”

“I know,” Harry said, opening his eyes and meeting Lilly’s.

“We need to move campsite tomorrow morning,” Hermione agreed with a sigh, “Which means it will be an early start.”

“I wish we could just stay here,” Ginny said, surveying the room longingly.

“You can, Ginny,” Daphne said calmly.

Harry nodded his agreement, “You can and I think you should. You’ve seen what Ron, Daphne and Susan do here, you can do your bit without being in the front line.”

“Would you really not mind?” Ginny asked Harry, hope shining in her eyes.

“I wouldn’t mind at all,” Harry said, smiling slightly at Ron, “And a certain best friend of mine will thank me for it.”

Ron laughed and said, “Yeah, I would prefer to have you here. It’s easier to protect you when I’m with you.”

“I’ll stay,” Ginny said, “But I do have a condition. You can’t be my annoying overly protective brother all the time, I want to help, I want to do things.”

“Deal,” Daphne said before Ron could answer, “Don’t worry I can control your brother. You’ll have your freedom.”

“You don’t control me,” Ron scoffed, “But you do want me. She admitted that you know, when I was dying.”

“She said she needed you not that she wanted you mate,” Seamus snorted.

Ron smirked in Daphne’s direction, but the blonde girl just shook her head, “I told you, he was delusional. It’s nonsense, honestly.”

“Of course it is,” Hermione said, trying and failing to hide her knowing smile. Draco was sniggering too, he felt like he was looking in a mirror and seeing the way his relationship with Hermione had once been.

“Well,” Neville said in amusement, “I suppose we should say our goodbyes.”

“I suppose so,” Susan said, catching his eye.

“While you two have eye sex, we’ll say our own goodbyes,” Lilly snorted.

Susan blushed slightly, and Neville looked a little sheepish. But as the others all scrambled for hugs and kisses on cheeks, it did give them the chance to have a quick hug and a quiet goodbye as privately as was possible in the Room of Requirement.

“We’ll stay in touch,” Harry promised, “If we have any news.”

“We’ll do the same,” Ron said with a nod, “Just take it easy, alright mate?”

“You too,” Hermione said with a smile, hugging Ron once again, “Don’t do anything silly.”

Ron joked, “Me? Do anything silly? As if.”

Daphne shook her head in amusement, “Don’t worry, I’ll keep him alive,” she said, hugging Hermione, “I can’t guarantee I can keep him in one piece, but I can keep him alive.”

“That’ll do,” Hermione joked, stepping into the secret room after Harry who was now being helped by Neville and Draco. They said their final goodbyes and stepped through the mirror one at a time. When they had all come through they minimised it and kept it a spare, because as Ginny had stayed at Hogwarts she wouldn’t be needing her mirror anymore. The day had been good, but it had also been exhausting especially for Harry who had been weak anyway. They all crawled into bed the moment they returned from the school and it was certainly fair to say that they had all gotten a much needed moral boost from their Christmas activities.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The following morning they moved campsite, and Harry felt guilty as he sat on a rock and let the others do the work. Even the apparition jostled him and he threw up his breakfast when they appeared in a field somewhere in southern Scotland. As soon as the tent was erected he was forced onto the sofa in the living room and blankets were thrown unceremoniously on top of him by Draco. 

Kreacher made lunch, and Lilly forced Harry to eat a little bit of something. But beyond that they were back to square one, with no leads and no plan. That was, until Hermione mentioned an interesting book she had found in Bathilda’s house and pulled it out of her bag.

“Is that Dumbledore?” Harry asked, staring at the cover.

Hermione nodded, “It was written by Rita Skeeter so Merlin knows how much of it is true. It’s called “The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore”.”

“It’s an expose then?” Lilly asked with a raised eyebrow, “Now that could be interesting. I heard about it in the Prophet, the article was saying Dumbledore has dark secrets.”

Harry frowned, “What kind of dark secrets?”

Hermione opened the book and skimmed the photographs, “I don’t know...but knowing Rita it’s probably all nonsense aimed at making money out of Dumbledore’s death - Harry!”

Harry jumped, “What?” he asked.

“This man!” Hermione exclaimed, jumping to her feet and running over to him, “It’s the one from the memory, isn’t it?”

Harry’s eyes widened as he saw a young Dumbledore standing next to a blonde haired man. He nodded, “That’s him, the thief who stole the wand from Gregorovitch! Who is he?”

Hermione’s eyes darkened and she bit down on her lip, “He’s Gellert Grindelwald.”

“What?” Draco asked in disbelief, “Dumbledore was friends with Gellert Grindelwald?”

“As in the dark wizard Grindelwald who he brought down and imprisoned?” Neville asked.

Lilly raised an eyebrow at him, “How many other Grindelwalds do you know?”

“It could be a common name in Germany,” Harry said, defending his friend.

“You don’t get it, Harry,” Hermione said seriously, “Dumbledore being friends with Grindelwald is like you being friends with You-Know-Who.”

“Yeah I get it,” Harry said irritably, “But still, it doesn’t hint at who stole the wand from Grindelwald!”

“There might be a hint in the book,” Lilly said, “But how did they even know each other? Grindelwald is German...”

“Well according to this,” Hermione said, “Dumbledore and Grindelwald were childhood friends. It even implies they were scheming together, and that Dumbledore was the one who came up with the slogan Grindelwald used to use, ‘For the Greater Good’, do you know it?”

Draco nodded slowly and took the book from her, he flicked through the pictures and scanned some of the letters that had been included, “Holy shit!” he said after a good 10 minutes.

“What?” The others echoed.

“Did you know that Dumbledore was gay?”

Harry choked on his sandwich, “What? Dumbledore wasn’t gay!”

“Where did that come from?” Neville asked in disbelief.

Lilly was silent, but there was something in Hermione’s eyes that implied she agreed. Her eyes widened slightly and she said, “You think he and Grindelwald were...involved?”

“Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald?” Harry asked, barking with laughter, “Are you mad?”

“Have you been taking Harry’s pain potions?” Neville echoed.

“Joke all you want, but it’s obvious,” Draco said simply, “Look at the way they’re laughing together in that photograph. There’s eye contact, and their hands are touching. Then there are the odd bits here and there that hint at it too...”

“How did he even meet Grindelwald though?” Lilly asked, “How was it that they were ever in the same place at the same time?”

“He was Bathilda Bagshot’s Great Nephew,” Draco said, scanning the book, “And just listen, Bagshot said that Dumbledore and Grindelwald ‘took to each other at once’. Then there’s this... ‘This was your mistake at Durmstrang! But I do not complain because if you had not been expelled, we would never have met’.”

“So he was glad to meet the guy, that doesn’t mean he was gay,” Neville said pointedly.

“Doesn’t it?” Draco asked with a raised eyebrow, “Because I’d write a letter to Hermione saying that I’m glad she took an interest in me in 6th year because if she hadn’t we would never be together. But I wouldn’t write a letter to you saying I was glad you talked to me at my 5th birthday party, because if you hadn’t we would never have met. I wouldn’t do that because that would be gay as fuck.”

“That sounds awfully homophobic of you,” Hermione pointed out.

Draco scoffed, £Homophobic? Please, I’m a Slytherin and a pure-blood, the majority of my friends are gay or at least experimental in their sexuality. I’m just proving my point here, Dumbledore and Grindelwald had a thing going on, a gay thing.”

“You are never going to prove that for certain,” Lilly said, “Even if you do put forward a convincing argument. Anyone who might have known won’t talk or is dead so your theory is just that, a theory.”

“How relevant is Dumbledore’s sexuality here?” Harry asked, looking between them in disbelief, “Grindelwald stole the elder wand from Gregorovitch. Doesn’t the fact we have a lead mean more than the fact Dumbledore might have been in bed with Grindelwald, in more ways than one...”

“Very clever,” Hermione retorted, “But how exactly do you intend to find out who took the wand from Grindelwald? Asking Bill and Charlie to kidnap Gregorovitch was one thing, asking them to break into Nurmengard is another.”

“Nurmengard?” Harry asked stupidly.

“Did you ever listen in History of Magic?” Lilly asked, amusement shining in her eyes.

“Honestly, no,” Harry said sheepishly.

Draco snorted and Lilly said, “Nurmengard was the prison Grindelwald built to keep his opponents in. Dumbledore caught him and he ended up getting imprisoned himself in there, but its impenetrable.”

“On a par with Azkaban,” Neville added.

“Well people have broken into and out of Azkaban, who’s to say that Nurmengard isn’t the same?” Harry asked.

“It’s far more heavily fortified, for a start,” Draco said, “But you’re missing the obvious here. Do you need to get anyone to break into Nurmengard or do you just need to look at that book? Dumbledore defeated Grindelwald, he probably took his wand after he had done so.”

Harry’s eyes widened, “You don’t think...”

“Dumbledore had it, all of this time!” Neville exclaimed.

“Or it was stolen from Grindelwald before Dumbledore met him in that duel,” Hermione said slowly, “I hate to be the logical one here but we don’t know when Grindelwald stole the wand from Gregorovitch. It might have been before he spent that summer with Dumbledore or after. But even still there were 46 years between Grindelwald leaving England and Dumbledore defeating him. The wand could well have been stolen by someone else in that timeframe.”

“You’re right,” Harry said, “Which is why we have to follow this up and talk to Grindelwald...or get someone else to talk to him.”

“You are never going to convince Bill to break into Nurmengard,” Hermione said with a raised eyebrow at her best friend, “Charlie...well he might be mad enough to risk that. But Bill will never go for it.”

Harry shrugged and pulled his mirror out, “All I can do is ask,” he said, calling Remus to arrange a chat with Bill and/or Charlie.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“You want us to break into Nurmengard?”

Harry grimaced, “Ah...yes I do.”

“The most fortified prison in Europe?” Bill asked in disbelief.

“Yeah, that’s the one,” Harry said sheepishly, “I know it’s a big ask but it’s important. It’s about Grindelwald...”

“Holy fucking crap,” Charlie said, “You better not tell us you want us to break Grindelwald out of prison.”

“Not exactly,” Harry said slowly, “I need you to talk to him about something.”

“No,” Bill said, shaking his head, “Getting Gregorovitch was one thing, but I won’t do this Harry. I’ve not got nothing to lose anymore, I have a wife.”

“I don’t,” Charlie said, “And I think this plan is bloody insane, but I’ll do it if you tell me why I’m doing it.”

“Grindelwald had the Elder Wand,” Harry said, “The legendary wand in “The Tale of the Three Brothers”...it’s real and he was the last person we know who had it. You-Know-Who is looking for it and if he finds it we’re all screwed. I’ve got to know who got the wand after Grindelwald.”

“Well that sounds bad,” Charlie remarked, “I’ll find a wingman to replace my cowardly brother.”

Bill shot his younger brother a glare, “Not all of us were bounty hunters, or hit wizards or whatever it was you did. And not all of us are forever singletons, I’m not going to risk it, I’m sorry.”

“No, I understand,” Harry said before the two brothers could argue, “If I was in that situation I would feel the same Bill.”

Bill nodded, “I’m sorry that I couldn’t help Harry.”

“It’s alright,” Harry said honestly, “But Charlie, regardless of what your old job was...be careful. Breaking into Nurmengard is probably the worst idea I’ve ever had.”

“It’s definitely the stupidest,” Charlie said, “But the reasons behind it are valid. Just don’t tell Ron or Gin what I’m doing.”

“I’m not that stupid,” Harry remarked.

Charlie chuckled, despite the mammoth task he had just been assigned by Harry.

“Good luck with it,” Harry said, praying that Charlie Weasley wouldn’t get himself killed because of this.

“Cheers Harry,” Charlie said, cutting the communication and effectively ending the call.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

December faded and there was no news from Charlie and whoever he had picked as his ‘wingman’. Hermione was worried because every time she spoke to Ron she felt like she was lying to him. She didn’t think Charlie would make it back from the mission, and as the New Year approached Harry’s worries grew too. Lilly kept him sane, telling him that it had taken Bill and Charlie two weeks to get Gregorovitch and this was a bigger job. Neville told him not to worry until he had something to worry about. 

But going from having a lead to having to sit around and wait for news had frustrated everyone. The New Year came and went, and there were no celebrations in the tent. Apparently Daphne had kissed Ron on the cheek to welcome in the year (as they had discovered from Susan a few days into January). But there had been no such activities in the tent because nobody wanted to welcome in a year that had the potential to be worse than the one they were leaving.

The month marched on, and it was just getting to the two week mark. This was the point when Harry was really beginning to think that Charlie was dead in a ditch somewhere in Europe. The two month mark also represented the start of Draco’s full moon syndrome. The few days before that month’s moon were very bad for one reason or another. He was snapping at everyone, more than he ever had before. For the most part they ignored him, but the day before the full moon he went too far and more than one person lost their temper...

“No! I told you, I will never let you see me like that Hermione! Stop taking it personally and acting like a whiny little teenager! I’m a werewolf! Do you want me to attack you? Because that’s what I’ll do if you are anywhere near me tomorrow!”

Hermione was shouting back at him, tearfully, “But I can’t never see it Draco! One day I’ll have to and you have got to accept that!”

“NO! I WON’T!” Draco yelled, “You will never see me like that!”

Harry hovered in the open doorway to their bedroom, their screaming match could be heard two floors down and he had grown worried.

“No need to take your frustration out on Hermione, Malfoy,” Harry said irritably.

Draco spun around and turned that frustration on Harry, “So she’s yours to stick up for now? She’s my girlfriend, Potter!”

“She’s not anybody’s!” Harry snapped, “She’s a person, not an object! I understand that being a werewolf is difficult for you but we have done everything to help you adapt and all you’re doing is throwing it back in our faces! You can’t just run off out of the wards and kill a fucking pig, you’ll get us caught and you know what they’ll do to Hermione if they catch us!”

“How dare you sink that low?” Draco hissed, taking a step towards him, “I would never put her in danger like that-”

“You already have!” Harry shouted, “You did when you ran out of the wards a couple of moons ago! You’ve got to control yourself on the full moon or get the hell out Malfoy because I won’t have Hermione hurt because of you!”

“Harry-”

Draco bared his teeth, and although he hadn’t yet transformed it was still very unsettling, “I’m an animal when that moon comes out for fucks sake! I can’t control what I do, not unless one of you manages to find me wolfsbane somehow! Do you think I don’t know what You-Know-Who is capable of?”

“You have no idea what Voldemort is capable of!” Harry snapped, “What’s he done to you? Has he killed your parents and your Godfather? Has he taken away everyone you’ve ever loved? No, I didn’t fucking think so!”

“Stop acting like you’re the only one whose ever lost somebody!” Draco shouted, “Neville’s parents are as good as dead and Lilly never got to know hers! Susan’s entire family were slaughtered, Voldemort has fucked up everyone’s lives not just yours! Grow the hell up!”

“You grow the hell up!” Harry shouted, even louder than his former enemy, “You’re a werewolf, deal with it! You can’t blame all of your problems on your werewolf shit! I know what he took from everybody!”

“Well act like it Potter!” Draco barked, “Every time you get into an argument you don’t automatically win because ‘oh Voldemort took my parents’! Try being your own man for once, you aren’t the only person who had a shitty life! Maybe I do bring everything back to the fact that I’m a werewolf but I’ll always be a fucking werewolf! Every full moon I’ll be terrified I hurt someone or kill someone! You can get over your parents death, I can never be normal again so I think that gives me a right to be fucking pissy about it!”

Harry scoffed bitterly, “You sound just like your Father, complaining about everything in your life! Remus is a werewolf and he’s coped just fine-”

Draco stepped forward and grabbed Harry before he had a chance to defend himself. Hermione cried and tried to pull him away as he held Harry up against the wall by his throat, but she wasn’t strong enough. 

“I am nothing like my Father!” Draco roared, “And Remus was in his 30’s before he ever settled down and had kids because he was too afraid of what they would become because of what he is! This doesn’t just affect me you selfish idiot, it affects your best friend and her prospects! We don’t talk about the future though, do we? Because we all know you won’t be in it!”

“DRACO, PUT HIM DOWN!” Hermione shouted as Harry gasped for air.

Draco let go of Harry, and let him slump down against the wall. He pulled himself up, his eyes burning with anger, “Fuck you Malfoy,” he managed to rasp before bringing his fist down on the blonde boys nose with a sickening crunch.

“STOP IT!” Hermione shrieked, her shouts had brought the others upstairs and they all stared in disbelief at the marks around Harry’s neck and the blood pouring down Draco’s face. 

“You’re a coward Malfoy,” Harry hissed, “So why don’t you just fuck off back to your dark lord? You belonged with him more than you do with us!”

He didn’t see the hurt and the betrayal in Draco’s eyes, because he swept out of the room without another glance at the blonde boy. Lilly rushed out after him, and Hermione ran out too, sobbing as she did so. Neville froze in the doorway for a moment, wondering whether he should stay with Draco or follow Harry.

Draco fixed him with a cold look and said, “Go after the pathetic little saviour. Go give him the sympathy he wants and talk about your fucked up parents together.”

Neville’s eyes flashed and he took a step into the room, “You are my best friend and I’ve defended you when you really haven’t deserved defending. I love you like a brother, but if you ever say anything like that to me again it will be the last thing you ever say to me. Do you understand?”

Draco stared at him resolutely for a few seconds and then crumbled. He didn’t have a breakdown as such, but he crumpled into a heap on the floor and his anger turned to pain. His shouts became tears.

Neville sighed and dropped to his knees next to his friend. Draco didn’t say anything, he didn’t even look at Neville as he choked out an apology.

“Accepted,” Neville mumbled, “Now what’s this all really about?”

“He’s right, I’m just a liability,” Draco said, clenching his fists, “I should have never let Hermione get close to me. I should have just stayed loyal to You-Know-Who, but then I wasn’t even good at that!”

“You’re good at things,” Neville said calmly, “And...fuck!”

“What?” Draco asked, jumping in fright.

“Earlier when you and Harry were arguing,” Neville said, his eyes widening, “You didn’t call him You-Know-Who, you said his name!”

Draco’s eyes grew as wide as Neville’s, “They’ll be able to find us, they’ll break through our enchantments!”

Neville got to his feet and ran to the landing, “Get down here now, all of you, I fucking mean it!”

There was a moment of silence and then a stampede. Hermione appeared first, with bloodshot eyes and puffy cheeks. Then Harry, silently fuming, and Lilly looking vaguely confused.

“I don’t know which one of you did it but one of you said his name when you were arguing earlier,” Neville said quickly, his wand gripped firmly in his hand, “We’ve got to pack up this tent and get out of here, now!”

Their eyes all grew wide with fear as they ran around shoving essentials into Hermione’s little bag. They left the tent with the intention of taking it down and running, but it was too late because there were a whole bunch of Death Eaters waiting for them outside.

The duel started before anyone really knew what was going on. There were 5 of them to 6 Death Eaters so it was fairly evenly matched but Harry being Harry was duelling two of them at once. The spells were flying around the woodland, setting trees and bushes alight. Not to mention the inferno of the tent burning behind them. Draco and Harry were still angry, and that anger turned into adrenaline in the fight. Draco shoved one of the Death Eaters onto the burning tent mercilessly and Hermione felt sick at the sight of him doing something so inhumane. They fought hard, but they were fighting a losing battle and they all knew it. 

Neville’s plan by all intents and purposes should have worked. He had a back-up plan designed for situations like this, but it had never been tried or tested. He used a little device which was essentially the magical equivalent of a smoke bomb. It was supposed to allow them to apparate, but the Death Eaters had put up anti-apparition wards which meant that their only option was to run into the woods firing spells as the Death Eaters soared behind them. 

They were all separated as they took slightly different paths through the trees. The bangs and the flashes of light gradually began to ease, and eventually they stopped. But by the time Harry and Neville had stopped, gasped for air and turned around, it was too late.

They were entirely alone in the woods and they turned to each other in horror as they realised what that meant. 

The others had been captured.

TBC :)


	48. Malfoy Manor

“Remus, please, we need your help!” Harry gasped as he gazed into the mirror. He and Neville were sheltering in a little hollow in the depths of the woods.

Remus was immediately worried, “What happened?”

“One of us said his name by accident,” Harry said, his breath still shaky, “They came after us and Neville and I got away but the others didn’t. They’ve taken them somewhere, where have they taken them?”

“Harry, calm down,” Remus said.

“I can’t calm down, my girlfriend was just captured!” Harry said maniacally.

“They will be at Malfoy Manor,” Remus said, “That is the main base of You-Know-Who’s operation and it has the biggest dungeon. But you cannot attempt a rescue mission, not on your own and not until you are calm. You have to sleep on it and-”

“Sleep on it?” Harry asked angrily, “Tomorrow is the full moon Remus! If Draco transforms without wolfsbane in a dungeon full of other people...”

Remus paled significantly at those words.

“See!” Harry exclaimed, “We don’t have time! We have to get them out of there before the moon appears tomorrow night!”

“I have a plan,” Neville said slowly, “I’m not sure how good it is or how quickly it can be implemented. I’m not even sure if it will work but...it’s the best chance we have.”

“Then run it by me,” Remus said.

“Draco was talking about his Father’s punishments for him as a child,” Neville explained, “And he said that his house elf would bring him food when he was locked in the cellar because it was magic and apparition proof but house elves have a different kind of magic. My plan requires two elves, Kreacher and Dobby. If we send one into the cellar to take anybody in there out and to Bones Manor, and simultaneously get the other to take Harry and I into the drawing room where they will inevitably be questioning or...” he didn’t say the word ‘torturing’ for Harry’s sake but Remus nodded to signal that he had understood, “...somebody, then the whole thing should be a big distraction.”

“You realise that You-Know-Who might well be in that drawing room?” Remus asked quietly.

“Good, if he is I’ll fucking kill him!” Harry snapped, trying to get to his feet.

Neville pushed him back and glared at him, “You can’t, he still has horcruxes you idiot. I know you’re worried about Lilly, but you’ve got to be rational here!”

“I am being rational!” Harry shouted, “Breaking into Malfoy Manor right now would be the rational thing to do!”

“No, that would be stupid and reckless,” Remus said matter of factly, “I know you are worried about Lilly, Harry. I understand perfectly, but if you want to help her you have got to calm down, screw your head on and really think about this. Neville has the basis of a great plan, but it will require your help to be pulled off.”

“And I need you in a decent state of mind,” Neville said softly.

Harry took a breath and began to wander into the trees, “Fine, just give me a minute...”

Neville frowned and watched him stand in a little clearing, Remus seemed just as bemused as he watched via the mirror. Neville jumped as Harry yelled angrily, and a bright flash half-blinded him. He felt a strong wind blow against him, and the mirror crackled in and out, like a phone with a bad signal. 

When the signal crackled back into existence Remus’s jaw actually dropped, “What the hell did he just do?”

Neville looked around at the trees, or the lack of them, it looked like the place had just been hit by a hurricane, “I’d say he just flattened a small forest...”

“Are you in a national park?” Remus asked, horror stricken at the thought.

Neville’s eyes widened, “Shit!”

Remus let his head fall into his hands, “I am going to kill him if he survives this war. Get back to Bones Manor now if you want to stand a chance at coming out of Malfoy Manor alive, and tell my Godson he’s grounded for a lifetime when this is over.” 

“Okay,” Neville said sheepishly, “I’ll drag him there, see you soon.”

The call was cut there and Harry walked back over a few seconds later. Neville crossed his arms and looked at his friend in disbelief (and perhaps there was a small tinge of amusement there, but it was very small given the drastic situation), “Do you feel better?”

“I feel calm...” Harry said with a frown as he surveyed the damage, “Where are we?”

“We’re in the Brecon Beacons National Park,” Neville said matter of factly, “But we’re going back to Bones Manor before you do anymore damage and Remus says you’re grounded for life.”

“That won’t be very long then,” Harry muttered irritably.

“When were you planning on telling us you would have to die to end the war, by the way?” Neville asked calmly.

Harry froze, “What?”

“Silencing charms were never your speciality,” Neville said, “We all know, with the exception of Remus and Tonks. I don’t think they could take any more pain right now...”

Harry shook his head, “Remus knows, he has done for a while. But I agree, we shouldn’t tell Tonks with the baby...why are we going to Bones Manor by the way?”

“Because we need a plan before we break into Malfoy Manor or we’ll all get killed,” Neville said, “We need more information and we’ll be safer there tharn anywhere else. We don’t have our tent and everything was in Hermione’s bag so we’re screwed here.”

Harry sighed in agreement. They apparated to the Manor under disillusionment charms and were glad to see it unprotected by Death Eaters. They slipped through the gate, knocked on the door and identified themselves. They took off their charms when they were in the hallway, and Remus greeted them both with a hug.

“Tonks is staying with the Weasley’s at the moment because Molly is insisting on looking after her,” Remus said darkly, “And I’m very glad because this stress wouldn’t be good for the baby.”

Harry nodded, “The last thing she needs is stress,” he agreed, “But we need a plan.”

“It’s the middle of the night,” Remus pointed out, “And Neville has the basis of a very good plan which we can finalise and put into action tomorrow.”

“We can’t leave them all night!” Harry shouted, “We need to save them now and-”

“Stupefy!” Neville shouted, knocking Harry out but kindly putting a cushioning charm on the ground before he fell.

Remus sighed but nodded, “Yes, I think that was the best course of action. He won’t be pleased in the morning however.”

“Well in the morning we’ll have a finalised plan and he can unleash his anger on the people who kidnapped our friends rather than us,” Neville said with a shake of his head.

Remus clicked his fingers and asked one of Susan’s house elves to take Harry upstairs and put him in a bed. He turned his attention to Neville as the elf disappeared up the stairs, levitating Harry’s body behind it. 

“You really think my plan will work?” Neville asked.

“I do,” Remus said, “But if it requires Kreacher and Dobby you will have to call them and only Harry can do that.”

“And I just knocked him out...” Neville said irritably, “But I do have my mirror and there’s a passageway in Hogwarts that goes to the kitchens. I’m sure Dobby would come if Ron asked him.”

“Do it,” Remus said, “And after that try and sleep. I know it’s a ridiculous thing to ask of you, but you have no idea how difficult the task you are going to attempt tomorrow is. You will need to be well-rested.”

“I know,” Neville said grimly as he wondered if Bellatrix Lestrange would be at Malfoy Manor tomorrow...

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When Hermione opened her eyes the world slowly blurred into view. She could make out that she was in some sort of basement from the horrible damp, musty smell and the drip-drop of a leak. But it didn’t dawn on her whose basement she was in to begin with. As she blinked several times she gradually began to make out shapes in the dark basement. The others were beginning to stir too, she saw Draco and Lilly, but not Harry and Neville. That made her feel instantly hopeful, because if they had escaped capture they would be coming to find them. 

“Hermione?”

Hermione frowned as she recognised the voice, “Dean?” she asked as his face loomed out of the darkness.

Dean nodded, “Did snatchers catch you too?”

“I think they were Death Eaters...” Hermione said, recalling the fight and the chase through the forest, “How long have you been here?”

“A couple of weeks,” Dean said, “I don’t know what they want with me to be honest.”

“Is there anyone else here?” Hermione asked, squinting into the dark room.

“Ollivander and some goblin called Griphook,” Dean said with a shrug, “They keep to themselves mostly. Where’s Harry?”

“He didn’t get caught,” Hermione said, “Neither did Neville. Where are we?”

“I don’t know,” Dean admitted, “A cellar somewhere. I guess You-Know-Who is using it as a base, but I’ve never seen him, just some ratty looking guy and a psycho woman.”

“Peter Pettigrew and Bellatrix Lestrange,” Hermione murmured, getting to her feet and looking around. They were literally in a basement, there were no windows and only one doorway which was a metal, locked door. 

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

Hermione jumped and spun around, Draco’s eyes were scanning the dark room. She frowned, “Can you see in the dark?”

“I can see better than your average human because of the werewolf thing,” Draco said, “But that’s not the problem. Do you know where we are?”

“No,” Hermione said slowly, “Do you?”

“Of course I do,” Draco said bitterly, “We’re in the cellar of Malfoy Manor.”

Any hope Hermione had been holding out for a rescue mission led by Harry and Neville was dropped at those words, “What?”

“Exactly,” Draco said darkly, “How much time has passed exactly? How long have we been here?”

“Hard to say exactly with no light,” Dean admitted, “But overnight I’d say. I think it must be early in the morning.”

“We have to get out of here,” Draco said, his eyes widening, “Before tonight!”

“Why?” Dean frowned.

Draco glared at the Gryffindor boy, “Because tonight I turn into a werewolf and I don’t really want to do that in a cellar full of people! Especially not when one of those people is my girlfriend!”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“You knocked me out!” Harry shouted as he stormed down the stairs into the kitchen where Remus and Neville were looking over a piece of paper.

“For your own good,” Remus said calmly, “Because you could not do anything in the dark and you would have done something stupid had we not forced you to wait until morning. As it so happens, without your angry ramblings Neville and I worked out a good plan overnight. We have Dobby here, prepared to help us, but we do require you to call Kreacher.”

Harry glared at his friend and his kind-of Godfather, “Kreacher!” he said, snapping his fingers.

The elf appeared instantly and bowed to Harry, “Master Harry! Kreacher did not know what had happened to you. When the tent went on fire Kreacher went back to the most noble and ancient house of Black.”

“Good thinking Kreacher,” Neville said politely, “But the tent went on fire because bad people kidnapped our friends and we need you and Dobby to work together to help us.”

Kreacher bowed once more, “Of course Master Neville.”

Neville nodded, “Alright then. The plan is fairly simple, as long as it actually goes to plan. Dobby, your job is to go into the cellar of Malfoy Manor and bring anyone who is in there back here. After that you stay here, you don’t go back, okay?”

“Understood Master Longbottom, sir!” Dobby said enthusiastically.

Neville smiled slightly, “Great. Now Kreacher, if you can handle it, I have a slightly tougher job for you. Could you apparate Harry and I into the drawing room of Malfoy Manor once Dobby has brought everyone else back here? We think that one of our friends will be in there, and we have to get them out.”

“Yes Master Neville, Kreacher can do this,” The elf said with a nod.

“And you’ll take us back here afterwards? There will be a fight first Kreacher, do you understand?” Neville asked kindly.

“Kreacher understands, Master Neville,” Kreacher said.

Neville nodded and looked up at Harry, “I don’t know who’s going to be in the drawing room when we get there Harry but they are going to be questioning someone, and if it is Lilly you have got to keep your head on and not let it distract you.”

“I know,” Harry said, “Can we go now?”

“No,” Remus said, glancing out towards the garden where the sun was climbing in the sky, “If you go now the Death Eaters will be leaving the house for the day. You need to wait until the house is going to be at its quietest.”

“Mid-afternoon,” Neville said, his fingers reaching for his wand, “And if you shout or swear about that I will knock you out again.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The first person to be dragged from the cellar once they had all awoken, was Lilly. Peter Pettigrew had descended the stairs and unlocked the door with his ghostly silver hand. He had grabbed her with that hand and gripped her so hard that she hadn’t been able to fight back. He had dragged her kicking and screaming from the cellar as Hermione and Draco tried to help her. There was a barrier that activated when the door was open however, which meant that nobody could walk beyond it apart from Pettigrew and whoever he was holding. They had felt helpless as they watched Lilly be taken away, wondering what on earth they were going to do to her upstairs.

Pettigrew took her to the drawing room and shoved her into a chair. He bound her there with magical chains and left, she would have shouted and screamed for help but she knew that it was futile. Malfoy Manor was in the middle of rural Wiltshire and was invisible to the muggle eye. 

It didn’t take long for her captors to walk into the room, although she was relieved to see that Voldemort was not with them. They consisted of Lucius Malfoy (with Narcissa walking warily behind him, at a safe distance), Bellatrix Lestrange and a very large, hairy man who Lilly assumed was their replacement Greyback. He certainly looked beastly enough.

“So this is her,” Bellatrix cackled, “Harry Potter’s ickle girlfriend!”

“So this is the bitch that is Voldemort’s personal lackey,” Lilly countered.

Bellatrix raised an eyebrow at Lilly as she reached her, and then she brought her hand down hard and slapped Lilly across the face. Lilly, showing more than ever that she had been a hatstall, looked up and spat at Bellatrix’s feet.

“Feisty,” Bellatrix laughed manically, “Maybe this will get you talking...CRUCIO!”

Lilly screamed as her body tried to convulse but she was bound to the chair so her movement was restricted. Bellatrix continued to laugh and Lilly caught sight of Narcissa grimacing behind her husband and sister. When she eventually ended the curse Lilly felt like her body had been ripped apart.

“Where is he? You silly little girl!”

“I won’t tell you,” Lilly said through gritted teeth.

“So loyal?” Lucius drawled, “Now now my dear, I thought you were a Ravenclaw. The smart thing to do would be to help us, surely you know that.”

“I will never help you!” Lilly spat, “I know what you did to Draco, I won’t tell you anything!”

“Oh I’m sure you will,” Lucius said with a nod to Bellatrix, “After Bellatrix has finished with you. Whether there will be anything left of you, well we will have to wait and see.”

His eyes flashed dangerously, and Lilly let her fear show on her face for the first time. Bellatrix looked gleeful as she pointed her wand at Lilly and shouted, “Legilimens!”

The next thing she knew it felt like someone was trying to bash their way into her head with a sledgehammer. She shut her eyes tightly and tried to fight it, but she could feel Bellatrix rummaging around in her memories for anything that would tell her where Harry was. 

“Ooh,” she cooed, “Did the nasty muggles beat you? Poor little mudblood!”

Lilly’s anger flashed, because she wasn’t a mudblood. She couldn’t control it, but it wasn’t the right thing to think about in the situation because Bellatrix saw. She saw the memories and realised that Lilly wasn’t a mudblood. The shock forced her out of Lilly’s head, and her eyes widened as she stared at her.

“Well,” Bellatrix said after a moment, “We’re related.”

“What?” Lucius asked sharply, “She’s a pure-blood?”

Bellatrix laughed, “This little thing is the daughter of Sirius Black,” she said.

Lucius laughed wickedly, “Well I cannot pretend that I am surprised by that. He always did get around at Hogwarts.”

“Don’t talk about my Father like that!” Lilly shouted.

Lucius smirked, “Would you look at that? Her and Potter do have a lot in common,” he took a step towards Lilly, “Now tell us where your boyfriend is or we will be forced to take all of the memories from that pretty little head of yours.”

“Never!” Lilly shouted.

Lucius laughed, “Cute, is it not Bellatrix? Her naivety.”

“Very,” Bellatrix cackled, “He isn’t going to come and find you, you stupid girl!”

“Do you really think he would risk his life to save yours?” Lucius asked nastily, “If he comes it will be for his best friend. He and Granger have been close for years, you barely know the boy!”

“But I do know your son,” Lilly seethed, “And he’s going to break out of that cellar and kill you!”

“I have no son,” Lucius said coolly.

“Of course,” Lilly said sarcastically, “Because he’s part-werewolf now so he can’t possibly be associated with you, you purist bastard!”

Lucius’s eyes flashed angrily, “Well Miss Moon, I was trying to be kind to you, gentle even. I think a tougher approach is needed now...CRUCIO!”

Lilly’s screams were louder and harsher than before as the pain ripped through her worse than it had when Bellatrix had inflicted the curse. Bellatrix did it for fun, but Lilly had really made Lucius angry. He meant it, he really meant it and it hurt like hell because of that.

“Where is he?” Lucius roared.

“I don’t know,” Lilly choked out as tears ran down her cheeks and her body felt like it had been stretched to its limits.

“OF COURSE YOU KNOW!” Bellatrix shrieked.

“I don’t!” Lilly sobbed, “We got separated when the Death Eaters captured us, I don’t know where he is, I swear.”

“And I thought you would be more fun,” Bellatrix said with disappointment.

“They all break easily when you hurt them enough,” Lucius said, directing his cool glare at Lilly, “We might as well dispose of her, she clearly knows nothing.”

“No,” Bellatrix said, “The dark lord will want to deal with her himself,” her eyes flashed wickedly, “And he will not be as forgiving.’”

“Wormtail!” Lucius barked.

The ratty looking man dashed out from the shadows and cowered in front of Lucius. The blonde man said, “Take her back to the cellar and bring the werewolf and the mudblood.”

Pettigrew, nodded and clumsily unbound Lilly. He dragged her down the steps into the cellar and threw her against a wall, grabbing Draco with his silver hand and Hermione with his human one. They put up a fight, but they were dragged from the room regardless.

Lilly for her part, blacked out the moment she hit the floor.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“We have to go now!” Harry said angrily, “We can sit here and wait any longer! It’s nearly midday!”

“And we have to wait until after midday,” Remus said firmly, “If you go now you will all die and this war will never be won!”

“Yes it will!” Harry said irrationally, “You can find the other horcruxes and kill You-Know-Who! I’ll be dead so that’s one less to find!”

“Harry!” Neville said loudly, “Stop being a selfless fucking idiot! We wait until after midday, we go in and everyone comes out alive including you. You will survive this war!”

“No, I won’t!” Harry snapped, “But Lilly has to, so I want to go now!”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Draco and Hermione found each other’s eyes as they were thrown unceremoniously onto the drawing room floor. They were both afraid, and neither of them could hide it. Draco in particular looked terrified at the sight of his Father. 

Lucius stepped forward and smiled wickedly at Draco who had scrambled to his feet and grabbed Hermione’s hand, he pushed her behind him and faced his Father, his fear evident in his face. 

“How sweet,” Lucius said sarcastically, “Would it not be such a shame if you had to watch your girlfriend in pain?”

Draco opened his mouth to shout and scream at his Father, but before he had the chance to utter a single word he had shouted, “Petrificus Totalus!”

Hermione jumped back as Draco’s body froze and his Father levitated him, so that he was leaning against a wall, his eyes forced open. Lucius smirked at Bellatrix and said, “Do your worse, my dear.”

Bellatrix’s grin was worse than wicked, it was truly evil. She stepped forward and kicked Hermione to the floor, she knelt above her and grabbed the girls left arm. She held it out straight and pulled a knife from somewhere in her robes and Hermione’s eyes flashed fearfully.

“Where is he? Where is Potter?”

“I don’t know,” Hermione said honestly.

“Of course you know!” Bellatrix snapped, “Where did he go?”

“I don’t know,” Hermione said again.

Bellatrix lost her temper, she brought the knife down to Hermione’s arm and began to carve something into her skin. Hermione screamed in pain but Bellatrix held her down so that she could not move a single inch. 

“Until you tell me, I’ll make sure everyone knows what you are,” Bellatrix hissed, “I’ll make sure darling Draco is reminded of the filth he lets share his bed! You are nothing but a cheap hobby to him so if I were you I would start talking!”

“I don’t know anything,” Hermione cried, “I don’t know where Harry is.”

“What is he doing, Granger?” Bellatrix hissed, “Why is he running around in the woods, hmm?”

“He’s avoiding people like you!” Hermione spat, “He’s not stupid, he knows you want him dead.”

“Interesting, but not useful,” Lucius drawled, “Finish with her so we can extract something from Draco. He always was the weak link in the chain.”

Bellatrix looked gleeful at the thought of causing more pain. She resumed her task of carving out Hermione’s arm and Hermione wanted to be strong. She wanted to grin and bear it, like Harry would, but it hurt too much. The pain was sharp and searing, Hermione could feel her flesh being cut by the sharp knife, and Bellatrix was treating it like an art form. Like a tattoo artist, a manic one with a wicked grin. Hermione’s screams became sobs of pain and anguish and cries of, “No! no, please.”

She wished she was stronger, but she wasn’t. She would never give Harry away, not under threat of death or injury but she was not Harry and she could not pretend that this wasn’t the most painful experience of her life. 

To Hermione, the pain seemed to last forever. It was so slow, and agonising but she did not say a word. She did not answer a single question, and she prided herself in that at least. When it was eventually over she could barely see for tears. She was weak, and bleeding and her mind felt foggy. She didn’t see Bellatrix raise her wand, but she did hear her shout “Legilimens!” and she braced herself as the world’s worst migraine hit her.

She tried to block Bellatrix out, after all Hermione did know some Occlumency. But she felt like her body and brain were slowly shutting down and she did not have enough strength to fight Bellatrix. She did make sure she thought of anything apart from Harry, in a last gasp attempt to piss Bellatrix off she purposefully thought about the fact it was a full moon tonight, and conjured up a few memories of the particularly good sex she and Draco had around that time.

Bellatrix choked as if she had eaten something poisonous and pulled herself out of Hermione’s head. Hermione would have smirked victoriously if she had the strength, but as she lay there on her back staring at the roof the world began to spin.

“What happened?” Lucius asked sharply.

“It seems that as well as being a filthy little mudblood Granger gets off on bestiality,” Bellatrix said distastefully, “Are we done with her?”

“Yes,” Lucius said, “But do not kill her. Once I have what I want from Draco I intend to force him to kill his precious little mudblood.”

Bellatrix’s eyes lit up at the thought, but Lucius ignored her and stepped forward. He uttered the counter curse so that Draco could move once more and smirked when he saw tear tracks on the boys cheeks.

“How sweet,” Lucius said smoothly, “You actually care about the mudblood. Well, caring always was your weakness, Draco.”

“And it was never yours, Father,” Draco hissed.

Lucius’s eyes flashed, “You are not my son. You stopped being my son a long time ago.”

“You were never my Father,” Draco countered, his eyes burning with anger and hatred.

Lucius smiled in a cruel way and twirled his wand in his fingers, “What do you know of Potter’s movements, Draco?”

“As if I would tell you, even if I did know where he was,” Draco said.

“You’re loyal to him now?” Lucius laughed, “Well you always were flighty. He hates you Draco, you do not belong with him.”

“No,” Draco said, “But I do belong with her.”

His eyes flitted towards Hermione whose arm was bleeding from the word “Mudblood” that had been carved into it. She was barely awake, but her half-open eyes were locked on him.

“Well you will not belong with her for much longer,” Lucius said matter of factly, “Because the knife that carved what she is into her arm was tipped with a particularly nasty slow-acting venom. While I force you to tell me where Potter is you will watch your filthy girlfriend wither before your very eyes. She will get dizzy first, and then she will gradually lose her eyesight. Her whole body will feel like it’s on fire, and she will get very confused...she might even beg you to help her. I do hope she does, I want to see you suffer. I want to see you kill her.”

Draco’s eyes burned as he fought back tears, they were tears of anger more than anything else but he knew that if his Father saw them he would label him as weak.

“So you might as well tell me where Potter is,” Lucius said calmly, “Because your only reason for staying with him will be dead very shortly.”

“I won’t tell you anything!” Draco spat.

Lucius sighed, “Well I hate to resort to this old tactic but I see no alternative....CRUCIO!”

Draco didn’t scream. He gritted his teeth and shut his eyes as the pain made his muscles spasm and his nerve system scream at him. It burned like a fire coursing through his blood, like there was an intense heat bubbling beneath his very skin. But he opened his eyes and stared his Father in the eye as he tortured him. His eyes watered with the pain, but he was certainly not crying, “Is that the best you have, Father?”

“I am not your Father!” Lucius hissed, turning up the torture a notch.

Draco groaned in pain, but he refused to give his Father anymore satisfaction than that. 

“Stop it!” Narcissa shouted, stepping forward out of the shadows with tears streaming down her face.

“Mother,” Draco hissed, “Don’t involve yourself!”

Narcissa ignored her son, “He’s your son, Lucius!”

“I HAVE NO SON!” Lucius roared, “This filthy half-breed is no son of mine!”

Draco shouted out in pain as the curse was amplified once more.

“You’re right,” Narcissa screamed, “He was never your son! He is nothing like you, he’s my son! Mine!”

Lucius’s eyes darkened. He ended the cruciatus curse violently, throwing Draco into a wall and winding him. He spun around and turned his wand on his wife, “What did you say?”

“He is nothing like you,” Narcissa said, her eyes burning angrily, “He is no son of yours!”

“You stupid woman,” Lucius hissed, throwing her against the wall and knocking her out with a stunning charm.

When he turned around he realised that Draco had crawled over to Hermione and was whispering to her in a futile attempt to keep her awake as her arms and legs twitched. His anger grew as he stalked over to the boy and violently pulled him away from the girl.

Draco looked his Father directly in the eye as he put his wand on the raw patch of skin where his dark mark had once been, “What are you going to do Father, brand me?”

Lucius’s eyes flashed wickedly, “I think it would be fitting to use a curse your saviour used to be very fond of. In fact I recall he tried to kill you with it once, but now you are a loyal mutt.”

Draco was covered in sweat and still breathing heavily as he tried to catch his breath from the prolonged use of the cruciatus curse he had just been subjected to. He had been able to cope with that because he was used to it, it made it easier to block out the pain and keep his mouth shut. But when his Father said, “Sectumsempra!” and began to carve out a word into his arm he did shout loudly with the pain. He dragged his wand slowly, making every cut take at least a minute. He felt the skin on his arm being ripped apart, he gritted his teeth and hissed in pain, shutting his eyes tightly so that he didn’t have to see the satisfaction on the face of the man he had once called Father.

When he finished, Draco pried his eyes open and looked down at his arm where the words “Half-breed” could be made out beneath the blood.

He had plenty of strength left, despite the prolonged torture and his ‘Father’ was surprised when he lunged at him and nearly managed to punch him.

“Crucio!” Lucius said again, forcing Draco back. He fell to the ground on his hands and knees, but he felt his body changing. It couldn’t be the full moon yet, there was no way night had fallen. He could see out of the windows, it was still daytime. But he could feel the anger pulsing through him that he associated with the change and the claws and the fangs. His teeth were gritted together, so he felt the fangs grow, and he could feel the claws beneath his skin itching to get out.

He felt stronger than he had before and he looked up at Lucius with grey eyes that were gradually turning red. Lucius took a step back in fear, and Draco grinned, showing his fangs, “You forget, Father that your methods of torture don’t quite work on me now that I am a filthy half-breed.”

Despite the curse coursing through him and attempting to rip his body apart, Draco got to his feet and the fear on his Fathers face was oh so satisfying.

“Get inside of his head!” Lucius shouted to Bellatrix, ending the cruciatus curse he had Draco under.

“Oh by all means, try,” Draco said, staring her in the eye resolutely. 

Bellatrix raised her wand and shouted, “Legilimens!”

Draco smirked as he felt her try to penetrate his mind, but all she encountered was a brick wall and a very high-pitched frequency that made her scream and hold her hands against her ears.

“What did you do to me?” She shrieked.

“Well,” Draco said calmly, “If you will try to use Legilimency on a werewolf, Auntie.”

Lucius stepped forward to deal with Draco, in one way or another. But before he could do so much as raise his wand, Pettigrew skidded into the room screeching, “The prisoners have all escaped!”

Bellatrix screeched loudly, “How?”

“Well I expect that darned Harry Potter is about to arrive,” Draco said matter of factly, “It is a pretty bad habit of his after all.”

He was pretending to be tough, but his eyes flicked for a brief second towards Hermione and he knew that it had not gone unnoticed. She had lost consciousness, and Draco did not know how long she had to get help before it was too late. 

“Then I suppose I ought to kill you before he gets here,” Lucius said calmly.

There was a loud crack and then the words, “Too late.”

Everyone looked to the voice which they recognised as Harry Potter’s instantly. From there the chaos unfolded...Bellatrix launched herself at Harry who was engaged in a duel with her before he even really knew what was going on. Neville, rather wisely had shouted “Accio wands!” and thrown Draco’s his the moment he caught it. The Death Eater/Werewolf from earlier had come running in to help Lucius and Bellatrix while Peter Pettigrew cowered in the shadows.

He ran at Neville who easily fended him off while Draco, now armed with his wand cornered his Father. 

“Draco-”

“You wanted a showdown, Father,” Draco said coolly, “And now you have one. Stupefy!”

Lucius laughed and threw a dark curse Draco’s way which he avoided, “Sectumsempra!” he shouted, slicing his wand down his Father’s right arm. He hissed in pain and switched his wand into his left hand. 

“Confringo!”

Draco ducked and the spell blew the windows out at the back of the drawing room.

“Reducto!” Draco yelled, blowing a hole in the floor at his Father’s feet. He lost his balance, but did not fall. 

“Crucio!”

Draco yelled through the pain, “Perfringo!”

Lucius shouted out in pain and fell to his knees as the spell made it feel like he was being pierced in the chest by hundreds of tiny needles. 

Draco crossed the room and grabbed his Father. He lifted him up and held his wand against his neck. His left hand was at the base of his back, ensuring that he couldn’t break free from Draco’s grasp. The approach of the full moon made him stronger, Lucius was not going anywhere.

“What poison is it?” Draco hissed.

Lucius laughed, “You think I will tell you? So that you can run off and save her? No, this is not that easy Draco.”

“Tell me!” Draco shouted, “What is the poison?”

Lucius just continued to laugh and as Draco’s anger became fear and frustration the claws began to force their way out of his knuckles. He didn’t fight it, but he did grimace in pain as they forced their way through, breaking his skin as they did so.

“I have my claws pressed against your back,” Draco hissed, “And if you don’t tell me what poison you gave her they are going to extend to full length. When that happens they will go right through you Father so answer me, what poison is it?”

“You will not kill me Draco,” Lucius said calmly, “You do not have it in you.”

“Yes, I do,” Draco said as the claws extracted a little more and penetrated the skin, “I have it in me to kill you after all you have done!”

Lucius shook his head, “You have never been strong enough to kill somebody. You could not kill Dumbledore, you were too weak and pathetic.”

“Dumbledore didn’t deserve to die,” Draco hissed as the claws sunk in deep enough to make Lucius cry out, “You do.”

“Then kill me,” Lucius said calmly, “Like the monster that you are.”

The word monster was enough, Draco really did not intend to kill his Father. He didn’t have it in him, despite everything he had ever done to him he didn’t think he had the stomach to kill him. But at the word monster his anger flared, and with his anger came his claws. They extended fully in a matter of seconds, and Draco felt sick at the sight. He pulled them out immediately and stared at the bloody bone claws in horror. His Father fell to his knees on the floor, he coughed up blood and looked Draco right in the eye as he crumped into a heap on the floor.

He stared at his own claws and the corpse of his Father in horror for a good few minutes before an almighty crash made him jump up and grab his wand with his right hand. The only hand that wasn’t clawed...

It didn’t take long to discover that the crash had been a chandelier, falling and crushing Bellatrix. He scanned the room and saw Harry picking up Hermione carefully while Neville was still warding off the werewolf. Draco ran to Hermione, grateful that the claws on his left hand had receded. 

Harry glanced over to Lucius’s body and said, “Are you alright?”

Draco nodded and took Hermione from his arms, cradling her like a child, “Fine,” he croaked hoarsely.

Harry took his eyes off of his best friend and gripped his wand tightly in his right hand as he walked to the fireplace where Kreacher was waiting faithfully. Draco followed, limping slightly but keeping pace with Harry well enough. Neville had caught the signal and was gradually edging back, trying to push back the werewolf as he did so. 

He reached them and lowered his guard for a split second. It was enough for the werewolf to lunge at him, but just in the nick of time (or so it seemed from Harry and Draco’s perspective at least) he threw him back with a blasting curse and grabbed Kreachers outstretched hand.

TBC :)


	49. Everybody Hurts Sometimes

When Harry, Draco, Neville and Hermione arrived in the large drawing room of Bones Manor there was already a degree of panic. It was only worsened by the state that Hermione was in. The second they were on solid ground Draco put Hermione down on one of the large sofas and shouted, “SOMEONE GET SUSAN HERE NOW!”

Remus looked up from where he was looking after Lilly, “What’s happened?” he asked quickly.

“She’s been poisoned, I don’t know what kind of venom it is,” Draco said, his hands were shaking and he was barely holding back tears, “It’s slow acting, and it’s already been at least an hour! Get Susan please!”

Remus simply nodded and went to the enlarged mirror at the other side of the room.

“Get some cold water,” Harry said as his eyes found Hermione’s pale, shaking form, “And do we have any Basilisk venom? It can counteract all other poisons, what happened to Hermione’s bag?”

“Harry-”

“She hid it in the forest,” Lilly said shakily, “Underneath a tree, I know where. I’ll go and get it.”

“Are you well enough?” Harry asked her gently.

Lilly nodded, “I’m fine, it’s just shock,” she said as she made for the door.

“Be careful Lilly,” Harry said over the noise of everyone else.

Lilly gave him a small nod and disappeared out of the door.

“Harry-”

“And Draco, do you think you could-”

“HARRY!”

Harry turned around to Neville, “Neville! Now is really not the time! People are dying here, look at Hermione!”

Neville’s face was pale, and he was bleeding heavily from his right arm. He swallowed and mumbled a cleansing charm to remove all of the blood, “Look,” he said weakly.

Harry’s face fell and Draco had to grab the fireplace to keep himself upright.

“Is that...” Harry tried to ask, trailing off before he could finish the question.

Neville nodded numbly, and Draco felt sick as he stared at the mark on his best friends arm, the bite mark.

They were silent as Remus made his way back over to them, with Susan hot on his heels, “She’s here.”

“What’s going on?” Susan asked, her immediate focus on Hermione.

“Poison,” Draco said quietly, “I don’t know what, slow-acting he said...Lilly is getting the Basilisk venom.”

Susan looked up with a frown, and Remus was frozen to the spot as he looked at Neville’s arm, “Neville is that a werewolf bite?”

Neville sat down as the world began to spin. Draco stood behind him, gripping his good arm firmly, as some latent gesture of support.

Harry nodded, “He was bitten as we left...”

“But he wasn’t in werewolf form,” Susan said weakly, “Was he? It’s not night time yet.”

“Greyback wasn’t in werewolf form when he bit me,” Draco said darkly, “And look at how I turn out every full moon.”

“What’s going to happen to me tonight?” Neville asked quietly, so quietly that only Remus and Draco picked it up with their wolf-hearing.

“I don’t know,” Remus said honestly.

“At least you don’t have to wait for the best part of a month to find out though,” Draco said in an attempt at optimism.

“Basilisk venom!” Lilly panted as she dashed into the room with Hermione’s bag and sank into the sofa next to Neville. Her eyes caught the bite and widened, but Harry shook his head at her and she did not say a word.

Susan swallowed hard and took her eyes off of Neville. She knelt by Hermione’s side and mumbled diagnostic charm after diagnostic charm. She went through every single slow-acting poison she knew of until she eventually identified it. 

“It’s in her blood stream,” Susan said, “And her lungs...and her stomach...Remus, help me please!”

Remus nodded, he was pale, and exhausted with the full moon barely 4 hours away, but he was determined to do his best to help those he loved. 

“I need a phial, a jug, a lot of pure dittany, a bucket and as much doxy venom as you can find,” Susan rattled off, “This is very bad...it’s Streeler venom.”

“Streeler?” Draco asked, his panic now clear to everyone in the room. Remus set about collecting the items that Susan had asked for as she measured out some Basilisk venom into the one jug she did have. 

Susan nodded, “It has slowed her heart down so much that her organs are starting to shut down. I have to get it out of her system somehow, but it’s spread through her blood stream...”

“What does that mean Susan?” Draco asked desperately.

“It means I’m not qualified enough to heal her,” Susan said, fear shining in her eyes.

“You have to at least try!” Draco said, tears spilling freely, “I can’t lose her, I can’t!”

“I know,” Susan said, gripping Draco’s hand as Remus rushed in with the items Susan had asked for, “And I will do everything that I can but I’m not a qualified healer, Draco!”

“But I am,” Remus said calmly, “I trained as a healer but I could never practice because of my condition. Don’t bother with that mixture, Basilisk venom isn’t going to help here. The poison is only in her blood stream, her organs are shutting down because of that. We have to focus on getting it out.”

Susan didn’t question him, she just watched him. Remus picked up the phial and measured a fairly large dose of doxy venom into it. He then transfigured it into a syringe, as Susan had done with Harry.

“This is far more complex than the poison of Nagini...Harry could have survived that without medical help, once his heart was restarted it would have left his body...this has taken hold in the worst way,” Remus said, more to himself and Susan than to anyone else but the others were all listening and crowding around their friend.

“Do something!” Draco exclaimed, “You have to be able to do something, Remus!”

“A bezoar,” Harry said quickly, “It cures most poisons.”

Remus’s eyes widened, “Yes! Draco, the potions cabinet downstairs, go!”

Draco didn’t need to be told twice. His girlfriend’s life was at stake and he was an emotional wreck. He had just killed his Father after all. He darted down the stairs, grabbed the bezoar and ran back up, thrusting it into Remus’s hand when he skidded back into the drawing room.

Remus held Hermione’s mouth open and literally shoved the bezoar down her throat. She choked and spluttered and thrashed against him but he forced it down. The bezoar gradually dissolved into her blood stream and as it did so her shaking began to ease.

“What’s happening?” Draco asked, his entire body shaking with fear.

Remus placed his hand on her pulse point, “Her heart rate is returning to normal...”

He pressed his ear against her chest, “And her breathing is less laboured...it worked. The poison is leaving her system.”

“Good thinking Harry,” Remus said, breathing a sigh of relief, “A bezoar...that was a stroke of genius. Your Mum...she would be proud.”

Harry could only nod, he had stunned himself to be honest. Draco half sobbed, half laughed and launched himself at Harry. The Gryffindor was beyond stunned as Draco clung to him, “Thank you,” he said, “Thank you, I don’t know what I would do without her.”

“I know,” Harry said, patting Draco on the back awkwardly and catching Lilly’s eye over his shoulder.

She smiled weakly at him, and when Harry eventually managed to pry Draco off of him he sat down next to her on the sofa and said, “Are you alright?”

“I am fine, honestly,” Lilly said softly, “The cruciatus curse hurt a lot more than I thought it would and I crumbled under the pressure so quickly...I never told them anything but I begged them to stop and I never wanted to give them that satisfaction.”

“I know,” Harry said, putting his arm around her, “But you didn’t tell them anything and you are alive. Merlin Lil...I was going insane, running around here screaming about how I had to get to you, about how I had to get you out. I levelled a small forest in the Brecon Beacons because I was so angry.”

Lilly looked in his eyes, and without asking she knew that he had come for her. Not for Hermione, well probably for all of them. But it had been her he was worried about, her he loved. The psychological games that Bellatrix and Lucius had been playing with her were instantly forgotten. She could only nod, and when she did find her voice she whispered, “I’m fine Harry. Neville needs you more than me.”

“I heard that,” Neville said from the far side of the large room. 

Harry looked over at his friend, “What?” he called.

Neville raised his voice slightly, “I heard every word Lilly just said, as clear as day!”

Draco glanced up from the spot where he was kneeling by Hermione. She was still unconscious and Neville looked terrified. Draco spent a moment dithering between his girlfriend and his best friend and eventually got to his feet. He walked over to Neville and sat down on one side of him, while Harry took a seat on the other side. 

Remus was glancing over, he was clearly thinking about offering his own advice. But at the moment he was still fixing up Hermione and he had to finish that job properly before he began another. He tore his eyes away from the boys and instead looked to Susan who looked distraught and afraid as she watched Neville carefully.

On the far side of the room Draco said, “So your hearing is better?”

“Much better,” Neville said.

“And your eyesight?” Harry asked, “Any sharper?”

Neville nodded.

“Do you feel...different?”

“Stronger,” Neville said, he pressed his fist against the wooden arm of the sofa as hard as he could and left an indent, “Much stronger.”

“Do you feel angry?” Draco asked.

“I feel scared,” Neville said, showing how vulnerable he was at the moment. He caught Draco’s eye, “What happened to you on the first moon?”

“It’s like I told you the morning after,” Draco said honestly, “I couldn’t use wolfsbane so I fought for dominance and lost. Hence why I woke up in the state I did. I didn’t remember it at all until I woke up naked the next morning and the memories all flooded back in blocks.”

“Did it hurt?” Neville asked quietly, “The first transformation?”

“Honestly?” Draco asked.

Harry felt out of place as Remus approached the three of them, so he subtly slipped away and took a seat by Hermione’s side. He took her hand in his own and tried not to look at those at the far side of the room. They were talking in whispers, so he could not hear even if he wanted to.

“Tell me the truth, Draco,” Neville said, grabbing Draco’s hand and gripping it, “Did it hurt?”

“Like hell,” Draco said honestly, “It felt like it ripped my whole body apart. It hurts like that every time I transform without wolfsbane.”

“But it does get easier with every moon,” Remus promised as he took Harry’s vacated seat.

“Will I be like you or Draco?” Neville asked, his eyes filled with fear.

“It’s hard to say,” Remus admitted, “I was bitten by a werewolf on a full moon and Draco was bitten by a werewolf in human form weeks before a full moon. You were bitten by a werewolf in human form on a full moon...you may be more of a wolf than Draco but I do not think you will quite be a full wolf.”

“So I can’t use wolfsbane yet,” Neville said, “Just like Draco.”

“I am afraid so,” Remus said, “And I am also afraid to say that you will certainly change in some form. You will have to spend the night with Draco and I in the old outhouse, but...”

“If you transform enough you’ll fight us,” Draco finished, “For dominance. I mean if you have any sense you’ll leave Remus alone because he’s clearly our alpha. But you’ll fight me.”

“Can I hurt you?” Neville asked, his eyes flitting between Draco and Remus.

“If you’re strong enough...if you transform enough...you could...” Draco cut off, and Neville’s eyes widened in horror.

For the first time in a very long time Draco saw Neville fighting back tears as the Gryffindor said, “Draco, if I...I could never live with myself if I...”

“I will be on wolfsbane tonight,” Remus said, grabbing Neville’s arm to calm him down, “Draco will not be, because he has not been taking it this week. But I will be there to intervene if you and Draco try to fight Neville. You won’t hurt anyone, not badly anyway. Draco and I still hurt each other on full moons, even when we both take wolfsbane. It’s in our nature.”

“You’ll be fine,” Draco promised, gripping his friend’s hands, “You won’t be alone for one moment of it.”

Neville nodded and swallowed a lump in his throat. He looked over Draco’s head at Susan who was quietly conversing with Harry as they sat on the floor keeping watch on Hermione. 

“She’ll come to terms with it,” Draco said softly, “Like Hermione did.”

“Or she won’t,” Remus said, “You have to be prepared for both eventualities I am afraid. My first girlfriend was tough like Hermione, she coped with it well. Dorcas even tended to my injuries after the full moon, and she never asked where the blood on my clothes came from. My second...she couldn’t hack it...and Dora is an angel. But not everyone can handle a life of slander, shame and poverty Neville.”

Neville nodded, trying very hard not to tune in on the conversation that Susan was having with Harry. But the harder he tried not to listen the easier it was to listen...

“He’s still Neville, Suse.”

“Is he?”

“Of course he is. Draco hasn’t changed, has he? He still loves Hermione more than anything on this earth.”

“But Hermione is scared of him, she’s scared of his anger around the full moon. Sometimes she thinks he will hurt her.”

“How do you know that?”

“She told me...at Christmas.”

“Look the thing with werewolves is that their worst traits are amplified around full moon time. Draco always had a temper, you know that. If I was a werewolf I’d be a nightmare too, but Draco has never hurt Hermione and he never will, I’m certain of it and she is too. If she thought anything else she wouldn’t stay with him, I can promise you that.”

“What if it changes Neville too?”

“You can’t know that it will.”

“But what if it does and what if I don’t like who he becomes?”

“Susan you’re being old-fashioned and prejudiced. You said yourself that you love Remus like a Father and he’s a werewolf. It’s hard in the first couple of years to adapt, but they don’t change as people! That’s a stupid idea, it’s people like you treating them differently that makes them change, that makes them grow bitter and angry.”

“I just don’t know if I can handle it Harry...it’s a big change.”

“It’s one you make when you love somebody. I would love Lilly if she was a werewolf or a vampire. I’d love her if she was blind, or if she was deaf. I love her however she is, and if you don’t feel that way about Neville then you have a lot to rethink.”

“Neville, don’t do this to yourself,” Draco said quietly, giving his friend a shake.

Neville wiped the tears that had fallen away with frustration, “Do what?”

“Listen to things like that,” Draco said, “It will only make things harder.”

“It’s hard enough anyway!” Neville remarked, looking out of the window as the sky began to darken.

“I know,” Draco said firmly, “I know how hard it is. I barely survived it, the whole thing made me want to die rather than become a monster but you got me through it. You told me I wasn’t a monster, you are the reason that I’m still a good person despite all of this and I’ll be damned if I don’t do the exact same for you!”

Neville smiled weakly, “Well I appreciate the thought but if I try and maul you to death tonight I doubt you’ll be saying that tomorrow.”

“Neville, you’re the calmest person I know,” Draco said honestly, “I’m a grumpy, angry bastard so of course I’m a dick of a werewolf. I’m sure you’ll be different, you have more self-control than me, that’s for sure.”

Neville nodded and said, “I’m scared...that much is true but I’m scared because I don’t want to hurt anyone and...because Susan...well she isn’t Hermione.”

“No, she isn’t,” Draco agreed, “But Hermione is a pretty rare woman. She’s an advocate for house elves, half-breeds and muggle-borns, I’m not surprised she’s so okay with what I am. A normal person would struggle with it, and that is their right. This is as hard for our other halves to cope with as it is for us.”

“You sound like Remus,” Neville said, amusement finding its way into his voice despite everything.

Remus chuckled and said, “Then I suppose my good influence is finally rubbing off on you Draco.”

Draco snorted and said, “Maybe,” rather unconvincingly.

Remus smiled slightly and put his arm around Neville, “Come on down to the old outhouse with me Neville. I’ll show you around, prepare you a little better for tonight. Draco can join us in an hour or so, he needs a bit of time to sit with Hermione though.”

“Okay,” Neville said, getting to his feet and letting Remus lead him out of the room. 

Draco watched them go, feeling sick with anger and guilt. For some reason he felt like this was his fault, like Neville had become a werewolf because he had come to save him. He could feel it all bubbling underneath his skin when he reached Hermione, who was still fast asleep and who had Harry by her side.

“Draco,” Harry said in an undertone, “Could we have a word, in private?”

Draco frowned and glanced at the dark-haired boy, “Sure...” he said.

Harry nodded sharply, “Come on then,” he said, walking towards the door and expecting Draco to follow him.

They weaved their way downwards until eventually they reached the old cellar. Harry opened the door, ushered Draco in and shut it behind him. The Slytherin was just beginning to wonder what on earth was going on as he stared around the musty old cellar, when Harry finally spoke.

He placed a silencing charm on the room, and locked the door. Then he lit the old lamps with his wand and turned to Draco, “Are you alright?”

“You brought me down here to ask me that?” Draco half-laughed, “I’m fine, Potter.”

“You just killed your Father Draco,” Harry said calmly, “Are you alright?”

Draco’s eyes flashed red, as they did when he transformed. His wand sparked in his pocket as he said, “No, I’m not alright! How dare he torture Hermione in front of my eyes? How dare he let that bitch carve what she did into her arm! She’s not a fucking mudblood, she’s the purest person I bloody well know! She didn’t deserve that, she doesn’t deserve any of this! He deserved it for everything he’s ever done to her, to all of us!”

Harry remained silent as Draco took a breath and punched one of the concrete walls, it clearly had no effect on him because he didn’t even flinch afterwards but the wall looked worse for the wear, “And Neville!” he exclaimed as his claws fought their way out. He hissed in pain and shut his eyes tightly, “Why did he have to get bitten? He doesn’t deserve this! I did, I’ve never been a good person! Being a werewolf is my punishment for every bad thing I’ve ever done but Neville is good! He is a genuine good person and the last thing he deserves is to become the monster that I am! When has he ever done anything to harm anyone? He’s always just been there for all of us all of the time! Even when I was a dick to him for all those years at school the second I needed him he just welcomed me back because hes that kind of guy! And you! You swanned off with Weasley all of the time, you never cared about Neville, he was always just in the background! But when you needed him he was there, he’s always there for everyone! AND NOW HE’S A FUCKING WEREWOLF! How is that fair? What part of that makes any sense?”

“Merlin Draco, who are you dating again?” Harry asked, sitting down on a dusty old beer keg, “Neville or Hermione?”

“Oh fuck off Potter!” Draco spat.

“You aren’t a monster you know,” Harry said ignoring his previous insult, “And Neville isn’t either. Neither of you are monsters, and you are a good person. Hermione would not be with you if you weren’t Draco, she’s the goodest of good girls and an excellent judge of character.”

Draco shook his head, “And she nearly died because of me! And Neville is a werewolf because of me! If I hadn’t said his name we wouldn’t have gotten captured and Hermione wouldn’t have gotten tortured! You and Neville wouldn’t have come to save us and he would be fine! It’s all my fucking fault Potter! ALL OF IT! And that bastard deserved what he got! HE DESERVED IT!”

“He did,” Harry agreed, “But that doesn’t make it any easier to come to terms with, does it?”

Draco’s breathing had gotten heavier, more laboured. His eyes were burning as tears stung behind them and he could feel his anger turning to pain. 

“No,” Draco half-shouted, half-sobbed, “Because I killed my own Father and he was a terrible one but I killed him with my bare hands,” he looked down at his hands which were no longer bloody but shaking badly.

“He was right, I am a monster, what kind of person does that?” Draco asked quietly, tears now running freely down his face.

“The kind of person who had a terrible Father,” Harry said quietly, “And none of this is your fault Draco. Being captured...that was as much my fault as yours. I should never have riled you up on a full moon, I got you angry enough to say his name and I think I said it too. And Neville...well he would have done the right thing in any situation, whether he was saving someone he didn’t know or you. It’s not your fault, none of it is.”

“Killing him was,” Draco whispered.

“No,” Harry argued, “You can’t control the claws, I know you can’t because I’ve seen you struggle to control them. Look at you now for Merlin’s sake! He said the wrong thing, he riled you up and your body reacted. He killed himself Draco, you were just the weapon he used.”

Draco swallowed hard, and shook his head, “How do you know when someone deserves to die? I wished it for years...when he used to curse me and hit me with that fucking cane of his...when he used to imperius my Mother to make her do his bidding I prayed that he would die! But now he’s dead and it’s my fault and I don’t feel any better for it! I don’t feel like I have closure, I just feel like a monster!”

“You weren’t the only one who killed today,” Harry said quietly, “I know how you feel. That chandelier that crushed Bellatrix Lestrange didn’t fall on its own. It had a little help...a severing charm.”

“Yeah but Potter she was a rabid dog,” Draco said darkly, “You were putting her down, not killing her.”

“And the difference between her and your Father is?” Harry countered, “They were both murderers, and Merlin knows what else your Father was. He nearly killed an 11 year old girl when he gave Ginny that diary, it’s because of him you had a shit childhood, he killed muggles, he tried to kill Hermione!”

“Stop telling me everything that he did!” Draco screamed, “I know what he did! I know how fucking bad a person he was but he was my Father! You have no idea what it is like to be the reason your own Father is dead, my Mother will never forgive me!”

“Won’t she?” Harry asked coolly, “Because the way I see it she was as much a victim of his abuse as you were.”

“He’s dead,” Draco sobbed, “He’s dead, and I killed him! I loved him once, I admired him, I wanted to be him! He wasn’t all bad all of the time, there were flashes when he really did seem to care, but now he’s gone.”

Harry sighed and glanced at the desperate boy, “Draco, I do know how you feel because maybe I didn’t kill my parents but I am the reason they are dead. They both threw themselves in front of killing curses for me! And do you know what? When you used to bully me in 3rd year for the way the Dementors made me react, that was what I heard. I heard their screams, their final moments, I heard them sacrificing their lives for mine! So yes, I do know how it feels to be the reason your parents are dead!”

“I...I’m so sorry,” Draco said tearfully, “I mean look at me! Look how selfish I am, how can I not know that about you? Why is Hermione with me? I never understood, not before I was bitten and especially now, why? Just why?”

“Because you love her so much you are willing to sacrifice everything for her,” Harry admitted, “You killed your Father tonight to save her. And that is something you are going to have to come to terms with, and it won’t be easy. But you saved Hermione tonight too, we provided the distraction but you got her out of there and gave Susan and Remus the information they needed to save her life.”

“Is that enough to outweigh what I did?” Draco asked, his shoulders sagging as his anger dissipated.

“I think it is,” Harry said, “And I think Hermione will understand too. But if telling her isn’t something you think you can handle, I’ll do it when she wakes up.”

Draco nodded numbly, “I can barely admit it to myself, I can’t tell her. I can’t stand to see the disappointment on her face when she realises that I really am a monster.”

“You are not a monster, Draco,” Harry said again, “You were pushed to your limit by a wicked man. I killed a woman in cold blood and yes she was a bad person, she is the person I blame for Sirius’s death but I don’t feel like I have closure or like I’ve gotten revenge. I just feel sad, like I’ve stooped to her level. You didn’t mean to kill your Father, and if he hadn’t insulted you, you would have stunned him and we would have left. What happened to him was his own fault, you have got to stop blaming yourself. It’s a horrible, lonely path that only leads to self-destruction, trust me.”

“I do, Harry,” Draco said quietly, perching on the edge of an old wooden box. 

Harry nodded, “You good?”

“Shit,” Draco said loudly.

“What?” Harry asked, jumping a little as the loud noise echoed around the cellar.

“I get this feeling, normally around 10 minutes before I transform,” Draco said, “I can feel my body starting to change...it happened earlier and then the claws and the fangs...well you saw it.”

Harry nodded, “I suppose you should head over to the outhouse then,” he said somewhat awkwardly.

Draco pushed himself to his feet, “I should, but can you-”

“I’ll stay with her all night,” Harry promised before Draco needed to finish the sentence. 

Draco nodded, and Harry brought down the silencing charms and unlocked the door. He yanked it open and the bright light from the entrance hall upstairs flooded the dim room. Draco paused and turned around, “Are we actually friends now? We never said anything, but it was obvious we were just putting up with each other for Hermione’s sake.”

“To begin with, yeah it was like that,” Harry agreed with a smile, “But there are some things you can’t go through without becoming friends and I’d say storming Malfoy Manor, saving our mutual best friend/girlfriend and killing You-Know-Who’s right hand man and woman, is one of those things.”

Draco actually chuckled, despite everything, “I’ll see you in the morning. Look after her for me.”

“Of course,” Harry said, “Try not to get mauled by Neville,” he added as Draco began to head upstairs.

“I’ll do my best!” He called down after him, making Harry laugh.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When Hermione woke up, she was aware of one thing, pain. She groaned and rolled onto her side where there was a warm body. She threw her arm over said warm body, and snuggled into its chest. She was very tired and very sore, but she was lucid enough to be confused by the warm fuzzy jumper she was cuddling into. Draco Malfoy did not wear jumpers.

“Draco?” She mumbled sleepily.

“Nope,” Harry’s voice replied softly, “I’m replacement Draco, it’s a full moon night, remember?”

“Hmm,” Hermione hummed, “I forgot. Why aren’t you with Lilly?”

“Because Lilly didn’t get poisoned and try her best to die yesterday, you did,” Harry said matter of factly.

Hermione pried her eyes open and shifted slightly, resting her head on Harry’s chest, “What happened?”

“Do you remember getting captured?” Harry asked.

Hermione didn’t nod because her head felt heavy and sore, “I remember Pettigrew dragging Draco and I into the drawing room...and I remember her writing into my arm...”

Harry frowned as Hermione pulled up the sleeve of her top on her left arm. He had only focused on the fact she had been poisoned, he hadn’t seen the word carved into her arm. It had been cleared up and there was a bandage over it. But Hermione ripped it off, hoping that it would have healed and disappeared. She was sorely disappointed because all she was met with was an oozing scar that still read, “Mudblood”.

“What is that?” Harry whispered angrily.

“I guess we match,” Hermione sighed, reaching down and grabbing his right hand where the scars still shone and read, “I must not tell lies”.

“That’s not funny Hermione,” Harry said darkly, “Is that how she poisoned you?”

“It must have been,” Hermione admitted, “I don’t remember. After she carved it, everything started to spin and everything went black...how did we get out?”

“Neville and I had a plan, Remus helped too,” Harry said, still looking angrily at the scar on her arm, “Dobby got Lilly out of the cellar, along with Dean, Ollivander and the goblin. Then Kreacher took Neville and me into the drawing room. We got into a big fight...”

Hermione frowned and looked at him, “Is everyone alright? Did you all come back?”

“Everyone came back,” Harry promised, “But no one is alright. Lilly is still in shock after the torture, and Susan thinks you’ll need the best part of a month to recover. Draco is...struggling with a few things and Neville...well he’s-”

Harry cut himself off as a loud howl sounded from outside, and a yelp of pain followed. He frowned and finished, “He’s a werewolf and he’s been fighting Draco all night...I’m surprised it hasn’t woken you up yet.”

Hermione’s face paled, “Oh my God, it wasn’t Draco who-”

“No, Draco didn’t bite him,” Harry said with a shake of his head, “It was their new guy, the replacement Greyback. It happened as we were leaving.”

“Is Draco alright?” Hermione asked as a loud yowl floated in the window.

“He’ll live,” Harry said honestly, “Remus is breaking it up when things get bad but they’ll both be hurting tomorrow, that’s for sure. And...I need to talk to you about something serious, if you’re up to it.”

Hermione’s frown deepened, “What’s wrong?”

“You know how I said Draco was working through a few things?” Harry asked, and Hermione nodded very slightly. Harry sighed and continued, “When we were at the Manor he cornered his Father to try and get him to tell us the poison he had used on you so we could heal you. He refused to say and things escalated...”

“What are you saying, Harry?” Hermione asked weakly.

“He killed him,” Harry said, “Lucius is dead.”

Hermione gasped in horror and brought her hand to her mouth. She stared at Harry in disbelief and shook her head, “No...no he isn’t capable of that.”

“You’re right, he isn’t,” Harry said honestly, “It was an accident. In fact it was Lucius’s own fault. I saw it all with my own eyes and I would never lie to you, you know that.”

“I know,” Hermione whispered, “But I have to know how it happened, Harry.”

“He sort of went part-werewolf,” Harry admitted, “I don’t know if it was the torture...they used the cruciatus curse on him a lot and for a long period of time too. I wouldn’t have been able to withstand it Hermione, it was that bad. But something made him click, and he half turned, he got the fangs and I could see him struggling to keep the claws in. The thing with them is that they are huge and they extend when he’s angry or upset, he’s not quite able to control them yet.”

“Get to the point Harry,” Hermione said quietly, the fear in her eyes was mounting.

“He grabbed Lucius and was asking him, well begging him really, to tell him what poison he had used. Lucius was adamant he wasn’t going to tell Draco, so Draco put his fist against his back and threatened to kill him if he didn’t say. But I could tell he wasn’t actually going to do it, Lucius kept riling him up and then he called him a monster. There was this flash of anger in his eyes and the claws came out and went...straight through Lucius...he died almost instantly and Draco grabbed you and got you out. That’s what happened, exactly as it happened.”

“How is he?” Hermione asked, looking to the bright moon shining outside.

“Tearing himself apart,” Harry said honestly, “He blames himself for getting you captured. He blames himself for the fact you got tortured and for the fact that Neville is a werewolf, and for the fact he killed his Father.”

“It wasn’t his fault,” Hermione agreed, “He can’t control himself...it’s the one day of the month he can’t control himself. If it had been any other day...”

“I know,” Harry said, “But he’s scared Hermione. He thinks you’re going to leave him, he thinks you won’t be able to live with the fact that he killed someone...but if that were the case you would have to stop being friends with me too.”

“Of course I’m not going to leave him,” Hermione said, narrowing her eyes at Harry, “And what does that mean, exactly?”

“Bellatrix Lestrange is dead too,” Harry said, guilt and anger flickering in his eyes as he caught Hermione’s.

“What did you do Harry?” Hermione asked weakly.

Harry frowned and tore his eyes away from hers, “She was standing underneath a chandelier and I used a severing charm on it. But you don’t understand Hermione, I saw what she had done to you and to Draco! I could only imagine the state of Lilly, and she is the reason Sirius died! She is the reason Neville’s parents are shells in the crazy ward of St. Mungo’s! She deserved it! In fact she deserved worse! She deserved a slow, painful death like the way she killed her victims!”

“You’re right she did deserve it,” Hermione said softly, gripping Harry’s hand in her own, “But does justifying it make you feel any better?”

“No,” Harry said honestly.

“Good,” Hermione said firmly, “Because that means you’re still human, it means you’re a good person. If you can feel remorse and regret, you are not him. You know that, don’t you?”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t make it any easier Hermione,” Harry said, looking towards the window himself, “I still ended somebody’s life and I’ll have to do it again. I needed to know that I could...I was scared it would come time to kill him and I wouldn’t have it in me.”

“Harry,” Hermione said gently, “I know this is hard for you, but if you want to be an Auror you have to learn that some people have to die. Sometimes you have to kill one person for the greater good of everyone else. I know it was Grindelwald’s ideal, but it’s true, sometimes one person has to die to end the suffering of many.”

“I know,” Harry said darkly, “And that’s why I’ve been thinking that after the war I don’t want to be an Auror. This war has taken enough of my soul as it is...”

“I thought it was what you had always wanted to do,” Hermione said.

“It was the only thing I thought I would be good at,” Harry corrected her, “And that book of Skeeter’s has me thinking. The only other person we know who defeated a dark lord didn’t become an Auror after, he became a school teacher.”

Hermione smiled slightly, “And you’ll make a fantastic one, I’m sure.”

Harry managed to return her smile a little, but it felt forced, “I wonder how many more people are going to have to suffer before this war is over.”

“Too many,” Hermione said, “But we are getting there Harry. There are only two horcruxes left, three if you include...”

“Me,” Harry said quietly.

Hermione nodded, talking about it made her too emotional, “And look at it this way. I know you are struggling to come to terms with what happened and Merlin knows how Draco is coping. But You-Know-Who lost his two most loyal followers tonight, that’s as much of a blow as losing two of his horcruxes.”

Harry began to nod his agreement, but then his eyes widened, “That’s it, that’s the connection!” he exclaimed as he jumped to his feet.

“What connection?” Hermione asked, bemusement shining on her face.

“His loyal followers and his horcruxes! He gave the diary to Lucius for safekeeping before he was defeated! He probably gave the cup to another follower!” Harry said excitedly, “The cup, Hermione! The Lestrange’s have it!”

TBC :)


	50. The Pack

Harry carried Hermione downstairs that morning because she was still weak and could barely stand let alone walk. He sat down on the sofa and she settled in next to him, her head leaning against his chest as she cradled a bowl of cereal and attempted to eat some of it to stop her stomach rumbling. Harry on the other hand was nursing a cup of coffee with the arm that Hermione wasn’t crushing. It was very earlier, the sky was still a bloody orange as the sun rose and the dew settled on the grass outside.

“Hasn’t she got a boyfriend?” An amused, but tired voice asked from the doorway.

Harry and Hermione both turned to the backdoor which was now ajar. Neville was standing, or rather leaning, in the doorway looking rather like a young Remus Lupin with bags beneath his eyes.

“Yeah I know, I’ve been filling in while he was being all wolfy,” Harry said offhandedly, “And trust me, it’s an over protective big brother thing, not anything else. You look like shit by the way.”

Neville was covered in cuts and scratches, there were a couple of pretty bad gashes on his arms and legs too, and he had a black eye, “Thanks, it was such a fun experience, I really care about how I look Harry,” he said sarcastically.

“How’s Draco?” Hermione asked warily, “His yowling has kept both of us awake since 4am.”

“I’m fine,” Draco’s strained voice said from outside.

Neville turned around and grimaced, “Draco, I am so sorry.”

“It’s alright,” Draco’s voice said, “It’s worse than it looks, honestly.”

“Come in then,” Harry said, “So we can see how bad it looks.”

Hermione gasped and her hand flew to her mouth as Draco limped into the kitchen trailing blood behind him. There was barely an inch of skin that wasn’t covered in some sort of cut or bruise. There was a pretty big bite mark on one of his legs which was the cause of his limp and the blood he was trailing. He had a gash on his left shoulder which was still oozing blood and a huge bump on the top of his head.

“So, do I need to ask who lost the fight for dominance?” Harry asked, looking between his friends.

“No,” Draco said, grimacing as he sat down very gingerly on the white sofa, Susan was going to kill him, “I lost, I definitely lost. I mean I thought I was in with a good chance until he threw me in the fountain, tried to drown me, pulled me out of the fountain and threw me onto the roof of the outhouse. I gave up and slept there then fell off into a haystack this morning looking like this.”

He had a thin towel wrapped around the parts that needed covering, but other than that he was pretty bare. Neville had obviously grabbed some of Remus’s old clothes from the outhouse because he looked fairly normal.

“I’m so sorry,” Neville said, “Merlin Draco, I really am so sorry. Can I get you anything? Anything at all?”

“Dittany,” Draco mumbled, “Lots of it.”

Neville nodded and began to rummage in the potions cupboard by the door. Hermione looked at Draco sheepishly, “Are you really all right?”

“I’m fine,” Draco said through gritted teeth, “How are you? You were still out of it when I had to head out to transform last night.”

“She’s good,” Harry yawned, “But she can’t walk yet so I’m her personal wheelchair. Do you feel up to a cup of tea yet?”

Hermione shook her head, “No the cereal is making me feel like I’m going to throw up, I definitely don’t want any tea.”

“Is she poisoned or pregnant?” Lilly asked, smiling slightly as she walked into the kitchen in her pyjamas.

“Definitely the former,” Hermione said.

“Just as well,” Draco joked, “That’s the last thing I need right now, I can barely look after myself, look at the state of me.”

“You lost then,” Lilly said as she poured herself a cup of coffee from the pot Harry had brewed earlier. 

“Do you really have to ask that?” Draco asked sarcastically, “I’m still not happy about it either, I mean I’ve been a werewolf for longer and I’m still shit at it! Why do I suck at everything?”

Harry snorted, “Sorry, I didn’t realise Ron was in the room. Did you Hermione?”

“No,” Hermione chuckled.

Draco rolled his eyes, and Hermione added, “And I can think of at least one thing you don’t suck at Draco,” she added in an undertone.

“Too much information,” Neville said, thrusting a bottle of dittany in Draco’s face.

Draco sighed and accepted it, “Cheers Nev,” he said as he literally poured it onto every gash or bite on his body. 

“The entire bottle?” Lilly asked in disbelief, “That was our last one!”

“Dora got more before her trip to the Burrow,” Remus said as he walked into the kitchen fully clothed without a scratch on him, “She’ll be back around lunchtime with it so don’t worry. But I do think we should try and clean ourselves and this place up before she gets back. Trust me, you don’t want to get on her bad side at the moment.”

“Uh Remus, how are you not at all hurt?” Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

“They were smart enough to realise I would hurt them very badly if they tried to challenge me,” Remus said matter of factly, “So they left me alone and I tried to break up most of their fights but in the end I had to let things play out so that the order of things could be decided. How are you feeling Draco?”

“Fine,” Draco said, “It looks worse than it feels, honestly.”

Remus looked at him sceptically, “Well then I suppose you won’t mind getting that sofa cleaned up before my wife gets home and has a hissy fit.”

“A hissy fit?” Tonks asked as she stepped into the kitchen, she was around 6 and a half months pregnant now and had a fairly sizeable bump, “Why would I have a - what the hell happened here?”

Harry grimaced and extracted himself from underneath Hermione. He walked over to Tonks and steered her into an armchair, “It’s a long and dramatic story, do you want a cup of tea?”

“A cup of tea?” Tonks asked with a raised eyebrow, “I may be pregnant but I’m not an old woman. Why is everyone covered in blood?”

“It’s just me and Neville that are covered in blood,” Draco pointed out, “Harry is actually fairly blood-free, for once.”

“Draco” Tonks said, “What is going on?”

“Well,” Draco said, biting his lip, “Neville’s a werewolf, for a start.”

“How much of a werewolf are you, by the way?” Harry cut in curiously, “Because Draco can control how much he transforms and Remus has no choice at all.”

“I’m more like Remus,” Neville admitted, “But I do seem able to control to what extent I transform. It was hard last night because I was so angry but I think with wolfsbane I might be able to control it...”

Harry nodded slowly, and Neville sighed, “So Susan fled then? Since she’s the only one who isn’t here?”

“She had to go back to Hogwarts,” Lilly admitted, “She said something about Daphne’s sister going missing on a raid with Ginny.”

“Maybe I should go back too,” Neville said, “I’m not going to be any good to you anymore, am I?”

“You’re staying with us, end of story,” Harry said firmly.

Tonks surveyed them all, “Is anyone planning on telling me how Neville became a werewolf?”

“Lilly, Hermione and Draco got kidnapped,” Harry admitted, “So Neville and I broke into Malfoy Manor to save them.”

“Did you know about this Remus?” Tonks asked calmly, but it was a dangerous kind of calm.

Remus looked sheepish, “Yes, but I thought it best not to tell you. I didn’t want the baby to-”

“The bloody baby!” Tonks exclaimed, “I have been an Auror for years! Telling me something is not going to make me panic or hurt the baby! Not telling me just pisses me off! I can’t believe you let them storm Malfoy Manor on their own Remus! If you had told me I could have helped you plan this better so that Neville hadn’t gotten bitten!”

“Well I wasn’t going to let them do it on their own!” Remus snapped.

***

20 HOURS EARLIER

“I’m coming with you.”

“Remus, don’t be stupid!” Harry snapped.

“You’ve got a baby to look out for,” Neville said calmly.

“Yeah, and I have you guys to look out for too!” Remus said, “You said it yourself, we’re a family and family look out for each other.”

“Yes, they do,” Harry said, “So look out for Tonks and that baby of yours inside her not us, not this time.”

Remus opened his mouth to argue further, but Harry gave Neville a brief nod and they both shot stunners at the older man.

***

“They left me on the floor Dora! They didn’t even have the curtsey to put me in a chair!” Remus finished.

Tonks smiled slightly and shook her head, “Well I admire you efforts, Remus,” she said honestly, “But I wish you had told me.”

“We didn’t want to hurt you or the baby,” Neville said honestly, “We weren’t lying when we said you were the closest thing to a Mum some of us have ever had, we were just looking out for you.”

“And I appreciate that,” Tonks said tearfully, “Goddamn these bloody emotions! But are you all alright? Do you need anything healed?”

“Hermione is still recovering so we’re going to have to stay here for a while,” Harry said, “Susan thinks it will take the best part of a month for her to get back to full health. She was poisoned at Malfoy Manor and...” he couldn’t finish as his eyes went to Hermione’s bandaged arm.

“And Bellatrix Lestrange wrote this,” Hermione said, pulling the bandage off so that the others could see the word on her arm.

“Well we match at least,” Draco said darkly, he held out his own left arm and said, “It’s hard to make out underneath the damage Neville did, but you can read it anyway. My Father carved it out using Sectumsempra.”

Hermione’s eyes filled with tears at the words on his arm, “Half breed.”

“I am going to kill Bellatrix Lestrange!” Tonks raged, “That is disgusting!”

“Good luck with that,” Neville said, his eyes flickering towards Harry, “Because she’s already dead, so is Lucius Malfoy.”

“What?” Remus asked sharply, “You didn’t tell me that last night.”

“It didn’t seem relevant with everything else going on,” Harry said honestly.

“Which one of you killed her?” Tonks asked carefully.

“I did,” Harry admitted.

“And Lucius Malfoy?” Remus asked, his eyes instinctively going towards Draco.

The blonde boy nodded and made sure he kept his eyes away from Hermione’s, “Me.”

“It was an accident though,” Hermione piped up, “Lucius riled him up and his claws came out, you know he can’t control them yet Remus.”

Draco looked up at her in surprise, and Hermione gave him a small, comforting smile, “It was an accident,” she said again, for his benefit this time as she stared into his eyes.

Draco nodded again and tore his eyes away from Hermione’s, “It was an accident,” he agreed.

“I wish I could say I accidentally severed the chandelier that crushed Bellatrix to death,” Harry said somewhat bitterly, “But I can’t because it was entirely intentional.”

Remus cleared his throat, “Alright, this mess needs cleaning up but for now I think everyone needs to sleep off the events of yesterday. Neville, get yourself to bed and make sure Hermione gets back upstairs alright. Lilly, you need your sleep too, you look exhausted...Harry, Draco, you two stay here with Tonks and I. We need to have a word with you.”

Harry and Draco nodded as the others drifted away. Lilly left, kissing Harry on the cheek before she did so. Neville lifted Hermione up and carried her back upstairs to her bed. It left Harry and Draco alone with Remus and Tonks. Remus quickly put up silencing charms and then said, “Muffliato!”

Draco groaned in agony the second the word had been muttered, “Please tell me there is more dittany or anything, seriously anything, please. I am in agony!”

Harry looked at Draco with respect, “Nice job pretending you were fine for Neville’s sake.”

“He half killed me last night but he doesn’t need to live with that,” Draco said, his face scrunched up in pain, “Dora please, do you have anything?”

The childhood nickname that Draco barely used for Tonks anymore was what told the others how bad it really was.

“Lie down on the sofa,” Tonks said as she opened up her travel bag and pulled out a box from the apothecary she had visited on Diagon Alley. She pulled out a tin from the box and said, “You happen to be in luck because when I told the guy that I was 6 months pregnant and lived with two werewolves he gave me two extra tins of this stuff. It’s a mixture of dittany and powdered silver, it heals any open wounds twice as fast and gives your body the boost it needs to heal after a tough moon.”

“You are an absoloute goddess Dora,” Draco said, breathing a sigh of relief as she began to dab the mixture onto the worst of his cuts and bites, “Did I ever mention you’re my favourite cousin?”

Tonks smiled fondly, “I’m your only cousin, Draco.”

“Semantics,” Draco mumbled, shutting his eyes as the pain began to ease.

Harry shook his head in amusement, “So, you want to talk to us?”

“You can’t pretend your fine,” Remus said simply, “You killed people yesterday and no we are not judging you, before you fly off the handle, Harry.”

“We’ve all done it in a war, Harry,” Tonks said, and Draco had opened his eyes to be a part of the conversation, “It’s a horrible part, but it’s part of the fight. We all remember our first because sometimes it’s the only one. I know I do.”

“I do too,” Remus said darkly, “And it really doesn’t matter if the person is a horrible person. I was 20...my girlfriend had just been murdered by You-Know-Who himself. Against my better judgement and the advice of your Father Harry, I hunted down the person who betrayed her and I killed him.”

“How?” Harry asked quietly.

Remus looked down, guilt flooding his eyes, “A piercing charm in the heart...at the time I thought it was poetic because he had taken the woman I loved from me. But I didn’t feel better for it, and it didn’t bring Dorcas back either. It was just another regret added to the long list I had already accumulated.”

“Sounds familiar,” Harry said miserably, “Killing Bellatrix didn’t bring Sirius back and it didn’t make me feel any better either.”

“I was 19, and I was in my final year of Auror training. It had been 12 years since You-Know-Who disappeared and on a training mission we finally tracked down the Auror who had betrayed Frank and Alice Longbottoms location to You-Know-Who,” Tonks began, “There was a fight and my partner was knocked out, I was aiming for the guys arm with my cutting curse but I stumbled and slit his throat. I came close to quitting because I felt so bad but Moody gave me a good talking to and I came to my senses.”

“So it was an accident,” Draco said quietly.

Tonks nodded, “It was an accident but it took me a few years to come to terms with that.”

“He was just a bad guy though,” Draco said, “He wasn’t your Father.”

“I hate to say it Draco, but if you want the truth...your Father was probably the worst Death Eater after Bellatrix,” Tonks said honestly, “I’ve read the case files, I’ve been after him for years. Bellatrix was insane, but your Father was cold and ruthless and some of the things he did to Muggles...their bodies were butchered...he wasn’t a good person.”

“I know!” Draco snapped, “But you don’t get it! I killed my own Father! What if I hurt someone else? What if I hurt Hermione?”

“You won’t,” Remus said loudly, or at least loud enough to get Draco’s attention, “You were in werewolf form last night and you still stood there and took it while Neville attacked you. Whether you meant to or not you let him become the second in command, you took the pain so you wouldn’t have to hurt your best friend and as much as you hate the comparison that’s exactly the kind of thing James would have done for me.”

“James Potter?” Draco asked with a raised eyebrow.

“How many others James’s do you know?” Harry snorted.

“A lot actually, it’s a fairly common name,” Draco bit back.

“You just sound like a smug little brat now Draco,” Harry said in amusement.

Tonks shook her head in amusement, “Boys, listen to me for a minute. You can joke all you want, but it’s obvious that what happened yesterday is upsetting you. Just don’t be stupid and hold it all in, you have each other, you have Neville, you both have supportive girlfriends and you have Remus and I. You don’t have to keep everything to yourselves, and if you do...you’ll only hurt yourselves more.”

Harry nodded, and Draco said, “I know.”

“Alright,” Remus said with a slight smile, “Lecture over then.”

“Good, because I have news,” Harry said, leaning forward eagerly, “The good news is I figured out where the cup is, Helga Hufflepuff’s cup that is.”

“Where is it?” Remus asked immediately.

“Well that’s the bad news,” Harry admitted, “I’m pretty sure the Lestrange’s have it. You-Know-Who gave Lucius his diary which was a horcrux, so it would make sense that he gave his other most loyal follower another horcrux.”

“If you’re right, and I think you might well be,” Remus admitted, “That would mean that the cup is in the Lestrange’s vault in Gringotts.”

“Yeah, I know,” Harry said sheepishly.

“In the darkest, deepest, most secure part of the bank,” Draco added with a raised eyebrow.

“You’ll never be able to break into Gringotts, let alone get that far down,” Tonks said, and she actually looked afraid, “Not without getting yourselves killed and I won’t let that happen.”

“You won’t have to, Dora,” Remus said, he caught Harry’s eye, “Because we happen to have a very good mutual friend who works in Gringotts.”

“Bill,” Harry breathed as the brainwave hit him.

“By all means speak to him to make sure he is on board,” Remus said, “But I think we should keep this between the four of us for the moment. Neville has enough on his mind, and Hermione and Lilly both need to heal, physically and mentally.”

Harry nodded, he agreed wholeheartedly and from the look in Draco’s eyes he knew he felt the same.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“So you’re clearly annoyed with me for not going to Nurmengard to find Grindelwald because I’m pretty sure you just asked me to break into Gringotts.”

“I did,” Harry admitted sheepishly.

“You want me to risk my job and my livelihood on some hunch of yours?” Bill asked in disbelief.

“What if your job wasn’t at risk?” Harry asked.

“I’ll get caught Harry, it’s impossible not to,” Bill said simply.

“What if it wasn’t though?” Harry asked cryptically.

“It is,” Bill said firmly.

“Yeah but what if I had certain objects that would make it possible?” Harry asked, “What if I had an invisibility cloak for example?”

“The thief’s downfall would ruin it,” Bill replied, “It sees through all disguises, including invisibility cloaks.”

“This isn’t just any invisibility cloak though Bill,” Harry said, “It’s the cloak of invisibility, from “The Tale of the Three Brothers”.”

Bill looked at Harry as if he was mad, “Elder Wands and now cloaks of invisibility? Are you going mad? What next, do you have the resurrection stone too?”

“Not yet,” Harry lied, “But I’m serious Bill. How long do invisibility cloaks last for?”

“20 years is normally a good lifespan,” Bill replied.

“Well mine was my Father’s and his Fathers before that,” Harry said honestly, “And it still looks brand new.”

“Does it stain?” Bill asked with a frown.

“Yeah, but the stains disappear on their own after a couple of weeks,” Harry replied.

Bill was silent for a moment until he shook his head and said, “Holy shit. What else do you have?”

“Well I happen to be staying with the man who invented the Marauders Map. You know what that is right?” Harry asked.

“Of course I do, Fred and George were terrible at keeping secrets,” Bill said offhandedly.

“The thing is, if you can give us a map of Gringotts or at least of the area you aren’t supposed to be in, Remus can animate it so you know exactly where everyone is,” Harry told the Weasley.

“Alright,” Bill said slowly, “That might just work. Any other secret weapons?”

“Yeah,” Harry said honestly, “The sword of Gryffindor. The thing is, there’s something in the vault that has to be...killed with the sword.”

“What is it?” Bill asked, “And don’t say you can’t tell me because if you don’t tell me I won’t even think about it doing this.”

“It’s a horcrux,” Harry said.

“A horcrux?” Bill asked in horror, “He has a horcrux?”

“He has several,” Harry said darkly, “That’s what we’ve been doing out on the run. We’ve been finding them and destroying them. There are only two left, and that’s one of them. If you have the sword you can take it into the vault and kill the horcrux without having to steal anything.”

“How will I know what it looks like?” Bill asked.

“It’s a cup, and it will look or feel evil. It might even hop away from you or try to defend itself,” Harry replied, “And it will have the crest of Helga Hufflepuff on it.”

“So let me get this straight,” Bill said matter of factly, “You want me to break into the high security vaults of Gringotts?”

“Yeah.”

“Sneak into a high security vault full of dark magic objects and shut myself in?”

“Yep.”

“And attempt to destroy a dark magic object without all of the other dark magic objects attacking me to defend it?”

“Yes.”

“Then escape without being caught and gutted by the goblins or sensed and incinerated by the dragon?”

“Yeah” Harry said sheepishly. He watched Bill anxiously, half expecting the redhead to tell him to fuck off. He didn’t expect Bill to smirk however.

“Now this is a proper job. I like challenges, and I like puzzles. Breaking into a prison is not my style, that’s a job for a brute like Charlie. But the high security vault of a bank, now that’s a good job,” Bill said almost cheerfully.

“This isn’t a contest between you and your brother Bill,” Harry said in exasperation, “It’s dangerous, if you are caught you’ll be killed and I hate that I have to ask you to do this. I hate that I had to ask Charlie to talk to Grindelwald. I wish I could do my own dirty work, but I can’t break into Gringotts, you on the other hand work there every day. You won’t have to go through the security scanners or encounter all the other security measures that You-Know-Who has installed.”

“I know, and I accept the job Harry,” Bill said, “If anything happens to me it’s on my own head, not yours.”

“It doesn’t feel like that,” Harry muttered darkly.

“Well it is like that,” Bill said firmly, “I’ll scout out the security measures and I’ll get you that map as soon as I can, alright?”

“Alright,” Harry said, “Good luck Bill,” he added before he ended the communication and tucked his mirror back into his pocket. He pulled himself to his feet and let himself out of the cellar. Draco had gone to spend time with Hermione and make sure she was alright, and Harry had been intending to go and have a talk with Lilly about what had happened to her back at the Manor.

He made his way upstairs and paused on the landing that led to both the room he shared with Lilly, and also to Neville’s room. He swithered for a moment on which room he should enter, he wondered which person needed him most. The answer to his question came in the sound of a sob from the door to the left. He sighed, a silent apology to Lilly who would be waiting for him in the room to the right, and he knocked on Neville’s door.

There was a muffled call of “Come in”, so Harry slipped inside and shut the door after him, murmuring “Muffliato” for the sake of Neville’s privacy. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, bent over as if he was going to be sick. Harry sat down next to him and tried to think of the right thing to say but he was useless at giving advice at the best of times.

“How are you?” He asked stupidly.

“I can almost cope with it,” Neville said quietly, his voice thick with emotion, “I can handle the transformation and the social stigma. But I know Susan can’t, I mean look at this place, look at how she was brought up.”

“Look at the way Draco was brought up,” Harry said as he looked out of the window thoughtfully, “Look at the way he treated people like Hermione. Part of me still wonders how that relationship works, or if it will last because of how much bad blood there was back then. He had the most pure-blood upbringing possible and now he’s dating a muggle-born and he’s part werewolf. You can’t always judge how someone is going to react to something Nev.”

“No, but I do know Susan,” Neville said, “And she’s fun and carefree. She struggles with commitment at the best of times, committing to a werewolf? I don’t see it happening.”

“That’s bothering you more than being a werewolf isn’t it?” Harry asked, he knew his friend very well after all.

“That and my parents,” Neville said glumly as he rubbed at his eyes and groaned in frustration, “I finally thought I was someone they would be proud of! I thought if they woke up to a son who had fought in a war, they’d be proud of him. But a werewolf for a son...”

“Well your Dad and Remus were great friends,” Harry said honestly, “He never gave away Remus’s secret or resented him for it.”

“Having a werewolf for a friend and for a son are very different things,” Neville said bitterly.

Harry glanced down and chewed his lip as he debated dealing Neville with a blow of the truth, “Neville...your parents-”

“I know,” Neville said without looking up, “They probably won’t wake up anyway.”

“It has been 17 years,” Harry said, “If they did they...they probably wouldn’t be the same as they were before.”

“I know, but sometimes it’s nice to believe in a foolish dream,” Neville said quietly.

“Yeah, I know,” Harry said, thinking of his own wish that Sirius wasn’t really dead, just trapped behind that veil in the Department of Mysteries...

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Hey,” Draco said softly when Hermione opened her eyes.

She frowned slightly, “How long was I asleep for?”

“A few hours,” Draco said, straightening up in the armchair he was sitting in by her bed, “It’s getting towards midday.”

Hermione pushed herself up into a sitting position and blinked a couple of times to get the sleep from her eyes, “What did Remus and Tonks want to talk to you about?”

“What we did,” Draco said, forcing his eyes downward because he couldn’t bear to look at her.

“I wanted to talk to you about that too, actually,” Hermione said, and there was a steeliness in her voice that made his blood run cold.

Draco forced himself to look at her and his fears were confirmed when he saw uncertainty swimming in her eyes, “I know it wasn’t an accident, but...I...well with everything recently, I mean your temper around the full moon and...I just...”

“You’re afraid of me,” Draco said, reading her expression easily.

Her eyes flooded with guilt and tears, “No, I just-”

“Don’t lie to me, Hermione,” Draco said quietly, a note of desperation in his voice.

“A little,” Hermione admitted tearfully, “I’m trying to come to terms with it all Draco but I just need time.”

“I’ll give you all the time you need,” Draco said, not because he wanted to, because he was terrified of losing her. He couldn’t imagine his life without her in it anymore, she made everything brighter and better. She was the best thing that had ever happened to him.

“Not here,” Hermione said, blinking a few more times, tears cascading down her face, “Susan wants to keep a closer eye on me and with all of the injuries there’s a new room in the Room of Requirement now. It’s a little hospital wing of sorts, and I think it would be good for both of us if I go there until I feel a bit better.”

“You’ve clearly put a lot of thought into this,” Draco said, surprising himself with the iciness in his voice.

“Everything has happened so fast,” Hermione said, wiping her eyes with her sleeve, “And everything has changed...I just need time, Draco.”

“Are you breaking up with me?” The Slytherin asked, ashamed of the break in his voice and the tears threatening to fall from his own eyes.

“No,” Hermione replied with a weak shake of her head, “I just think we need a break, from each other.”

Draco nodded and swallowed hard. He pushed himself to his feet and said coolly, “I understand.”

“Draco-”

“I’ll talk to Harry about moving you to Hogwarts later today,” Draco continued in that same icy tone, “I imagine you’ll want to be out of here as soon as possible after all.”

“No Draco, that’s not...” Hermione began to say, but Draco was already walking towards the door and he didn’t stop to let her explain. He understood what “I just need time” meant, it meant “I need time to think about whether I still want to be with you or not, and in that time you have to stay here, helpless to influence my decision”. He left the room, their room and shut the door behind him with a snap. He paused in the doorway and let out a shaky breath. He blinked and wiped away the tears that fell angrily. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Harry slipped into the room that he shared with Lilly very carefully after his brief chat with Neville. He couldn’t have been gone for longer than half an hour but when he got in, the room was empty. The bed was made, and Lilly’s small bag was gone too. He immediately panicked, she had come up here to go back to sleep, not to pack her bags and leave. Harry darted from the room and found her in the drawing room, sitting on the sofa with her bag at her feet.

“What are you doing?” Harry asked, sounding angrier than he felt because really he was feeling worried more than anything else.

“I’m going to Hogwarts with Hermione,” Lilly replied calmly, looking ahead at the wall and not at Harry.

“Since when is Hermione leaving?” Harry asked, stepping in front of his girlfriend so she couldn’t avoid his gaze anymore.

“Since she found out her boyfriend was a murderer and needed a little time to come to terms with that,” Lilly said matter of factly, and Harry struggled to read her facial expression or her tone of voice.

He felt sick and swallowed hard, “And is that why you’re leaving too? Because of what I did?”

“I understand what you did,” Lilly said, “I’m even grateful for it after what she did to me. So no, it’s not why I’m leaving.”

“Then why?” Harry asked angrily, “Why would you leave when you promised that you never would?”

Lilly met his gaze then, and her eyes shone with anger and pain, “Because I was the last thing on your mind again yesterday! I am always the last thing on your mind! You spent the entire evening sleeping in the same bed as Hermione and then you checked on Neville before coming anywhere near me! I was tortured too, I was tortured for information about you!”

“I know!” Harry shouted, “And do you really think I don’t care about that? It kills me, it makes me feel sick! But everyone was hurt and everyone needed me because I seemed to be the only person who was okay! I wasn’t neglecting you Lilly, you were just the least injured here.”

“Physically at least,” Lilly muttered.

“Draco killed his Father last night, Hermione nearly died and Neville is a werewolf!” Harry snapped, “I think you’re being pretty selfish!”

“Maybe to you it seems like she only used the cruciatus curse on me,” Lilly said hotly, “But to me that’s not a small thing! I spent my entire life being beaten up and nothing has ever hurt like that did so yes Harry, I want to leave! I’m not a Gryffindor like the rest of you, and I’m not a selfless idiot like Draco! I don’t belong here.”

“I thought you belonged with me,” Harry said, his anger dissipating and turning to hurt instead.

“So did I,” Lilly said, tears brimming her eyes, “But I don’t think I can keep doing this to myself. I have so much faith that you are going to find a way to live, and you have none. I can’t keep being the last thing you think about, I don’t want to be the least important person in your life.”

“Lilly,” Harry said, his voice breaking slightly as he knelt down in front of her, “You are the most important thing in my life. Hermione, Draco and Neville, they’re my friends. But you...you’re the only reason I have for living.”

“Except you don’t think you’ll be doing that for much longer,” Lilly said, she was angry but she was crying too.

“I have a horcrux inside me,” Harry said desperately, “If I could think of any way to get rid of it I would but you know that the only way to kill it is to kill the thing its living off. Please don’t go, please.”

Lilly shook her head and wiped her tears, “No, Harry because I made a promise to myself when we figured out that you were a horcrux. I promised myself I wouldn’t stay because I felt sorry for you, I never wanted this to be about sympathy, I wanted it to be about love and respect.”

“So you don’t love me, that’s what you’re saying?” Harry asked her, feeling pathetic as he felt tears stinging his eyes.

“No,” Lilly said honestly and tearfully, “I love you, I do. But I can’t stay here trying...” her voice broke and she swallowed hard, “I can’t pretend that things are okay when I know that soon I’m going to have to...”

“Live without me,” Harry whispered so quietly that she barely heard him. 

Lilly nodded and leant forward, pressing her forehead against his, “I’m sorry, but it hurts so much, every day.”

“I know,” Harry said, shutting his eyes tightly, “I know.”

She gently kissed his lips, and Harry savoured every second of it because he truly thought it would be the last time she ever kissed him. When she pulled away they were both crying, and Harry didn’t know what to say anymore because everything had been said and there was nothing more he could do or say to make her stay.

The door to the drawing room opened loudly, so Harry pulled himself to his feet and rubbed his eyes. He swallowed the lump that had arisen in his throat and looked to the doorway where Draco was levitating Hermione behind him on a stretcher. His eyes were dark and stormy, and Hermione had clearly been crying.

Lilly cleared her throat and got to her feet. She wiped her own eyes hastily and activated the large mirror on the wall. The room was silent and filled with tension and awkwardness. She took the stretcher from Draco and sent Hermione through the mirror wordlessly. Before she walked through herself she turned around and caught Harry’s eye, “Take care of yourself,” she said softly.

“You too,” Harry said.

She stepped through the mirror, it de-activated, and just like that she was gone.

TBC :)


	51. Misery Business

When Harry and Draco traipsed into Neville’s room, both looking like shit and both sporting bloodshot eyes, Neville narrowed his eyes at them.

“What happened?” Neville asked slowly. His first thought was panic as he stood by the open window, letting the cool January breeze into the stuffy room.

“Lilly broke up with me,” Harry said miserably, flopping onto Neville’s bed and laying back, staring up at the ceiling.

“And Hermione asked for time out,” Draco said bitterly as he flopped down on the other side of the bed.

Neville sighed and lay in between them on the bed, “Well, Susan broke up with me, again.”

“At least you two have some closure,” Draco said irritably, “You know what it means when a girl asks for time. It means she’s going to spend time thinking about whether she still loves me, she’s going to have to think about the fact that I’m a murderer and figure out if she can live with that. She’s going to ‘think’ for a couple of weeks and then break up with me.”

“At least you have some hope,” Harry retorted, “Lilly told me she loves me, but she can’t keep hurting herself by staying with a guy who knows he’s going to die in a few months.”

“You don’t know you’re going to die Harry,” Draco snapped.

“Yes, I do,” Harry said miserably, “I’m a horcrux.”

“What?”

“I only found out a couple of days ago,” Neville said which was strictly speaking a lie because he had worked it out before then, “And Lilly knows.”

“So does Hermione,” Harry said with a sigh, “She worked it out...I made her promise not to tell you.”

“It wasn’t her business to tell, I suppose,” Draco said with a frown, “But what do you mean you are a horcrux?”

“I mean when You-Know-Who tried to kill me his soul was so unstable it split again,” Harry said glumly, “I lived because a part of his soul latched onto me. A piece of him lives inside me, that’s why I can see his anger or see through the eyes of his snake because she’s a horcrux too.”

“That’s fucked up,” Draco said after a moment.

“Yeah,” Harry agreed.

“Why does that mean you have to die?” Draco asked with a frown, “Couldn’t you just stop your heart for a couple of minutes and then start it again? Wouldn’t that fool it into letting go?”

“I don’t think so,” Harry replied, “It’s been there for so long, it’s pretty attached now...the only way for it to die is for me to die. That’s what the prophecy means, either must die at the hand of the other because neither can live while the other survives...”

“Fuck,” Draco said as he turned his head, “I’m so sorry.”

Harry shrugged, “It’s the way it has be...I can see why Lilly can’t cope with it but she was the only thing that made my life feel worth something...”

They fell silent for a moment until Neville said, “Susan thinks I’m a monster. I heard her talking to Hermione earlier, she said ‘is he still himself or is he a monster’?”

“Hermione thinks I’m a monster,” Draco said darkly, “She thinks I’m a murderous bastard like my Father was. She actually looked me in the eye and told me that she was afraid of me.”

“Afraid of you?” Neville asked in disbelief, “You love her more than anything else in the world.”

“Yeah, I do,” Draco agreed, “But I am basically a werewolf and I do have a temper at the best of times anyway. She’s scared of me around the full moon and who can really blame her? She should never have been with me in the first place, she should never have forgiven me for the things I said to her!”

“You didn’t actually bully her that much you know,” Neville said, turning his head to look at the blonde boy, “You insulted her for being smart which she didn’t really mind because she knew you were just jealous of the fact she got better grades than you. And you did that shitty thing to her in 4th year, but she got to make her teeth smaller because of that so she was actually pretty thankful to you. But the worst of the bullying she got was from Pansy...the stuff that made her feel insecure or ugly, that was all Pansy.”

“You’re forgetting the fact he called her a mudblood, a lot,” Harry said, “That probably hurt her more than anything else.”

“Which is exactly why she should never have forgiven me,” Draco said angrily, “She should never have helped me last year! None of you should have, I didn’t deserve it, I don’t deserve your friendship!” he pushed himself to his feet and walked towards the window.

“Jesus, are you going to jump?” Harry asked, sitting up abruptly.

“No Potter, you imbecile,” Draco spat, “I just need air.”

Draco’s cheeks were flushed, probably with anger and frustration. Neville sat up too and walked to the window to stand next to Draco, “Do you want to go outside, let off a little steam?”

“Don’t you think we did enough of that last night when we nearly killed each other?” Draco asked bitterly.

“I thought you said you were fine,” Neville said, guilt flooding his eyes.

“He lied so you wouldn’t feel bad,” Harry said with a roll of his eyes, “Noble of him, isn’t it? You’d never guess this was our resident slimy git Draco Malfoy, or Black, whatever the hell your name is.”

Draco glared at the Gryffindor boy, “You didn’t have to tell him that, I was trying not to hurt his feelings.”

“So you were in agony then, weren’t you?” Neville asked.

“It hurt more than I let on,” Draco conceded, “But you did throw me onto a roof...”

“I know, and I’m sorry,” Neville said honestly, “I really am.”

“It’s fine Neville,” Draco said, “You didn’t even start it. I did.”

Harry snorted, “You did? You didn’t tell me that part.”

“I felt threatened,” Draco said, shaking his head, “I can’t explain it when I’m in my right mind, but the werewolf part of me felt threatened by Neville so I attacked him and he gave as good as he got.”

Neville grimaced, “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine now,” Draco said honestly, “Thanks to Tonks and her powdered silver and dittany ointment, but honestly Neville, it was your first moon and you didn’t kill anyone or attack any pigs so really you’re doing better than me.”

Harry laughed at that, despite the fact that everything else was shit, “Come on, I have a plan. It involves blasting the hell out of stuff out back.”

“Sounds good,” Neville said, putting his wand in his pocket and moving away from the window.

Draco nodded glumly, but then an idea sparked and his eyes lit up slightly, “I have a better idea...we have the run of this manor to ourselves practically.”

“And?” Harry and Neville asked simultaneously.

“Well what do all self-respecting old manors have?” Draco asked pointedly.

“Draco, are you forgetting you’re the only aristocratic arse here?” Neville asked with a raised eyebrow, “I grew up in a cottage in Godric’s Hollow and Harry lived in a semi-detached Muggle house.”

“Right,” Draco said sheepishly, “Sometimes I do forget, sorry. The thing is, all ancient manors have hidey-holes and I think you can guess what they hide there.”

“Alcohol,” Harry snorted in amusement.

“Exactly!” Draco said, “This is an old Scottish manor so it probably has a lairds lug!”

“Have you actually gone insane?” Harry asked as he cocked his head at the boy, “I mean it’s been less than an hour since Hermione left you, you can’t have cracked yet.”

Draco rolled his eyes, “It means lords ear, Potter. It’s an alcove built above a dining hall or a drawing room, the host of the manor used to hide in it to spy on his guests back in the olden days before extendable ears. There will be one here, I’m sure of it and I’ll bet you there’s a stash of damn good firewhiskey there.”

“The Bones family did own a distillery,” Neville said with a smirk.

“That would technically be stealing,” Harry pointed out.

“And Susan is the bitch who broke Nev’s heart twice, who gives a shit?” Draco remarked.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“What the hell is going on out there love?”

Tonks smiled over at Remus, “I was wondering how long it would take to wake you up,” she said as she sat on the window seat with the curtains half-drawn, resting a book on her baby bump.

Remus frowned and pushed himself up, the last moon had been tough with the ongoing fight between Draco and Neville. He was exhausted and had been catching up on some sleep, so he had missed the drama of the morning. He heard a loud bang from outside and jumped.

“Don’t worry, it’s just the kids,” Tonks said softly, now that he was awake she pushed the curtain back fully and watched them.

“What are they doing?” Remus asked curiously.

“Blowing things up in the back garden,” Tonks said with a slight smile, “They need a way to release their frustration I suppose...after this morning.”

“What happened this morning?” Remus asked, instantly imagining the worst possible scenario.

“A lot,” Tonks said, her eyes dark, “The events of Malfoy Manor left a psychological mark on them all...Lilly and Hermione left.”

“Left?” Remus asked in surprise.

Tonks nodded and pulled her gaze away from the window to look at her husband, “They went back to Hogwarts. Lilly wanted to help out there, and now that there’s a little hospital wing in the Room of Requirement Hermione thought it would be better if she was there so that Susan wouldn’t have to come through the mirror twice a day to check on her.”

“There’s more to it than that,” Remus said knowingly, “Did Hermione leave because of what Draco did to his Father?”

“She only told me that she needed some time to come to terms with everything,” Tonks admitted, “But I do understand that. Her boyfriend is a werewolf, that must be hard enough to deal with. I only knew you as a werewolf, Draco’s body has changed and his personality is changing to match in one way or another, she does need to come to terms with that.”

“And Lilly?” Remus asked, “How is Harry?”

“Angry,” Tonks said, “And upset, I think. But I’m not entirely sure why she left, she was crying when she said goodbye to me. She just said that she couldn’t pretend anymore, do you know what that means?”

Remus did, he knew exactly why Lilly had left. But his wife did not know about Harry’s fate and he didn’t deem now as a good time to tell her about it. She loved Harry and he didn’t want her worry for him to affect her own health or the baby’s. So he just shook his head and said, “No.”

“And I think Neville overheard a conversation Susan had with Hermione this morning when she was checking on her and advising her to come to Hogwarts,” Tonks admitted, “I was bringing her tea to try and get her to eat or drink something, she wouldn’t and I worry her health will deteriorate at Hogwarts.”

“Between Susan, Daphne, Ron and Lilly, she’ll be fine,” Remus said confidently, “But what did Susan say exactly?”

“She asked Hermione what the difference was between a werewolf and a monster,” Tonks admitted, “She said she was struggling to come to terms with what Neville had become.”

Remus scoffed angrily, “What an old-fashioned outlook.”

“I said as much,” Tonks said honestly, “But Hermione seems to be having as hard a time as Susan because when Susan asked the difference between a monster and a werewolf Hermione said, at the moment I don’t know.”

Remus shut his eyes, “I wish we could have frozen them all in that summer. I have a perfect memory from our wedding day...but so much has changed since then.”

“War changes people Remus,” Tonks said softly, “You know that, look at how it changed you. It hardened your heart, it made Sirius so serious and it took away James’s carefree spirit.”

“Not to mention Peter,” Remus said darkly, “The coward that he is.”

“From what Harry tells me he’s a henchman at Malfoy Manor these days,” Tonks said with distaste.

“I’m not surprised, he was only ever good at serving,” Remus said with a shake of his head as another bang sounded in the back garden.

Tonks smiled in amusement as she looked outside, “That was the fountain I think. I’m not sure which one of them missed the target.”

Remus smiled weakly, “They don’t know it, but that’s exactly what James, Sirius and I used to do to let off steam. Give it time and they’ll turn it into a competition, mark my words.”

“We’ll see,” Tonks said, pushing the window open slightly and returning to her book.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Okay, this is getting boring and I’m nowhere near drunk enough,” Neville said as he dropped the first empty bottle of firewhiskey into the bin in the outhouse.

“Speak for yourself,” Harry snorted, “I don’t have the metabolism of a werewolf.”

“It fucking sucks,” Draco said irritably, “I mean do you feel anything Nev?”

“Slightly tipsy,” Neville said offhandedly, “But not like I just polished off a quarter of a bottle of Ogden’s Old Firewhiskey. What about you?”

Draco shrugged, “I think I feel a bit of a tingle...”

Neville snorted in amusement, “I’ve got a new plan, it’s called a drinking game.”

“What one?” Draco asked, “Because I am not getting in a game of ‘Never Have I Ever’ or ‘Too Hot’ with you two.”

“I have no idea what either of those things are,” Harry said as he grabbed a new bottle of firewhiskey from the crate they had lugged out of the lairds lug above the drawing room.

“Good,” Neville snorted, “You don’t want to know, and you especially don’t ever want to get into a game of ‘Never Have I Ever’ with him, how much do you want to know about your best friends sex life?”

“Considering she’s basically my sister, nothing,” Harry said with a shake of his head.

“Can we not talk about her please, I’m trying to forget about her,” Draco drawled.

“You can’t not say her name forever,” Neville retorted as he conjured up a few dusty shot glasses from the back of the outhouse and did a quick cleaning charm on them, “How about truth or dare, a good old classic?”

“I don’t feel much up to truths right now,” Harry said, “I don’t really fancy telling you two about my shitty love life.”

“For once, I am in complete agreement with Potter,” Draco echoed.

“Alright then, how about we drop the truth and play dares?” Neville grinned, “With a couple of rule changes obviously. As we’re werewolves and Harry’s a skinny little light-weight he can have two sobering charms. And we do double measures for forfeits Draco.”

“Sounds good,” Draco smirked.

“It’s not my fault I’m scrawny, I was underfed!” Harry whined.

“I’ve seen pictures of your Dad, he was a scrawny git too,” Draco remarked, “Don’t play up the underfed orphan shit.”

Harry huffed like a child and said, “Fine then, since I’m the only one not part of this bloody pack of yours I want to give the first dare.”

“Do your worse then,” Neville said in amusement.

Harry grinned, “I wonder if you can get your own back Draco...do you reckon you could throw Neville onto the roof when you’re not in werewolf form?”

Draco grinned wickedly, “I could certainly try.”

“I’m up for it as long as I get a cushioning charm,” Neville said pointedly.

“I didn’t get a cushioning charm last night!” Draco exclaimed.

“I was a bloody werewolf! How many werewolves do you know who can cast spells with claws?” Neville asked in exasperation.

“Good point,” Draco admitted.

“Come on then,” Harry said, walking out of the open door into the back garden. The others followed him and Neville put the cushioning charm on the roof because he didn’t trust the other two. 

Harry leant against the newly repaired fountain and watched as Draco lifted Neville up and made it look pretty damn easy. Neville grimaced as Draco threw him as hard as he could and miraculously he landed on the flat roof of the outhouse in one piece. He got to his feet and said, “That’s what you were complaining about?”

“I didn’t have a cushioning charm and you had just tried to drown me!” Draco remarked as Neville jumped down from the fairly low roof and landed on all fours in a wolf-like position that made Harry snort.

“I have one problem with this game,” Harry said, “We’re all going to do every dare we get, aren’t we? Cause Neville and I are stupid reckless Gryffindors and you’re a stubborn arse Draco. So we won’t get drunk very fast will we?”

“New rule,” Neville said, grabbing his shot glass as they walked into the outhouse, “We drink after every dare.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Draco said, and he knocked back two shots. Neville did the same, and Harry felt like the odd one out with his singular shot of the burning liquid.

“Right then Potter,” Draco said, “One of the things I’ve picked up on with my wolfy hearing is that you like to sing in the shower.”

“Fuck,” Harry muttered as Neville almost choked on his drink.

Draco grinned, “So I dare you to give us a rendition of that lovely Valentine you got in second year.”

Harry shook his head in disbelief, “I hate you.”

“Outside, as loud as you can,” Draco added with an evil smirk.

“What’s the forfeit?” Harry asked, dreading the answer.

“Two shots of moonshine from that stash in the lairgs lug,” Neville chipped in.

“Fuck no,” Harry muttered, “Fine I’ll do it!”

Neville and Draco shared an amused grin as Harry took a shot of firewhiskey, and stood outside the outhouse door. He began to sing loudly, and badly, 

“His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad  
His hair is as dark as a blackboard.  
I wish he was mine, he's truly divine  
the hero who conquered the Dark Lord."

When Harry was finished he glared at Draco who looked smug and Neville who was roaring with laughter.

“Damn you Ginny,” He muttered under his breath.

“I hate to break it to you, but Ginny didn’t send you that card,” Draco smirked.

Harry frowned at the blonde as he stepped back into the outhouse and took another shot of firewhiskey, “What are you on about?”

“Well Blaise, Pansy and I decided it would be funny if you got an embarrassing valentine in front of everyone,” Draco said matter of factly, “Took us hours to come up with it, the hint was in the fact it said ‘dark lord’, I mean who calls him that apart from Slytherins and his followers?”

“I really really regret becoming friends with you Malfoy,” Harry said.

“No you don’t,” Draco smirked, “I’m great fun!”

“You’re a great big arse,” Neville said in amusement, “And I have a dare for you.”

“Have at it then,” Draco said, leaning against the doorframe.

“I happen to know that there are a herd of Hippogriffs over the way,” Neville said calmly, “So I dare you to go and treat one with respect.”

“Oh come on Neville, you know I hate those things!” Draco exclaimed.

“Well if you will insult them you bloody idiot,” Harry remarked.

“I’m not doing it!” Draco said indignantly, “I’ll take the forfeit, I’m not going near one of those-”

Neville laughed loudly, “Oh the irony! You were going to call them half-breeds weren’t you?”

“No,” Draco lied, “Of course I wasn’t.”

Neville just laughed more, “You aristocratic pure-blood arse! For that I’m going to give you a really bad forfeit, half the bottle of moonshine now.”

“Oh shit,” Draco muttered as Neville handed him the bottle, “Well let’s see how hard it is to get a half-werewolf drunk then...” he said as he took a deep swig from the bottle.

When he was finished he swayed and Harry shoved him onto the sofa in amusement, “Sit down before you fall down,” he said, dropping down next to him on the werewolf worn sofa with half of its stuffing hanging out.

Draco’s pupils were massively dilated as he put his arm around Harry and said, “Harry my friend, my good friend, don’t drink any of that. You will die.”

Harry snorted and grabbed the bottle from the blonde, “Challenge accepted,” he said, taking a much shorter drink than Draco had. He coughed and spluttered as the drink burnt his throat.

“Fucking hell.”

“You bloody idiots,” Neville said with a fond, but exasperated smile, “That’s been fermenting up there for at least 20 years!”

Harry was still veering from side to side slightly, so Draco gripped his shoulder to keep him still and said, “It’s Neville’s turn for a dare isn’t it?”

“Uh...yeah,” Harry said as he squinted at the blonde in front of him, “Why?”

Draco turned his amused face towards Neville and held the bottle out to him, “Finish the bottle Nev.”

“Why am I friends with you two?” Neville asked with a shake of his head.

“Because of our sparkling charm and personality?” Draco smirked, “Well my charm, I don’t think Potter could charm a house elf.”

“Fuck off, I thought we were friends now!” Harry said with a half-hearted glare at the boy.

“We are, but you’re still a clueless scrawny light-weight,” Draco said matter of factly.

Neville shook his head at his two friends and said, “Well bottoms up I suppose...” he grimaced and drank the remainder of the bottle which was pretty comparable to what Draco had drank from it.

“Holy shit...” He said, tottering slightly as he attempted to sit down on the sofa but sort of landed half on top of Draco instead.

“Woah, I’m not gonna be your rebound,” Draco said, shoving Neville unceremoniously to the floor.

“You’re a fucking git, you know that?” Neville scoffed as he realised he couldn’t very easily get off the floor, so decided to lean against the sofa.

“And I could charm a house-elf!” Harry said belatedly, “I have friends who are house elves, one of them is an alcoholic but that’s besides the point.”

“Hermione liked house elves,” Draco said as he stared into the distance, “She was such as good person like that. She just wanted to save everyone and she even liked werewolves and probably vampires too. I mean she just loved everyone apart from me, she doesn’t love me...”

“Oh holy crap, someone shut him up,” Neville muttered underneath his breath.

“Why do you keep saying was?” Harry snorted, “She’s not dead you arse.”

“I’m dead to her, she hates me, I’m a monster,” Draco said, letting his head drop onto Harry’s shoulder.

Harry glanced down at him with mild disdain, “You’re a terrible drunk. At least I just get happy and-”

“Touchy feely,” Neville joked, “You hug everyone when you’re drunk.”

“I just like to appreciate the people I love, like Lilly...I love her so much,” Harry said miserably.

“Oh fuck me,” Neville mumbled.

“Don’t think that would make anyone feel better Nev,” Draco joked.

Neville snorted, “Why doesn’t it surprise me that you’re crude and vulgar when drunk?”

“Hermione called me vulgar once,” Draco said, feeling melancholy again.

“Where did we go wrong?” Harry asked glumly, “We’re just trying to fight a war here.”

“I know, why can’t they see that?” Draco agreed, “Do you think I’m a monster Harry?”

“Nah,” Harry said, patting Draco on the head, “Just a slimy ferret.”

“You know my ex-girlfriend actually called me a monster, so I should really be the one complaining here,” Neville pointed out.

“You’re not a monster Nev,” Draco said, leaning down and attempting to hug Neville’s head, “You’re the gentlest werewolf ever.”

“Neville the gentle werewolf,” Harry giggled, “That could be a kid’s book. I’m going to read that to...oh, I won’t have kids will I? Because I’m going to die.”

“At least when you die you’ll be with your parents,” Neville said, “That’s something isn’t it?”

“I’m getting used to the fact my Father is dead you know,” Draco said, going vaguely off point, “Not that I killed him, but that he’s dead. I just keep thinking back to all the happy memories when I thought he was a good Father...”

“I know,” Harry sighed, “It’s fucked up, but I almost used to like being around dementors at times because I got to hear my parents voices. It was like a memory of them, like proof they were real...”

“I don’t have any memories,” Neville said miserably, “Just pictures and everything Gran told me about how awesome they were.”

Draco sighed and said, “I think we need more dares...this is getting depressing.”

“Yeah,” Harry said half-heartedly.

“Harry...” Draco said, “Do you think you could jump out of a tree, accio your broom from the shed and land on it before you hit the ground?”

“Is there a cushioning charm on the ground?” Harry asked with narrowed eyes.

“No,” Draco replied at the same time that Neville said, “Yes.”

Neville looked at the blonde in disbelief, “Do you want him to die?”

“Well it would be one less horcrux,” Draco joked.

“Do you know what? I prefer it like this, I wish people had been joking about it the whole time, it would have been so much easier,” Harry said irritably, “That was my problem with Lilly, she got so wound up about it all. I wanted to enjoy the time I had left with her, I came to terms with it but I don’t think she ever did.”

“Well the fact she left you kind of suggests that,” Neville said bluntly.

Harry glared at his friend, “Not helping.”

“Come on then, let’s do this dare!” Draco said, getting to his feet.

“Guys, I really don’t think this is a good idea,” Neville said as he got to his own feet a little shakily.

“Don’t be the Remus and spoil all of our fun Nev!” Harry said as he tottered towards the door.

“I’m being the Remus and making sure you don’t die you bloody arse,” Neville muttered as he followed them out of the outhouse.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Uh Remus,” Tonks said distractedly, “I think you need to go out there.”

“Why?” Remus asked, looking up from his book.

“Well Harry just jumped from the tallest tree in the garden, landed on his broomstick and did a wronski feint to the ground,” Tonks said matter of factly, “And by the looks of it he’s also very drunk, it was more like a wonky feint...I’ve never seen him that wobbly on a broom.”

Remus rolled his eyes, “I’ll be back in a bit love,” he said, kissing her on the cheek, “Keep watch out of the window and make sure they don’t kill themselves before I get there.”

Tonks nodded and looked back to the window, an unmistaken sense of worry in her eyes as she watched the boys laughing and patting Harry on the back outside.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“No Neville, this is a really stupid idea,” Harry was saying outside as they stood by the fountain.

“But they say you see your life flash by when your drowning,” Neville was saying, “And I want to see them.”

“Come on Nev, I’m drunk but I still have a moral compass,” Draco said, “You’re not half killing yourself to see your parents.”

“But I want to see them! I have no memories of them! You at least have that Harry and your parents were shit but you have memories Draco! I have nothing!” Neville shouted angrily and he shoved his head in the fountain before the other two could grab him because their reflexes were a bit shit after polishing off nearly two full bottles of firewhiskey.

They were about to grab him and pull him out when Remus stepped into the garden looking fuming and yanked Neville out of the fountain with a spell that threw him back onto the grass and left him spluttering. They all respected Remus, but none of them had really feared him until they saw him standing there staring at them.

“What is going on out here?” He asked quietly.

Harry bit his lip, “Neville’s melancholy...with a vengeance.”

“How much have you three had to drink?” Remus asked angrily.

“A couple of bottles,” Draco said offhandedly, “But we’re adults, what’s the problem?”

“The problem is that you three are not normal teenagers! I understand you are upset, but there is a war going on here! You-Know-Who will not stop fighting because you three have broken up with your high school girlfriends!” Remus snapped.

“How many times have you gotten drunk after a shit day?” Harry asked angrily, “We aren’t forgetting our responsibilities because we took one day off! We just lost our girlfriends because of the war! Because of what we had to do to win the war! I think that gives us the right to have a couple of drinks and act like teenagers for the first time in our bloody lives What did you do the first time you killed someone, huh?”

Remus fixed Harry with a stern look, “In all honesty, I went out and got blindingly drunk with your Dad and Sirius. I won’t lie or act like a hypocrite, but-”

“But what?” Harry snapped, “You were older? By what like two years? I’m going to die Remus, this horcrux inside me is literally killing me and that’s a shitty thing because for once I actually like my life, I think I’m allowed one day off!”

“Harry, calm down,” Remus said quietly, “Look around you.”

Harry glanced around at the trees which were blowing in an invisible wind, and the glass windows of the outhouse which were shuddering as if they were about to shatter. He blew out a breath and it all died down.

Neville gripped his friends shoulder, “Don’t level another forest mate,” he murmured.

“This is why you are not supposed to drink and do magic,” Remus sighed as he surveyed the three boys.

“What?” Draco frowned, “You aren’t supposed to drink and do magic?”

“Of course not,” Remus said with a stunned look, “You could kill people or yourselves. Did you not get taught that at school?”

“No,” Harry said slowly, “Or at least I don’t remember it.”

“It’s probably the kind of thing your parents are meant to tell you when you turn 17,” Neville said miserably.

Remus surveyed them all anxiously, “Well I am telling you now, you are not supposed to drink and do magic. And you are especially not supposed to drink and apparate, you’ll splinch yourself for sure.”

“What about floo?” Neville asked.

“You can, but I would not recommend it,” Remus said, calming down a little, “If your slur your words even a little bit you could come out somewhere really odd...”

“You sound like you’re talking from experience,” Draco said with amusement.

Remus shook his head as he tried to forget the memory, “As a matter of fact I once emerged in an old woman’s living room entirely naked at 4am in the morning.”

Harry snorted, “What the hell had you been doing?”

“Playing a game of dares with James and Sirius,” Remus admitted sheepishly.

“And you’re giving us a lecture?” Draco scoffed.

“I am giving you a lecture for your own good,” Remus said honestly, “And because I worry about you. Harry, as far as I am concerned you are my Godson. And thanks to the pack bond, I feel protective over you two daredevils as well.”

“Sorry,” Neville said honestly, he did look truly guilty, “I just wanted to see my parents...”

“That’s why you were drowning yourself?” Remus asked in disbelief, “For Merlin’s sake Neville, I have a pensieve inside. Get in the bloody house.”

Neville nodded glumly and walked towards the house, “You too Draco,” Remus added.

“Alright,” Draco mumbled, following Neville towards the old manor.

“I don’t have to do what you say because I’m not a werewolf,” Harry said, catching Remus’s eye.

“No, but I would appreciate it if you went inside Harry,” Remus said calmly.

“Yeah, okay,” Harry said, glancing down guiltily and heading back towards the house with the others. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When Remus shut the bedroom door behind him, he just wanted to crawl into bed. He sighed deeply and turned around to face his wife who was now lying in bed, covered in blankets.

“Did you get them all sorted out?” She asked softly as he climbed into bed.

“As much as I could,” Remus said, he was exhausted emotionally and physically, “When I got down there Neville had his head in the fountain.”

Tonks eyes widened, “Why? It’s not that bad! I know he’s upset about Susan-”

“It wasn’t about that,” Remus said with a shake of his head, “He thought if he drowned he would see his parents because he has no memories of how they were before they were...well before they were the way they are now.”

“Oh Merlin,” Tonks said with a horrified look.

“I know,” Remus said sadly, “So I got the pensieve out and showed them all some of my memories. The closest thing Harry has to a memory of his parents is the fact he hears their voices, he hears their last words when he’s near dementors and Draco has plenty of memories of his parents but most of them aren’t happy ones. I showed them the day James stood on the Head Table and proposed to Lily, and the day that Alice ran across the Quidditch pitch and snogged the life out of Frank when he won Ravenclaw the Quidditch cup that year. I even gave Draco a bit of laugh when I showed him the memory of Sirius chatting up a girl at the Halloween Ball and then being horrified when he realised it was his cousin Cissa.”

Tonks smiled sadly, “Did it help?”

“I think so,” Remus said honestly, “But I am so tired right now Dora...I just want it all to be over. I know that Hermione and Lilly needed to take a time out, and I have a whole lot less sympathy for Susan. But seeing those kids down there, seeing the mess that they are in...I think I would curse any of those girls if they stepped into this house right now because they are being so selfish. The pain those boys are in...everything they are going through right now is bad enough and it just makes me so angry.”

“I know,” Tonks said softly, grabbing his hand, “And I’m inclined to agree with you but I can see it from their point of view too. Susan is just being old-fashioned and selfish, and I’m not really sure what happened with Harry and Lilly. But Hermione is a 17 year old girl and she has just found out that her boyfriend murdered someone Remus, I don’t think I would have handled that well as a 17 year old either.”

Remus sighed and looked down, “Dora...I have to tell you something about Lilly, and about Harry. I have been keeping it from you, because I was afraid you would worry and it would affect the baby but I’m starting to think that keeping it from you will just make things worse.”

Tonks placed his hand on her stomach and said, “You can feel the heartbeat, it helps calm me sometimes.”

Remus shut his eyes and took a breath, focusing on the soft, steady beat. He opened his eyes and Tonks was surprised to see tears shining there because crying was not something he often did, “Nymphadora...there is a very large chance Harry will not come out of this alive.”

Tonks eyes flashed, “Why?” she asked, resting her hand on top of her husbands.

“He’s a horcrux,” Remus said, swallowing a lump in his throat, “That night in Godric’s Hollow...he survived the killing curse because Voldemort’s soul shattered and a piece latched onto him. He thinks that’s what the prophecy means, either must die at the hand of the other because neither can live while the other survives.”

Tonks eyes welled up with tears, “He has to die for Voldemort to be mortal,” she whispered.

Remus nodded and met her watery hazel eyes, “All of those nights I spent in the library, when I told you I couldn’t sleep because you were thrashing around...I lied. I was spending time trying to find a way to save my Godson and I couldn’t find anything because there was nothing.”

He shut his eyes tightly and was not ashamed to let tears fall from his eyes. He had once been ashamed about crying, but in his eyes Dora was his wife and therefore one of the few people who could see him this vulnerable. 

“I was scared you would worry,” Remus said weakly, “But I wanted you to know so that you can cherish these final weeks with him. I want you to have that.”

“When is this going to happen?” Tonks asked as her own tears cascaded down her face.

“When he is the last horcrux, I presume,” Remus said, he had paled significantly and looked not only older than his years but sicker too.

“Can that wait until the baby has been born?” Tonks asked quietly, “I want him to hold his Godson before he...”

“You want to make Harry Godfather?” Remus asked, his eyes welling up once more.

“I thought we could take a leaf out of James and Lily’s book,” Tonks said honestly, “I thought he could have two Godfathers rather than a set of Godparents...I thought Harry and Draco?”

“He?” Remus asked softly.

“Or she,” Tonks corrected herself, “It could be either.”

Remus fixed his eyes on hers, “You know the gender don’t you?”

“I know we said we wouldn’t look in the envelope,” Tonks said quickly, “But I was curious and I had a quick peep...the baby is a boy Remus.”

Remus smiled very slightly as he felt a thump against his hand, Tonks laughed tearfully, “A strong one too judging from the kicking I’ve been getting today. Are you angry?”

“Honestly, I’m tired,” Remus said as he shuffled slightly and pressed his ear against her stomach to listen to that soothing heartbeat again, “And any good news...well I cherish it.”

Tonks smiled slightly as she lazily rested her hand in his messy, greying hair. 

“Those boys down there Dora...I feel responsible for them, even protective over them,” Remus said, shutting his eyes, “I’m starting to think that I will be a good Father after all.”

“You already are,” Tonks said softly, “Those boys love you Remus. You’re the closest thing Harry and Neville have to a Father figure, and Draco respects you so much. This little guy is going to be the luckiest baby ever with a Father like you and a set of Uncles like those boys downstairs. Things may be tough for them right now, but they are good kids Remus, really good kids.”

“I know,” Remus said quietly, “I just want them all to survive. I don’t know if I could handle losing any of them, it would be like James, Lily and Sirius all over again.”

“I know,” Tonks said softly, “I know.”

TBC :)


	52. Two is Better Than One

“Can’t sleep?”

Hermione looked up at the familiar voice, “No,” she said quietly.

Daphne sat down on the edge of her hospital bed, “Thinking about Draco?”

Hermione nodded miserably, and Daphne sighed, “Hermione, what are you doing?”

Hermione frowned, “I just...he murdered someone Daphne.”

“Yes,” Daphne agreed, “He murdered a very bad person Hermione. Why is that so hard for you to come to terms with? What if he hadn’t killed Lucius and he had killed Ginny in the battle we all know is coming?”

“Why would you say that?” Hermione whispered painfully.

“Because it could easily have happened,” Daphne said harshly, “Just like Bellatrix could have killed Lilly if Harry hadn’t killed her. This is a part of the war, and it is for the greater good. You know that, so that’s not what this whole ‘break’ is about, is it?”

Hermione swallowed and pulled her knees up against her chest, “No,” she said quietly.

“Then what is going on?” Daphne asked her friend.

“Draco is different,” Hermione said quietly and tearfully, “I almost don’t recognise him sometimes. I fell in love with an arrogant, charming, sarcastic guy. I miss his jokes and his laugh, and his smile...not that horrible smirk, that real genuine smile that so few people get to see. He’s just so angry all of time!”

“Hermione, this is war,” Daphne said firmly, “I’m not myself, Ron is not himself. That happy go lucky guy that I befriended is a shut off, angry mess right now because he feels helpless. We are all different, but that doesn’t mean we won’t find ourselves again when this is over.”

“But what if it isn’t the war?” Hermione whispered, “What if it’s because he’s a werewolf? What if it’s changing him?”

“The only thing that is changing him is the war,” Daphne said confidently, “The paranoia that’s always over him, the fear of something happening to you. He’s probably beating himself up because of what happened to you, all he ever wants to do is protect you and you were tortured and carved up while he watched. That’s why he’s angry.”

Hermione looked down at the scar and swallowed hard, “How do you know?”

“He’s my best friend,” Daphne said honestly, “And I know him like the back of my hand, even when we haven’t spoken in weeks. This whole thing...it’s a test and you aren’t passing very well at the moment which is a surprise considering that you’re Hermione Granger.”

Hermione didn’t appreciate the blonde’s joke, “What are you talking about?”

“Look a relationship is like a rose garden,” Daphne said slowly, “There’s not always sunshine and beautifully perfumed roses. You can’t just walk through when the roses are in bloom and everything is okay. You have to deal with the rain, and the thorns too. Relationships aren’t easy, if they were everyone would marry their first boyfriend or girlfriend. The whole point is that if you love someone enough you stick with them through the bad patches because you know that there is always going to be another good patch.”

Hermione looked into Daphne’s blue eyes, “You sound like you know from experience.”

“No,” Daphne said honestly, her eyes unwittingly flitting over to Ron who was propped up in a bed at the other side of the room, he was faking a smile as Hannah fixed up a pretty bad gash on his arm, “I’m not in a relationship, but I’ve seen enough fail to know where people are going wrong. The question you have to ask yourself is this; do you love Draco enough to work through this with him?”

The tears that had been brimming in Hermione’s eye spilled as she nodded, “I still hate that I love him, but I do. I know I shouldn’t after everything we’ve been through...we have all of that history...but that all seems like a distant memory, like it was another life.”

Daphne watched Hermione with a certain sadness in her eyes, “Then you’re lucky to love someone like that, Hermione.”

“What should I do?” Hermione practically sobbed, “I want to make things right, but this war is making me miserable. I just want it all to be over!”

“So do I sweetie,” Daphne said softly, hugging her friend tightly, “So do I.”

Hermione cried into Daphne’s arms for a little while. Ron caught the blonde’s eye and made a move towards coming over. Daphne shook her head and mouthed, “Not now.”

Ron nodded and sent her a small real smile as he pointed to the time and rested his head on his hands to gesture that he was going to bed. Daphne gave him a thumbs up with the arm that wasn’t wrapped around Hermione and he left the room. It was shortly after that when Hermione pulled away and wiped her eyes with a handkerchief that Daphne had handed her. 

“What do I do, Daphne?” Hermione asked miserably.

“I’ll tell you exactly what you should do,” Daphne said honestly, “You get your arse out of this hospital bed, grab your bag and go back to Bones Manor. Then you beg Draco to take you back, because he’s not a very forgiving person at the best of times and if I was him at the moment, I wouldn’t.”

This of course caused a fresh bout of tears. Daphne sighed and patted Hermione on the back, “He thinks the world of you Hermione and if you go back tonight I think he will forgive you. But if you leave this any longer he’s going to stew and he won’t. He won’t be able to.”

Hermione nodded and wiped her eyes again, “I want to go back, can you help me?”

“Of course I can,” Daphne said with a slight smile, “I won’t let you screw this up. It’s obvious to anyone with eyes that you and Draco are mad about each other, I’d kill for a relationship like that,” she admitted as she packed Hermione’s few belongings that were left out into her bag and transfigured her hospital pyjamas into normal pyjamas.

Hermione was going to open her mouth to say that she was sure Daphne would have that one day when Ron stepped into the hospital wing again, “Hey Daph, I was going to head to bed but I just remembered that I promised to sit up with Tori for you tonight so you could get a break - oh Hermione, are you going somewhere?”

“I’m going back to Bones Manor,” Hermione said as she stood a little shakily, “I’ve been so stupid, Draco needs me there, I have to be there not here.”

Ron smiled slightly, “I wondered how long you would last. Seamus thought a week, I said I didn’t think you’d make it through the night.”

Hermione smiled at her friend, “You were right,” she admitted.

Ron stepped forward and hugged her, “Take care of yourself, alright? You’re still not yourself.”

“I know,” Hermione said as Daphne hooked her arm through Hermione’s to steady her.

“And don’t worry about it Ron,” Daphne said to the redhead, “I’ll sit up with Tori tonight.”

“You did it last night and the night before,” Ron said in an undertone, “And I’m the only other one who can help with the nightmares. You need your sleep Daph, you’re running on empty.”

“Are you sure?” Daphne asked weakly.

“100% sure, Ernie promised me a game of chess to keep me awake,” Ron said with a smile, “Let me just make sure she’s alright and then I’ll run Hermione through the mirror, alright?”

“Alright,” Daphne said softly, and Ron disappeared from the room once more.

Hermione smiled slightly as she sat down on the edge of a vacated hospital bed. She looked sad, and anxious but her smile was genuine as she looked at Daphne.

“What?” The Slytherin girl asked self-consciously.

“He looks at you the way Draco looks at me,” Hermione said with a fond smile, “Like he’s mad about you.”

Daphne’s cheeks actually flushed, “There’s a war on right now Hermione, the time isn’t right for...that.”

“That makes the time all the more right,” Hermione said with a sad smile, “We don’t know how long we have left with the people that we love.”

Daphne opened her mouth to object to the word ‘love’ but before she got a single word out, Ron re-entered the room and picked Hermione up with ease like she was a doll that weighed nothing.

“Ready to go home?” Ron asked.

“One minute,” Hermione said, using her wand to conjure up a square of parchment and a pen. She scribbled something down on it and folded it over much to Ron’s bemusement. Then she handed it to Daphne and said, “Don’t open it until I’m gone, and thank you for everything Daphne.”

“Don’t mention it,” Daphne said, smiling genuinely at the Gryffindor girl as Ron carried her into the secret room, back to the place she belonged, back to the man she belonged with.

Daphne unfolded the little note the moment the door had shut behind them, and she nearly gasped in shock at what was written on it in Hermione’s perfectly neat hand-writing.

“How long have you been in love with my best friend for, Daphne?”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Are you alright from here?” Ron asked, setting Hermione down gently in the drawing room.

Hermione glanced around and spotted an old umbrella stand, she transfigured it into a walking stick and leant against it, “Now I am,” she said with a smile.

Ron chuckled and kissed her on the cheek, “You promise to take care of yourself?”

“I promise,” Hermione said softly, “But Ron...”

“Yeah?” Ron said, turning around just before stepping into the mirror.

“Take care of Daphne,” Hermione said quietly.

Ron must have seen the knowing smile on her face because he simply gave her a genuine smile and said, “I always do,” before stepping into the mirror and disappearing. 

Hermione’s smile disappeared and her heart began to pound with fear and nerves as she walked across the wooden floor as quietly as she could. However she was aware that she was in a house with three werewolves so the soft tap of the makeshift walking stick against the floor was bound to wake one of them up.

She got to the landing outside the drawing room and climbed to the next landing where she had to pause to catch her breath. As she was doing so she heard footsteps on the stairs and panicked in case they were Draco’s.

“Hermione!” Tonks gasped in an undertone when she stepped onto the landing.

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief, “Tonks, it’s just you.”

Tonks grabbed Hermione’s arm and steadied her, “You shouldn’t be up and walking on your own just yet darling. What are you doing here in the dead of the night?”

“I had to come back Tonks,” Hermione said tearfully, “I should never have left Draco...I’m scared he won’t forgive me, I was just so stupid!”

“You were,” Tonks said with a soft smile, “But you’re young Hermione, we all make mistakes when we’re young.”

“Do you think he’ll hate me for what I said?” Hermione said as she looked desperately at Tonks, “I...I normally wouldn’t just run away like that! I would have talked to my Mum, but I altered her memories and my Dads and they have no idea who I am, and they’ll never remember that they have a daughter and I just...” she sucked in a huge breath and sobbed, “...I feel so alone.”

“Come here,” Tonks said, hugging Hermione as best as she could with her baby bump getting in the way, she patted the girl on the back and said, “I know it isn’t the same Hermione, but I’m always here and I’ll always let you rant or vent. And when this is all over we’ll find your Mum and Dad and get their memories back, I promise.”

Hermione nodded and gulped in a breath, “I’m so sorry Tonks, your pregnant and I just-”

“Being pregnant doesn’t make me useless and unapproachable you know,” Tonks said with a slight smile, “It just makes me have to descend two staircases to pee four times a night.”

Hermione chuckled at that and asked the older woman, “Will he hate me?”

“No,” Tonks said softly, pushing Hermione’s sweaty hair away from her face, “Because he spent the entire night getting rat-arsed with Harry and Neville to try and forget how much he was missing you. But you need to get upstairs to bed before you pass out, come on.”

“No, I can manage,” Hermione said weakly.

“Hermione,” Tonks said, keeping a firm grip on the girls arm, “You are recovering from a severe case of poisoning. You shouldn’t even be out of bed so soon, let alone trying to walk upstairs on your own. Pregnant or not I’m in a better state than you.”

Hermione couldn’t argue with that so she let Tonks help her up another flight of stairs. They stopped outside the door of the room Hermione shared with Draco. Tonks smiled at Hermione and said, “Now, get yourself to bed and I’ll bring you a cuppa tomorrow morning, alright?”

“Alright,” Hermione said, “Thank you Tonks.”

“Anytime,” Tonks said with a smile, she gripped the railing and began to head back down the stairs, leaving Hermione alone on the landing. She stared at the door for a moment and then took a deep breath and pushed it open. Her heart pounded against her chest as she stepped into the room and shut the door as quietly as she could behind her.

She thought Draco would be asleep with it being the middle of the night. But he was sitting up in bed, a copy of “Pride and Prejudice” open in front of him which he was reading by wand light.

He looked up when he heard the door, and his eyes widened when he saw Hermione walk in, her hair bushy and wet with sweat from the effort of getting up the stairs. Her eyes were red and bloodshot, and her cheeks puffy. 

“Hermione!” He whispered as he jumped from his bed, only wearing a pair of boxers which left all of his scars on show.

Hermione sobbed at the sight and fell into his arms. In fact she practically collapsed into his arms and Draco said, “Oh Merlin, you shouldn’t be up and moving yet!”

He sat down on the bed and cradled her in his arms. She nestled into him like a cat would do, and her tears dripped onto his bare chest. 

“I’m sorry,” Hermione managed to choke out, slipping out of his grasp to sit cross-legged opposite him on the bed.

“So am I,” Draco said, holding her chin gently so that she would look him in the eye, “These past few months have been hard for me and I’ve taken it out on you. I should never have done that Hermione.”

“But I shouldn’t have left,” Hermione whispered, “I should never have left you like that and...I’m not afraid of you, I’m afraid of the situation we’re in. I’m terrified of every noise, I feel like I’m being watched all of the time...I got it all so wrong Draco! The only time I feel safe is when I’m with you.”

Draco smiled at her slightly, “Do you really mean that?”

“I do,” Hermione said as her tears continued to fall, “I love you so much Draco, too much I think. And it took Daphne to make me realise that I was being stupid. I am scared but not of you, that’s the irony of this whole thing...I’m scared of losing you.”

“You will never lose me, Hermione,” Draco said softly, “Never.”

“You can’t promise that,” Hermione cried, “What if I lose everything in this war? I’ve lost my parents and I’m going to lose one of my best friends. I can’t lose you too, Draco.”

Draco pulled her closer to him, tears shining in his own eyes, “And I can’t lose you Hermione,” he said in a small, broken voice, “I love you more than I have ever loved anything. I want to protect you from all of this, but I failed you, you were hurt because of me. You were tortured because of me.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Hermione said, reaching up and wiping away the tears that had fallen from his eyes, “It wasn’t.”

“Yes, it was,” Draco choked out painfully, “I said his name, it was my fault.”

“It was the situation,” Hermione said with a shake of her head, “Everything was bad...everyone was angry. Harry and I shouldn’t have fought with you, please don’t blame yourself Draco, please.”

Draco stared at her and searched her eyes, “Promise you will never leave me again,” he said quietly, his voice breaking on the last word.

“I promise,” Hermione choked out, bringing his face closer to hers and capturing his lips in a rather salty kiss. It was soft, gentle and sweet, but there was desperation in it too. Draco savoured the feeling of Hermione’s soft lips against his own. He cupped her face with his hand and deepened the kiss, melting into her and allowing himself to forget about all of their other worries for one moment.

He was reminded of that first night they had spent together in the Room of Requirement. The gentle carefulness they had practiced to make sure they hadn’t hurt each other. It all flooded back and for some inexplicable reason it brought tears to Draco’s eyes. Things had been simpler then, he hadn’t been a werewolf and this war was an unknown thing on the horizon, not this horrific thing it had become. 

Hermione broke the kiss, but rested her forehead against Draco’s, “I love you Draco, I don’t care if you’re a pure-blood, a half-blood or a muggle-born. I don’t care if you’re a werewolf or a vampire or a half-breed. I don’t love your blood status, I love you but I do miss you. I miss the arrogant, sarcastic, suave git that pulled me into broom cupboards just to kiss me. I miss the guy who could make me laugh for 5 minutes with one look and I’m scared you’ll never be that guy again.”

“I still am that guy,” Draco said honestly, “I really am, but the serious side of me is just showing his face more often than normal at the moment, I promise.”

Hermione nodded, she held his gaze, “Can you forgive me?”

“I forgave you the second you walked in that door love,” Draco said softly, “But please lie down, you look like you’re struggling just to sit up.”

Hermione heeded his advice and got comfortable next to him. Draco smiled slightly at her and took her hand with his left hand. With his right hand he picked up his book and flicked it open to the page he had been on when she walked into the room. He began to read aloud to her, and Hermione smiled softly, intertwining her fingers with his.

“I have been a selfish being all my life, in practice, though not in principle,” Draco read beautifully, “As a child I was taught what was right, but I was not taught to correct my temper. I was given good principles, but left to follow them in pride and conceit. Unfortunately an only son (for many years an only child), I was spoilt by my parents, who, though good themselves (my father, particularly, all that was benevolent and amiable), allowed, encouraged, almost taught me to be selfish and overbearing; to care for none beyond my own family circle; to think meanly of all the rest of the world; to wish at least to think meanly of their sense and worth compared with my own.”

Hermione shut her eyes, tightening her grip on his hand as he paused to take a breath, “Such I was, from eight to eight and twenty; and such I might still have been but for you, dearest, loveliest Elizabeth! What do I not owe you? You taught me a lesson, hard indeed at first, but most advantageous. By you, I was properly humbled. I came to you without a doubt of my reception. You showed me how insufficient were all my pretensions to please a woman worthy of being pleased.”

Hermione smiled sleepily into his chest as he closed the book, “Well we are all fools in love, Mr. Darcy,” she mumbled.

Draco smiled into her hair and mumbled, “Go to sleep, love.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Was she alright?” Daphne asked, she had been hovering by the door to the secret room and had asked Ron the question the moment he stepped out into the main mess hall.

“A bit shaky, but fine yeah,” Ron replied, “Is Tori alright?”

“She’s peaceful at the moment,” Daphne yawned.

“Good,” Ron said, glancing at the note in her pocket, “What did Hermione’s note say?”

“Oh nothing...” Daphne lied, “It was just a thank you. I had to get a little harsh with her, but I’m glad I did.”

“As much as I hate to admit it, her and Malfoy...they’re good for each other,” Ron said as he and Daphne slipped into the girl’s dorm room together.

“Sometimes the people that work the least on paper work the best in practice,” Daphne said with a slight smile, “It’s odd the way the world works isn’t it?”

“I suppose so,” Ron said, he hadn’t put as much thought into all of that sort of stuff as she had though. 

The two of them reached the far end of the dorm where Astoria was sleeping peacefully. Daphne crawled into the double bed next to her sister and yawned. Ron sat down on a comfortable beanbag next to Astoria and pulled out his old copy of “Flying with the Canons”. 

Daphne hid her smile and pulled the note from her pocket. She angled it so that Ron couldn’t see the writing and jotted a quick reply down with the quill and inkpot she kept under the bed. She wasn’t sure what made her so keen to tell the truth all of a sudden, but her conversation with Hermione had changed her perspective on a few things. 

After she had written her reply, Daphne folded the letter and placed it carefully under her pillow. She would ask Ginny or Susan to take it to Hermione when one of them nipped through the mirror to check on her the following day. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep fairly quickly because it was the middle of the night and she had barely slept for days.

Ron watched her for a while, he watched as her face relaxed and he listened to her soft breathing, his book entirely forgotten about. She shifted in her sleep a few times and the note fell from beneath her pillow onto the floor. Ron picked it up, fully intending to pop it back under her pillow without looking at it. But when he had it in his hands it was too tempting, and he unfolded it for a quick peep. 

His eyes widened, and he smiled broadly when he saw what was written on the tiny piece of parchment:

“How long have you been in love with my best friend for, Daphne?”

“I don’t know exactly. Since the start of this school year I suppose, but I can’t pinpoint the exact moment. I just know it’s been a long time, and that I’ve never felt this way about anyone else before.”

Ron’s stupid smile remained glued on his face as he folded the note back up and slipped it under Daphne’s pillow. She shifted in her sleep, but didn’t wake up as Ron kissed her on the cheek and whispered, “Me too Daph.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Hangover potion delivery,” Harry yawned as he walked into Neville’s room and snorted as his friend lay spread eagle on his bed, drooling all over his pillow.

Neville jolted awake and frowned, “Don’t you knock?”

“Well since we don’t have girlfriends I was hardly going to interrupt anything, was I?” Harry retorted, “Unless you were that desperate, catch this.”

Neville narrowly caught the vial that Harry had thrown at him. He yawned, stretching as he did so. He didn’t seem phased by his lack of clothing but he and Harry had shared a dorm room for 6 years. 

“Do werewolves get hangovers?” Harry asked curiously.

“Yes,” Neville grimaced, “And we hear everything so loudly,” he added, knocking back the potion and sighing in relief.

“I suppose I ought to head up and give Draco one too-”

Neville shook his head and brought a finger to his lips. Harry frowned, “What are you eavesdropping on?”

“Draco,” Neville replied honestly, “Don’t take him a hangover potion.”

“Why?” Harry asked suspiciously.

Neville smiled slightly and said, “Because Hermione is over there with him. He’s trying to force a cup of tea down her and she’s complaining that the taste makes her sick at the moment.”

“Hermione’s back?” Harry asked, a slither of hope slipping into his voice.

“Just her though,” Neville said, “So don’t get your hopes up.”

“Right,” Harry said with a sigh, “Wishful thinking I suppose. But I’m glad for Draco.”

“Their relationship was always the strongest, ironically enough,” Neville said as he looked at the roof thoughtfully.

“You can’t mess with that much chemistry I suppose,” Harry said as he sat down on the edge of his friend’s bed, “You can virtually feel the buzz of magic between them sometimes.”

“Makes you wonder if we’ll ever feel that, doesn’t it?” Neville asked Harry glumly.

“I did,” Harry said honestly, “With Lilly,” his mind flashed back to their first time in the Room of Requirement and the gentle buzz of magic that had surrounded them that night. 

“I’ve never had a buzz,” Neville said, “But I have had a crackle once...”

“With Susan?” Harry assumed.

“No,” Neville replied honestly, “It was...well it was just a kiss with another girl. But I could feel our magic crackling between us, building up to a buzz I suppose.”

“And it was only a kiss?” Harry asked in surprise, “When your magic reacts it’s a sign that it’s a really intense relationship. Why didn’t you give it a chance?”

Neville frowned deeply, “The timing just wasn’t right I suppose.”

“Who was it?” Harry asked curiously.

Neville shook his head and got to his feet, “Nobody you know, reckon we should clean up the mess we made last night in the outhouse?”

Harry sighed, “Yeah, might get us back in Remus’s good books.”

“I think we’d have to scrub the entire house clean to do that,” Neville remarked, grateful that Harry had dropped the subject about crackling magic and soulmates.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Why aren’t you letting me do anything?”

“Because you shouldn’t be here,” Ron said matter of factly as he walked towards Daphne, ignoring Lilly.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Lilly asked angrily.

Ron was in a bad mood, the kitchens were being watched and their food supply was dwindling. They had an influx of patients to the hospital wing after the latest raid of the dungeons, most of them were 3rd year and below. Daphne was rushed off her feet and Ron was trying to get to her to give her a break, and Lilly was in his goddamn way.

Ron turned to her irritably, “Exactly what it sounds like. You shouldn’t be here so I won’t let you do anything here.”

“Where should I be then?” Lilly asked, crossing her arms and glaring at him.

“You should be with Harry,” Ron said angrily, “You should be supporting him! You’re his girlfriend, act like it!”

“I’m not his girlfriend,” Lilly reminded Ron.

“Because you broke up with him,” Ron said with a nod, “And you ran away here, right? It’s pathetic and it’s immature. I always thought you were a good match for Harry, but he deserves better than you.”

“You don’t understand the half of it!” Lilly shouted, “You don’t know anything about it!”

“I know he loves you,” Ron said angrily, “And I know he doesn’t fall in love easily. But you clearly don’t feel the same or you wouldn’t be moping around here, you would be with him.”

“I do love him!” Lilly hissed.

“You’ve got a funny way of showing it,” Ron said darkly, aware of the crowd that was gathering, expecting the fight to escalate into a duel.

“Well I do!”

“So why are you here?” Ron asked in an irritated whisper.

Lilly’s eyes stung as she fought back tears, “Because I can’t be around him right now, it hurts too much. You don’t understand, you don’t know.”

“I know something weird is going on with him,” Ron said in an undertone, “And I know he doesn’t expect to survive this war. If I had an other half right now I would spend every damn second telling them how much I loved them and being with them because we don’t know how much time we have left with the people we love Lilly and you could be wasting valuable time right now!”

Lilly’s tears spilled out, and Ron continued, “Stay here and mope for another week if you want. Or go back and make some good memories to see you through the bad ones you’re clearly expecting are going to come.”

“Like you can talk,” Lilly said in an angry whisper, “You haven’t even got the guts to tell her how you feel!”

“That’s none of your business!” Ron snapped.

“And what’s going on between Harry and I is none of yours!” Lilly snapped back, storming away from the redheaded boy towards the dorms and dropping down heavily onto her makeshift bed. She wiped her tears away and groaned in frustration as she looked at the only picture she had of her and Harry, the picture of them all just before they had left Hogwarts last June. The last picture of normalcy...

Lilly was grateful for the fact it was the middle of the day because it meant that the dorm was practically empty. She let the tears she had spent so long holding back spill out. Lilly pulled her knees up and tucked them underneath her chin as she clutched that photograph and let her tears fall onto it, they dripped off, and the faces in the photograph continued to laugh and smile, and wave. They were eternally happy, eternally safe and beautiful, locked inside that frame forever. It only made Lilly all the more sad.

She wasn’t sure how long she had sat there for when Ron walked into the room and sat down next to her. He put his arm around her and said, “We’re all going to make it through this.”

“No,” Lilly whispered, “I can’t tell you why, but Harry knows that he isn’t going to. He’s been preparing himself for it for a while and I’ve been trying to do the same but...” her eyes fell on the tear stained photograph, “...every time I look at him I realise that it might be the last time I do.”

Ron sighed and tightened his grip on her arm, “Do you really want to spend this time avoiding him then? If Daphne...if I knew she was in real danger I wouldn’t waste a second in telling her that I...that I’ve felt this way for a long time.”

“I know I’m being selfish,” Lilly admitted, “But I am a selfish person, I’m not selfless like Harry, I never have been. I just hate to think of a world without him, because he...he’s just the best thing I’ve ever had and I need him in my life. Even if we broke up and it was just as a friend but not being able to see him ever again...only having a cold gravestone to remind me of him,” she let out a reluctant sob, “I can’t think like that. I have to believe that he’ll somehow find a way to survive this.”

“He will,” Ron said firmly, “Harry was supposed to die so many times, and he’s still here. He’s going to make it through whatever this is Lilly.”

Lilly swallowed her tears, “Are you just saying that to make me feel better or do you really believe it?”

“I believe it with all of my heart,” Ron said entirely honestly.

She looked down at the photograph again, she looked at Harry’s smiling face and his sparkling green eyes, “God, I miss him,” she said, almost to herself rather than to Ron.

“I’ll leave you to pack your things,” Ron said with a slight smile, patting her on the shoulder and pushing himself to his feet.

Lilly smiled at him, and it was the first real smile he had seen on her face all week. 

Ron turned around and walked back into the mess hall, this time he did manage to get to Daphne. She was talking to Hannah when he snuck up behind her and shoved something into her hand. Daphne jumped and spun around but smiled when she saw that it was only Ron. She looked down at her hand and laughed, “Where did you get this?”

“Back of the kitchens,” Ron said with a smile, “It was the last one so savour it.”

Daphne smiled at him brightly, and Ron couldn’t help but smile back just as widely. It was stupid really, all he had done was steal her the last bar of chocolate in the place, but the gesture meant more than that, and they both knew it, even if they didn’t express it in words.

“What’s going on with Lilly?” Daphne asked, tearing her eyes away from Ron’s.

“She’s going back to Bones Manor,” Ron said triumphantly.

Daphne raised an eyebrow at the redhead, “What did you say to her? I’ve been trying to get her to go back all week.”

“I got her angry,” Ron said in amusement, “She lost her mojo after Malfoy Manor. She was just moping around feeling sorry for herself, I reminded her that she could get angry which made her upset and it all flooded out.”

“Well aren’t we the love gurus?” Daphne smirked, “Between us we’ve sent them both back to where they belong.”

Ron smiled at the comment, “I guess we just make a good team.”

“I guess so,” Daphne agreed as Lilly stepped out of the dorm room with her jacket on and her bag flung over her shoulder. She walked over to them, and shot Ron a grateful look.

“So you’ve finally come to your senses then?” Daphne asked knowingly.

“Thanks to Ron,” Lilly said honestly, “Are you sure you don’t need me here?”

“We have plenty of hands, don’t worry,” Daphne said honestly, between Susan, Hannah and Ginny the hospital wing was staffed well enough and Daphne spent her days there too when she wasn’t out on raids with Ron.

“Alright,” Lilly said, hugging the blonde girl, “I’ll miss you, it was good seeing you this week.”

“It was good to see you too, but your boyfriend needs you more than we do,” Daphne said as Lilly briefly hugged Ron.  
“He’s not my boyfriend, he might not...” Lilly shrugged and said, “Well I might have messed it up.”

“The longer you wait to find out, the more chance there is of that being true,” Daphne pointed out, opening the door to the secret room for her, “Good luck.”

Lilly nodded, “Take care of yourselves and of each other.”

Ron and Daphne shared a smile, “We always do,” Daphne said softly, her eyes not leaving Ron’s.

“Yeah, we do,” Ron agreed, tearing his eyes away from Daphne to look at Lilly who was smiling knowingly at them both. She said a final goodbye and stepped into the secret room, heading through the mirror with no idea of what to expect on the other side.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“You are so not well enough to do that.”

“Draco, I’m fine!” Hermione exclaimed.

“Hermione, you nearly died last week,” Harry pointed out as he poured out cups of coffee, it was fairly early in the morning and they were all gathered in the kitchen for breakfast.

“That doesn’t mean I can’t do anything,” Hermione argued, “I’ve already read every book I own. Please let me do something helpful.”

Draco rolled her eyes, “See, we should never have told her about the Gringotts plan.”

“It’s not actually up to us anyway,” Neville said matter of factly, “It’s up to Remus and he’s not awake yet so you’ll have to ask him if you can help make the map. Who wants pancakes by the way?”

Hermione made a face and said, “I’ll stick with my cereal thanks.”

“I’ll have pancakes Nev,” Draco said as he flicked through that mornings edition of the prophet, scanning it for any mention of deaths. He had been anxious about his Mother ever since the incident in Malfoy Manor. He was just glad that she hadn’t seen him kill his Father, but that werewolf had, so he knew that she would know by now...

“Harry?”

“Nah, not hungry Nev,” Harry said offhandedly.

“Harry,” Hermione sighed, “You can’t not eat, I know you’re still upset about Lilly-”

“Can we just not talk about her, please?” Harry said sharply, “I’m eating enough to survive, alright? I’m just not hungry right now.”

“So long as you have lunch today, that’s alright,” Remus said as he stepped into the kitchen, “And pour me a cup of that coffee, I had a long night.”

“Baby kicking again?” Draco asked, glancing up from the prophet. 

Remus nodded, “The little tyke has been keeping Dora up all night. She’s wishing he wasn’t so nocturnal at the moment.”

“Definitely a werewolf baby,” Draco joked.

Harry looked at Draco in disbelief, and Neville actually glared at his friend, “Did you seriously just say that?”

“Bloody idiot,” Hermione muttered, nudging her boyfriend in the ribs.

“It was a joke,” Draco said at the look on Remus’s face, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean...it’s really unlike that werewolfism is genetic. Don’t worry Remus, I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright,” Remus sighed, “I’m just tired and grumpy.”

“Drink this, it’s extra strong,” Harry yawned as he handed Remus a steaming cup of coffee.

“Did you sleep at all last night?” Remus asked Harry anxiously.

Harry shrugged, “I got an hour or so.”

Hermione frowned and glanced down, “Harry, you have to eat and sleep, I know-”

“Not talking about her, remember Hermione?” Harry snapped as Tonks tottered into the kitchen yawning and holding her back, “Morning.”

“Morning love,” Remus said as she sat down on the sofa next to Hermione, “Do you want a cuppa?”

“God, I wish I could drink coffee right now,” Tonks complained, “But I suppose green tea will have to do,” she added with a disgusted look on her face.

Remus chuckled and began to make the tea when a distraction came in the form of a tiny human being stepping into the kitchen. Almost everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at her, and Lilly instantly felt nervous.

“Lilly,” Harry said weakly as he looked at her in awe, like he was imagining her.

Lilly glanced around the kitchen awkwardly and said, “I just...I came back to apologise and...”

“The others all know,” Harry said softly, “It’s not something you have to deal with on your own anymore. Everyone knows.”

“And Harry has been informed that he has to take his time finding the next horcrux,” Tonks said matter of factly, “Because he is in trouble if he doesn’t meet his own Godson.”

Harry smiled at the older woman and turned back to Lilly, “Remus and Tonks asked me to be the babies Godfather, it’s going to be a boy.”

“That’s great,” Lilly said with a genuine smile, “Really great.”

Harry nodded, feeling very awkward with the eyes of everyone watching them. He was about to suggest to Lilly that they go for a walk in the gardens and have a chat, but she took matters into her own hands.

Lilly had always been bold when it came to relationships and although Harry could be bold with everything else, it wasn’t his strong point when it came to love. She dropped her bag on the floor by the sofa and ran at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him like she hadn’t kissed him in months, let alone a week. His cheeks flushed as the others cheered, but he deepened the kiss anyway because having her back in his arms was the best feeling in the world. 

Harry broke the kiss and pulled back, blushing furiously as Draco and Neville wolf-whistled and Tonks and Hermione smiled tearfully. Remus of course just looked at them knowingly. Harry caught Lilly’s eye and was glad to see a sparkle there that had been gone for the last little while.

“If these are the last few weeks we have together, I want to take advantage of every single second,” Lilly said quietly, her arms still wrapped around his neck, “But I believe that we will find a way around this and you have to let me believe that because it’s my way of coping with this.”

Harry nodded, “I know, and I’m sorry for assuming that everyone deals with things the same way that I do.”

“I’m sorry too, for leaving you like that,” Lilly said, lowering her voice even more so that Harry was the only one who could hear her say, “And I promise that I will never leave you again. When this is all over I’ll make that promise again, but I’ll add the till death do us part bit too.”

Harry smiled at her a little tearfully, he loved the thought but he wasn’t as optimistic as she was for a future. He let her indulge her belief that they would find a way for him to live though, because he couldn’t stand to spend his last few weeks without her and if believing was her way of coping then he would let her believe. 

Her intention had been for nobody to hear those words apart from Harry. She had forgotten that three werewolves lived in this house however. Remus had the decency not to listen in of course. But Draco and Neville didn’t have that same common courtesy. They grinned knowingly at Harry who decided to piss them off with a muggle reference that neither of them would understand.

He turned back to Lilly and said, “If believing is what you need to do to cope, then don’t stop believing.”

Lilly laughed at the reference and let him wrap his arms around her, “A Journey fan huh? I think I just fell a little more in love with you.”

Hermione smiled happily at them, aware of Draco and Neville looking at each other with bemusement. She turned to them with a cheeky smile and felt a little bit more like her old self again as she said, “Muggle reference.”

“Bloody muggle-borns!” Draco exclaimed as he had done so many times, and suddenly the mood in the room seemed to have changed entirely because the kitchen was filled with laughter once more.

TBC :)


	53. Marvel at This

“What made you come back, Lil?” Harry asked, he was lying on the sofa, she was sitting against his legs, “The Tales of Beedle the Bard” propped open in front of her.

“Ron,” Lilly said honestly, twisting around to face him, “He knocked some sense into me.”

“Really?” Harry asked in surprise, Ron had never been the best with advice in his experience.

“Have you spoken to him recently?” Hermione asked from the armchair she was curled up in, blankets swaddling her thanks to Draco being over-protective.

“Not really,” Harry admitted, feeling guilty about that.

“Well you should,” Hermione said, abandoning her book momentarily, “He’s gotten so mature in these last months...talking to him is almost like talking to Bill, it’s quite strange actually.”

Harry smiled slightly, “I wonder if a certain blonde haired Slytherin has anything to do with it.”

“Oh I think so,” Hermione said with a fond smile, thinking back to the note Ginny had given her from Daphne last week, “But to be honest I think sending him back to Hogwarts this year was the best thing you could have done for Ron.”

“And for her,” Lilly said with a soft smile, “Daphne that is.”

“What do you two know?” Harry asked, looking between his girlfriend and his best friend.

“Everyone can see that those two love each other, apart from those two,” Lilly said with a shake of her head.

“No, Daphne knows,” Hermione said with a real smile, “Because I asked her how long she had been in love with my best friend for, and she answered.”

“Well mature or not, Ron’s probably still pretty clueless about that kind of thing,” Harry chuckled.

“I don’t know if he is, I know he definitely knows there is something there,” Lilly said, “They both do, they just won’t act on it.”

“Which is damn well stupid,” Hermione said with a shake of her head, “These are dangerous times, we all need to appreciate what we have.”

“Even if what we have is an angry teen werewolf,” Draco said cheerfully as he slipped into the room with a steaming goblet, “Right?”

“Right,” Hermione laughed, “After all, the werewolf is a part of you, but that doesn’t change what you are inside.”

Draco raised an eyebrow at her, “That’s very cryptic of you.”

Lilly laughed loudly, “She’s quoting a muggle movie. We really need to introduce you and Neville to “Teen Wolf” sometime.”

Harry snorted in amusement, and Draco just shook his head, “I have a special delivery for you, courtesy of Ginny. Your muscle regeneration potion for the day.”

Hermione made a face as she took the goblet from him, “How much more of this do I have to drink?”

“Tomorrow is your last day,” Draco said, perching on the edge of her armchair, “After that you just need bedrest.”

“I’m sick of bedrest,” Hermione said with a roll of her eyes, “Remus said I could help with the map.”

“How long is that going to take?” Harry asked curiously, “I’m not in a hurry, I know what Tonks said about the baby, I’m just curious.”

“Well the Marauders map covered 7 floors and the grounds and took a year,” Hermione said, “This map has to cover three floors of pretty extensive twisty tunnels and it has to incorporate that roller coaster thing that I hate. Remus thinks he will be making good time if it’s finished sometime around the middle of March.”

“So we have about a month and a half to kill here,” Draco said thoughtfully, “That will definitely be long enough to get everything in place properly. This is probably the most dangerous and stupid thing we’ve ever done so at least we have the time to prepare for it.”

Lilly nodded her agreement, “Too much time is certainly better than not enough,” she said, her hand seeking out Harry’s.

“It does work best this way,” Harry said, “It means that Hermione can heal properly and that Neville can have his second full moon. I know you didn’t start to feel back to full health until then Draco.”

Draco nodded, “It does work out well, you’re entirely right.”

“Where is Neville?” Hermione asked with a frown, “I haven’t seen him all day.”

“Wasn’t he getting a visit from Ginny or Hannah today?” Lilly asked as she turned a page in her book, “About that bite that hasn’t quite healed yet?”

“Ginny’s up there with him now, she just passed that off to me on her way up,” Draco said, motioning at the goblet in Hermione’s hands, “You had better drink that by the way.”

“Fine,” Hermione grumbled, sipping the disgusting warm liquid.

“Presents for my adopted kids!” Tonks said, stepping into the room with a mysterious canvas bag.

“Presents?” Hermione asked eagerly, any excuse not to drink that bloody potion. 

“I thought you could all use a bit of cheering up,” Tonks said as she took a pile of books from her bag, “And given that there’s a war going on I thought you might relate to these...”

“What are they?” Draco asked curiously.

“These are comic books,” Tonks said, “A terribly Muggle idea I’m afraid, but I think you lot will fall in love with them. Now this one is for you Draco,” she said, handing him an old copy of “Wolverine”.

“Wolverine?” Draco asked.

“He has a temper, he’s a sarcastic pain in the arse and you should see his claws, trust me you’ll like him,” Tonks said with an amused smirk as she dropped a comic book on Harry’s lap.

“Spiderman?” Harry asked in amusement.

“You’re short, used to living a double life and pretty angsty,” Tonks smirked, “I think you’ll relate just fine to Peter Parker.”

“Gee thanks,” Harry snorted.

Lilly grinned at her boyfriend in amusement and eagerly accepted the comic Tonks was holding out to her, “Kitty Pryde?” she asked as she studied the cover.

“I think you will relate a lot to Kitty Pryde,” Tonks said matter of factly, “She’s young, very mature for her age, not to mention tiny and terrifying. You’ll like her.”

Lilly smiled slightly, “Thanks Tonks,” she said genuinely. 

Finally Tonks handed Hermione a comic and she looked at it eagerly, she had never really read them as a kid but she knew of them, “Scarlet Witch.”

Draco grinned, “Appropriate for my heroic little Gryffindor.”

Hermione swiped at him, but Draco ducked and smirked at her. She couldn’t complain really, she had missed this side of him too much recently.

“She’s a very powerful witch,” Tonks said as she headed towards the door with the remainder of her comics, “I think you’ll find her fascinating Hermione.”

“Thank you Tonks,” Hermione said as the older woman left the room and headed downstairs.

“Wolverine,” Draco said again, “I don’t know whether I should be offended or honoured...”

“I’m offended,” Harry said, “Spiderman is the most whiny, annoying avenger ever.”

Draco smirked, “Definitely you then Potter.”

“Shove off Malfoy,” Harry said half-heartedly, and Hermione and Lilly simply shared amused smiles.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Oh come on Nev, I’m curious! How furry?”

Neville was shaking his head at Ginny in exasperated disbelief, “How furry?”

“Yeah,” Ginny said with an easy smile, “Full on big fluffy wolf furry or pathetic little ferret furry like Malfoy?”

Neville barked out a laugh, and Ginny grinned, “That’s new.”

“What is?” Neville asked, still chuckling at her comment about Draco.

“The barking laugh,” Ginny said in amusement, “It suits you, you know. In fact being a werewolf suits you, does that sound weird?”

“Yes, but you always have said some weird things Gin,” Neville said with a real smile, “But I suppose we’ve got to be a bit mad to understand Luna.”

“Oh I love Luna,” Ginny said with a fond smile, “And underneath all that crazy stuff she’s just a girl who misses her Mum.”

“I know,” Neville said with a sad sort of smile, “And that I can relate to.”

“She’s always had a bit of a crush on you,” Ginny admitted.

“Has she?” Neville asked in surprise, “I always thought she had a bit of a thing for Harry.”

“No, she thinks he’s too serious,” Ginny chuckled, “But she thinks you’re the best thing since sliced bread.”

Neville snorted at the muggle phrase and said, “Well I hope she doesn’t expect anything from me, I only think of her as a friend.”

“She knows that, she’s very perceptive our Luna,” Ginny said matter of factly, she dipped her hand into the tin she was holding and pushed open Neville’s shirt. If she noticed the fact he shivered under her touch she didn’t comment on it. She gently began to dab the thick cream onto the bite that hadn’t yet begun to scab over.

“Good,” Neville said once he had regained his composure. He looked up at Ginny, she could be so fiery with her anger and her red hair. But right now she looked peaceful, her blue eyes were relaxed and swam like an endless ocean, “Being a healer suits you, you know.”

“I enjoy it,” Ginny admitted, “But I’m not sure if I enjoy it more than Quidditch. What do you think you’ll do now your job pool is limited?”

She didn’t fudge her words, she never had. Neville smiled slightly, he liked that a lot about Ginny, “I don’t know. I still want to be a teacher, and Dumbledore let Remus teach...”

“Look at how he had to leave though,” Ginny said softly, “McGonagall won’t mind but the board of governors might.”

“Well that’s the difference between me and Draco, Gin,” Neville said honestly, “Draco complains that being a werewolf limits his job opportunities. He stews about all of the bad stuff, but I’m thinking that this isn’t acceptable and that I want to change it.”

“You’re going to campaign?” Ginny asked with a smile, “I think that’s a great idea, and I’ll do anything I can to help. I’ll hand out leaflets or shout at the arseholes who run the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.”

Neville smiled, “Thank you.”

“You’re my best friend Nev,” Ginny said with a genuine smile, “I’ll do anything to help you, because despite what you might think being a werewolf hasn’t changed you at all. I bet you’re just like a big fluffy dog.”

Neville laughed at the comparison, “A violent dog who throws one of his best friends onto the roof on an outhouse,” he said.

“Well you didn’t have wolfsbane,” Ginny reasoned, “And you will for February’s moon. Daph and I are brewing it in our spare time in the Room of Requirement since Tonks is way too pregnant to brew potions these days.”

“Thank you,” Neville said again, “Really, I know how hard that potion is.”

“It’s easy if you’re me and the girl who would have aced N.E.W.T level potions if she wasn’t leading a rebellion with my brother,” Ginny grinned.

“I really appreciate it though Gin,” Neville said, grabbing the hand of hers that wasn’t treating his bite, “I mean that.”

Ginny smiled, “I know you do Neville,” she said simply as a knock sounded at the door.

“Come in!” Neville called, dropping Ginny’s hand as she dipped her hands in a basin of warm water to wash off the excess cream. She was just drying her hands off when the door opened and Susan stepped in, looking sheepish at first. That look turned to confusion when she saw Ginny in the room.

The air was immediately tense, “What are you doing here Susan?” Neville asked, his eyes darkening and losing all of their sparkle.

“I wanted to speak to you,” Susan said, “Alone.”

Ginny scoffed and put the lid on the tin, “Well that’s rich considering Neville wouldn’t be getting any treatment if I had started coming over to help him because you were too much of a coward to face him.”

Susan’s eyes flashed, “This isn’t your business Ginny!”

“He’s my best friend and you won’t stop fucking him over,” Ginny said, firing up, “That makes it my business!”

“Don’t get involved in it Gin,” Neville said, grabbing her hand and giving her a pointed look.

Susan watched the exchange with distaste, and Neville added quietly, “I can deal with her on my own.”

Ginny would happily have shouted at Susan more, or hexed her. But she nodded at Neville and said, “I’ll stay downstairs for a while in case you need anything else. I have to try and sort out that infected cut of Draco’s anyway.”

“Alright, thank you,” Neville said softly as the younger girl left the room.

“Replacing me with a younger, less attractive model?” Susan asked irritably.

Neville looked at her in disbelief, “You broke up with me if I remember correctly. And that sounded bitter as hell Susan.”

Susan’s eyes darkened, “It’s the truth, it’s been a week and a half and you’re already cosied up with her!”

“She’s one of my best friends!” Neville snapped, “We were close before I ever dated you and she was there for me when you weren’t during the war. And for the record, she’s more attractive than you, personality does factor in these things after all.”

Susan scoffed, “Well you clearly have a type and you’ve clearly moved on. I came here to apologise and-”

“And what?” Neville asked, “And you assumed I would take you back? Because I won’t, I never will. I heard you talking to Hermione, you called me a monster and I can never unhear that.”

“It wasn’t exactly easy for me to deal with Neville-” Susan began to say.

“It wasn’t easy for you?” Neville said, beginning to lose his temper, “How do you think it was for me? I had to go through it all without you. I had to wake up with the knowledge I’d hurt one of the people that I care the most about, and you weren’t there to help me through it! You abandoned me because of what I became, and I have not changed a damn bit because of it so you’re excuses are pathetic Susan!”

Susan took a step back, and swallowed. 

“But you’re still scared of me,” Neville said with a humourless laugh, “That’s typical, really typical! Do you know what? Becoming a werewolf sucked, and it hurts so bloody much but the best thing about it was that it showed me who my true friends are. It showed me the people who cared enough to stay, who believed that I was still the same person regardless of my blood status! And you were not one of those people Susan!”

“Neville-”

“Get out,” Neville said firmly, “Just get the hell out.”

She didn’t argue, because she knew she had already lost. In fact she had lost a long time ago, and she had hurt him too many times to ever be forgiven now. She nodded and grabbed the door handle, yanking it open. She hurried through the house and darted across the drawing room without a word to anyone inside.

Harry glanced at Draco and the blonde bit his lip, “Do you think we should go and talk to Neville?”

Draco raised a finger to his lip and pointed at his head.

Hermione frowned, “What?”

Draco shut his eyes and nodded a couple of times, “Okay,” he said finally before opening them again. He was greeted by the eyes of his three very confused friends and the knowing smile of Tonks.

“Well this whole pack bond thing goes pretty far,” Draco admitted, “It’s not just a sense of loyalty, it really is a bond. Sometimes we see each other’s dreams or nightmares, that normally only happens by accident when one of us loses control. But we can talk to each other in our heads, if we concentrate hard enough. Neville and I have been practicing, the furthest it has ever worked for has been between the fourth floor and the cellar.”

“What was he just saying to you?” Hermione asked in amazement.

“That he was fine, just pissed off and he didn’t want us to come and bother him,” Draco said with an amused smile.

“Well that’s handy,” Harry said, “And really cool.”

Lilly rolled her eyes, “Are you feeling left out because you’re not a werewolf?”

Harry looked down at the comic book he was reading, “I want to be bitten by a mutated spider...”

“Alright spidey,” Lilly said in amusement, patting him on the head sympathetically.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Hey Ginny, I have something for you before you head off back to your healing duties,” Tonks said, handing the redhead a comic book.

Ginny frowned, “What’s this?”

“It’s a comic book, a muggle thing. It’s like a story, but with pictures, these ones are all about superheroes,” Tonks explained, “With the war going on I thought it might give you all a boost.”

Ginny flicked the comic open and laughed, “It’s like a picture book for kids. How do you know about muggle things Tonks?”

“My Dad was the world’s biggest comic book fan,” Tonks said with a sad smile, “I was always close to him, and I found these comic books stashed in our attic.”

“What’s was his name?” Ginny asked curiously.

“Edward, but everyone called him Ted,” Tonks said quietly.

“Edward,” Ginny mused, “Good name for a little boy isn’t it? Edward Lupin...it sounds pretty good.”

“It does,” Tonks agreed thoughtfully.

Ginny smiled slightly, she could see the cogs whirring in the older woman’s head, “Who is Black Widow by the way?”

“Natasha Romanoff,” Tonks said with a genuine smile, “A bad-ass female assassin. She’s tough as nails, and she scares the shit out of guys.”

Ginny smirked, “I think I might like this character,” she said in amusement.

“I thought you might,” Tonks said, putting the kettle on to boil, “Are you staying for a cuppa or are you heading right back off?”

“Well Susan is upstairs with Neville,” Ginny said somewhat irritably, “So my work here is done.”

“Susan is not upstairs with Neville,” Tonks said, eyeing Ginny knowingly as the redhead pulled her medical bag onto her shoulder, “She stormed through the house looking pissed as hell not too long ago. So I can only assume Neville told her to bugger off, and good on him too.”

Ginny nodded her agreement, “All she’s ever done is hurt him, and he doesn’t deserve that.”

“He doesn’t,” Tonks agreed, smirking very slightly, “He deserves someone better, don’t you think?”

Ginny gave the woman a pointed look, “You’re doing the Mum thing.”

“The Mum thing?” Tonks laughed.

“That thing Mums do,” Ginny said in amusement, “When they look at their kids like they know exactly what they’re thinking.”

“I do know exactly what you are thinking,” Tonks combatted, “I’ve known you since you were a kid Ginny.”

“A kid?” Ginny scoffed, “I was 14 when I met you!”

“You hadn’t turned 17 so you were a kid, you’re still a kid. Sometimes I think you forget that this lot are all a year older than you,” Tonks said with a fond smile.

Ginny snorted, “Yeah because they really act like it don’t they? I’m more mature than Susan for sure.”

Tonks smirked again, “You are more mature than Susan, funny that you chose to use her as an example,” she said as Neville stepped into the kitchen glowering. 

“Oh Gin, you’re still here,” Neville said, his face brightening considerably at this fact. 

“I’m just about to head off,” Ginny said, “I’ve got patients to see back at Hogwarts.”

“Stay for a cup of tea at least,” Neville said, sitting down at the kitchen bar, “I was enjoying being in the company of someone who isn’t a judgemental bitch.”

Ginny smiled slightly and caved, “Alright one cup of tea, but make it lukewarm so that I have time to drink it.”

“Deal,” Neville said cheerfully, missing the knowing smirk Tonks sent Ginny’s way. 

“I have a present for you Neville,” The former Hufflepuff said, “I brought everyone a comic book. I thought they might help cheer you up.”

Neville took the book after pouring Ginny’s tea, he glanced at the cover of it, “Comic book?”

“Muggle thing apparently,” Ginny said, dropping way too many sugar cubes into her tea, “They look like they’re for kids.”

“Adults can enjoy them too,” Tonks said matter of factly.

“Who is Hawkeye?” Neville asked curiously, “An archer?”

“A very awesome superhero who always gets shoved on the back burner,” Tonks said, “People always forget he’s there until he swoops in and saves everyone’s arses.”

Ginny smiled slightly, “Sounds like someone I know,” she said, catching Neville’s eye.

Neville scoffed, “Awesome superhero? I’m a mediocre werewolf at best.”

“You’re very good at being a werewolf actually,” Remus said as he stepped into the kitchen through the back door, “You’re calm and controlled, for the most part anyway. I’m sure you and Draco will chase each other’s tails on the next moon. I on the other hand will be content to curl up on a sofa and sleep.”

“Well you are getting old now love,” Tonks teased.

Remus just smiled in amusement, “I didn’t realise you were stopping by today Ginny.”

“Oh I was just sorting out Neville’s bite,” Ginny said with a wave of her hand, “And dropping in with Hermione’s last couple of potions. She’ll just need bedrest now so make sure she gets it.”

“Between us we’ll manage to keep her there,” Tonks chuckled, “But the poor girl is going mad with cabin fever. It’s bad enough being stuck in this house for days at a time, being stuck in a bedroom must be boring.”

“Well she does have Draco to entertain her,” Neville said in amusement.

Ginny snorted, “She definitely shouldn’t be doing that sort of thing, and if they are you shouldn’t be eavesdropping.”

“I can’t actually help it you know,” Neville said, “These bloody ears pick up on everything nearby at the moment.”

“You gradually learn to tune in and out Neville,” Remus chuckled, “But it takes time. You should have given him the Superman comic Dora, he would have related.”

Tonks made a face, “Superman is a DC comic Remus. I gave them all quality Marvel comics.”

“I’m sensing some muggle rivalry that I don’t understand,” Ginny chuckled as she finished her tea, “And I have first years to sort out so I’ll see you in a few days Nev, don’t do anything to pull that bite open again.”

“Yes ma’am,” Neville said, briefly hugging her.

“Oh Ginny, give these to Ron and Daphne will you?” Tonks asked, handing the girl the final two comic books, “There are notes inside for them too.”

“Of course,” Ginny said, “See you all later,” she added, sweeping from the kitchen in a rush.

Tonks smirked at the junior werewolf as Ginny’s footsteps echoed up the stairs, “Well somebody is smitten as a kitten.”

Remus snorted at the phrase, and Neville’s cheeks flushed slightly, “What? No, Ginny and I are just friends.”

“Of course you are sweetheart,” Tonks said, sounding entirely unconvinced as she patted him on the back and waddled from the room.

“She’s getting more motherly every day,” Neville said, looking down to hide his blush.

“She is,” Remus agreed through his laughter, “But she’s not wrong, is she?”

“I’ve got to go out and fix that sofa in the outhouse,” Neville mumbled, heading for the door in a hurry that made Remus laugh all the more.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Where is my brother and the better half of this rebellion?” Ginny asked Hannah matter of factly after she had done her rounds that afternoon.

“Your brother is trying to ration the food out at the back of the mess,” Hannah replied, “And the last time I saw Daphne she was trying to get Astoria to take a sleeping draught.”

Ginny sighed, “The nightmares again?”

Hannah nodded, “She’s a fragile kid, she lost her brother and then...what she saw in the dark tower, it scarred her.”

“She saw kids being tortured, I don’t blame her,” Ginny said darkly, “I’ve got something I need to give them, are you alright here for a minute or two?”

“I’m fine, and it’s about time you took a break anyway,” Hannah said, “You’ve been working flat out since you got back from Bones Manor.”

“I won’t be long,” Ginny promised, taking off her white apron and replacing it with a cardigan as she set off to find Ron and Daphne.

In the end she did find them together, they were mumbling together at the back of the hall, most likely about rations. They stopped when Ginny reached them. She held out a comic to each of them, “These are presents from Tonks, there are notes inside. She gave us all one, apparently she was trying to boost our moral.”

“What are they?” Daphne asked curiously.

“Muggle comic books,” Ginny replied, “I think they were designed for kids, but they’re pretty good. She assigned us all a superhero who she thought we could relate to.”

Daphne laughed, “Emma Frost? I didn’t think she knew me that well,” she said as she read the note written on the inside cover in Tonks’s messy writing;

“Emma Frost, or the White Queen as she’s sometimes known, began as a supervillain. She grew as a person and realised her mistakes, so she became a superhero. She has a dry-wit and a dark sense of humour, but underneath her icy façade she’s a normal person looking for someone to love. Sound like anyone?”

Daphne chuckled and shook her head, “That’s sweet of her, I might read some of this to Tori. It might help her drift off at night.”

Ron frowned at the cover of his book, “Hulk? A big green thing?”

Ginny snorted, “What does the note from Tonks say?”

Ron unfolded the note and scanned it, he laughed and read aloud, “The Hulk, or to go by his real name Bruce Banner, is a lovely guy. He’s sweet and quiet, and caring, but when he gets angry you definitely don’t want to be in his way. I thought you might find that interesting...”

“She knows us well,” Daphne said in amusement, “What comic did she give you Gin?”

“Black Widow,” Ginny smirked, “A female assassin.”

“Sounds about right,” Ron said, “Those bat-bogey hexes of yours are lethal Gin.”

Ginny just grinned proudly, “Well I do try,” she said cheerfully.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“When do you think Charlie will be back?”

“I don’t know if Charlie’s coming back,” Harry muttered in response to Neville’s question. “It’s been over a month now...”

Neville glanced over at the calendar which had no further information than a large full moon that had been circled several times in red ink, “It took Charlie and Bill a couple of weeks to get Gregorovitch and this is a tougher job,” he reasoned.

“I should never have asked him to do it,” Harry said, shaking his head angrily, they were still cleaning up the outhouse at Remus’s insistence. It was their punishment for getting drunk and wrecking it which Lilly and Hermione had been horrified to hear.

“He wouldn’t have done it if he didn’t want to, Harry,” Neville reminded his friend.

“I still shouldn’t have asked him to do it,” Harry said, “He’ll never manage to get in there, and if he does he won’t come out alive...that was bad enough, but asking Bill to break into Gringotts too...”

“You’ve got to stop blaming yourself for everything, Draco said you gave him a lecture for that after what happened at Malfoy Manor,” Neville said with a shake of his head as he flicked the calendar over to February which had begun that day.

“Don’t tell me to take my own advice,” Harry said with a roll of his eyes.

“That was exactly what I was going to tell you to do,” Neville said, “Where is Draco anyway?”

“With Hermione at Hogwarts,” Harry said, “She’s getting her final check-up, he thought he’d go with her and catch up with Daphne.”

“She seems back to normal,” Neville said, “Nagging at us all, Draco in particular, and helping Remus with that map of Gringotts and all.”

“She’s fine,” Harry said, “But you know Gin, she worries, she wanted to do a final check.”

“Yeah, can’t do any harm,” Neville agreed, propping the brush up for a moment and saying, “Can I pick your brains about something?”

“Go for it,” Harry said, pausing in his task of mopping the floor to look at his friend.

“You remember a couple of weeks ago we were having that chat about magic and feeling the buzz of it in intense relationships?” Neville asked.

Harry nodded, “Yeah.”

“Is it just when you’re in an...intimate...situation? Or have you ever had it just out of the blue?” Neville asked, his cheeks a little pink.

Harry raised an eyebrow at his friend, “Mostly intimate situations or emotionally charged ones. Sometimes if Lilly looks at me a certain way I get it, and I can always feel it between Draco and Hermione. Who is this girl Nev?”

“No one,” Neville muttered, picking the brush up again.

“I’m your best friend, you can tell me,” Harry said with a laugh, “I mean how bad can it be?”

“It’s not bad, it’s just confusing,” Neville said with a frown.

Realisation shone in Harry’s eyes, “Oh! That’s okay Nev, nobody is going to judge you or anything. Who’s the guy?”

Neville’s eyes nearly popped out of his head, “What? I’m not gay, Harry! She’s a girl.”

Harry’s cheeks flushed, “Right, sorry. I just thought...”

Neville shook his head in amusement, “It’s confusing because Draco and Hermione hated each other, or at least pretended to when all they were really doing was hiding behind all that sexual tension.”

Harry snorted in agreement and Neville continued, “And you and Lilly had a pretty much instant attraction when you met. It wasn’t like you were really good friends for years and then suddenly you started to feel really different about each other.”

“So it’s someone you’ve been friends with for years?” Harry said, his face screwing up a little as he concentrated, “Bloody hell Neville!” he remarked when he worked out what the other boy was talking about, “You and Gin?”

Neville didn’t say anything, but the blush on his cheeks made it clear to Harry that he was right. He grabbed the brush from Neville’s hands so his fellow Gryffindor couldn’t ignore him anymore, “You have a thing for Ginny Weasley,” he said triumphantly.

“What’s so unbelievable about that?” Neville asked defensively.

“Nothing,” Harry said honestly, “I think you two are good for each other actually...when did you and Ginny kiss?”

Neville rolled his eyes, “You’re such a gossip.”

“I’m just curious,” Harry admitted, “Because either you’ve been holding this in a while or it was while we were all on the run.”

“Grimmauld Place,” Neville said sheepishly, “One night in the kitchen...”

“And you just decided to forget about it?” Harry asked, “A kiss that made magic crackle and you never talked about it?”

“Yep.”

“Why?” Harry asked.

“Merlin, you’re nosy,” Neville muttered, “I wish I’d told Draco instead, he’d just have insulted my taste in women.”

“Well yeah he still isn’t exactly the biggest fan of the Weasley’s,” Harry said with an amused smirk, “So go on, tell me.”

“I had just had a nightmare and I was upset and I was crying, it was pretty pathetic actually,” Neville said with a shake of his head, “I kissed her, she said I was being silly and I apologised, that was it. This ‘thing’ I have for her, it’s not a mutual thing okay?”

“Alright,” Harry said, raising his hands in defeat as he sensed Neville getting annoyed, “But you won’t know if it’s a mutual thing unless you actually say something,” he added, unable to keep his mouth shut and keep out of other people’s business.

His punishment for that was a dead rat, flying at his head.

TBC :)


	54. The Elder Wand

A few days into February news arrived in the form of Charlie Weasley. He showed up unannounced, banged on the front door and shouted the code word. That in itself was an indication of something being wrong. Remus yanked the door open and let him in immediately. The second he had shut the door on the redhead he knew that something very bad had happened. 

Charlie was panting, and sweating profusely. After stumbling into the house he gasped, “Get Bill,” and promptly passed out on the floor.

“Harry!” Remus shouted, “Contact Bill now, I think Charlie’s been cursed!”

The next 10 minutes were chaotic as anyone in the vicinity helped get Charlie to the spare room on the ground floor. They were at a loss as to what to do and healers weren’t going to be of any use in this situation, that was for sure. 

The minutes dragged by until Bill eventually arrived and began to bang loudly and repetitively on the front door until Tonks opened it. 

Harry had always seen Bill as this calm, put together guy but he was a mess as he darted through the house and dropped to his knees next to his brother’s bedside. In the last 10 minutes while they had been waiting for Bill, Charlie had begun to convulse and mutter, and he was sweating more than he had been before. They relayed this to Bill, but without Charlie conscious they had no idea of how he had been cursed which meant it was even harder to work out what counter-curse to use.

The others hung back as Bill did diagnostic charms and muttered counter-curse after counter-curse. At least half an hour had passed in tense silence before the eldest Weasley shouted in frustration and shoved himself to his feet. He looked desperate, and angry, “Nothing is working and if my diagnostic charms are right his heart is going to give up in about 10 minutes! He’s going to die and I can’t do anything to save him, my own little brother!”

“Bill!” Tonks said, stepping forward, her hand resting on her bump, “Calm down. You won’t be able to help him if you’re in a panic. Let’s think about this, Remus?”

Remus took a step into the room, “Yes?”

“You’re the history buff here, what was Grindelwald’s signature? Every dark wizard has one, You-Know-Who likes to play with his victims before he kills them. What did Grindelwald do, what was his party trick?” Tonks asked, quickly but calmly.

Bill had turned away from the conversation and was watching Charlie anxiously. 

Remus wracked his brains for an answer to her question. He remembered everything that he could about Grindelwald from the many history books he had read, and then a thought came to him, “Simplicity. He rarely used the killing curse, he thought it was too showy. He used to levitate people off cliffs and watch them fall...”

“So what kind of curse would he have placed on that prison?” Tonks asked, prodding her husband for an answer.

“Something that would have had a simple counter-curse,” Remus said with a slight frown, “What’s the simplest way to end a curse, Bill?”

Bill frowned too, “Well Finite Incantatem, but-”

“Just try it,” Tonks assured the Weasley.

Bill pointed his wand at his brother’s chest and said, “Finite Incantatem!”

He, and everyone else huddled in doorway, were stunned when Charlie choked out a breath and snapped open his eyes. Bill actually had to sit down on the edge of the bed, his disbelief was that strong.

“It was that simple!” He exclaimed.

“That was why Grindelwald was so dangerous,” Remus admitted, “He wasn’t a master of particularly dark magic, he was just very intelligent and incredibly sneaky.”

“A Slytherin through and through, if he had gone to Hogwarts,” Draco said quietly.

“Precisely,” Remus replied.

“How you feeling Char?” Bill asked, running another diagnostic charm and blowing out a relieved breath when everything came up normal.

“Like I was stupid enough to touch a cursed door handle,” Charlie mumbled, “Shoulda listened to my big brother more I guess.”

“Yeah, you should have,” Bill said with a shake of his head, “Don’t ever do that to me again, you were about 10 minutes away from meeting your maker.”

Charlie groaned and pushed himself up a little, “What and the great curse breaker couldn’t save me?” he asked sarcastically.

“I couldn’t,” Bill admitted, an odd tone to his voice, “That’s why I was so scared, nothing was working.”

“Because Grindelwald was always a nasty piece of work Char,” Tonks said, “The counter curse was finite incantatem but Bill would never have thought to use something so simple.”

“Remus saved your life, not me,” Bill agreed, sending a grateful glance back at the werewolf.

Remus only nodded, and Charlie smiled weakly, “Well thanks Remus, but I have bad news.”

“You didn’t get anything from Grindelwald?” Harry guessed.

“No, I got a whole bunch of memories from Grindelwald, but he’s dead,” Charlie said.

“You killed him?” Hermione asked, sharp disbelief in her voice.

“He didn’t give me much choice,” Charlie coughed, “Jeez, that curse has done a number on me.”

“Yeah,” Bill said, pushing Charlie into the bed as he tried to get up, “Stay here until one of the healers from Hogwarts nips through.”

“The kids that are running around after our baby brother?” Charlie snorted, “I’ll take my chances-”

Harry cut in, “Have you forgotten that a kid is leading the side of the light? And that you just broke into Nurmengard for that kid?”

Bill smirked, “Kid has a point Charlie.”

Charlie rolled his eyes, “Fine, I’ll wait for your kid healer to check on me but I’ve had worse than this before.”

“Why did you kill him Charlie?” Harry asked, not letting the subject slide that easily.

“He asked me to,” Charlie sighed, “In fact he practically begged me to. Once I actually got into Nurmengard, there wasn’t much security. I mean Grindelwald was an old man, you know? I told him why I was there, and that I needed to know who had the Elder Wand now. When I told him about You-Know-Who he started crying and he seemed to actually repent a little. He kept going on about Albus, and how ashamed he would be, and when I told him Dumbledore was dead he gave me this phial of memories and said it would explain everything.”

“So why did he ask you to kill him?” Harry asked irritably, “Because he actually repented and felt bad for the things he’d done? You helped end a dark lord’s life?”

“No, I didn’t do it for him as much as he did ask for it,” Charlie said irritably, “I did it because he was right. The only way to stop You-Know-Who finding out who got the wand after Grindelwald was by killing Grindelwald. He knew that, so he asked me to kill him.”

“And you obliged,” Harry said angrily, aware that Bill was staying remarkably quiet on the entire matter, as were Remus and Tonks.

“Harry, it is what it is,” Remus said calmly, “The important thing is that you have what you need.”

“It’s in my jacket pocket,” Charlie said, gesturing towards the door where he sweat soaked jacket hung. 

Harry retrieved the phial from the jacket and looked to Remus for permission. The older man nodded and said, “Yes, you can use the pensieve in my bedroom.”

“Draco, do you want to come along for the ride?” Harry asked the blonde boy.

He seemed surprised to be asked, “Wouldn’t you rather take Hermione or Neville?”

“I think you might be more helpful,” Harry said cryptically, “Besides Hermione, Neville or Lilly, one of you has to go and get a healer and also Ron and Ginny. They’ll want to see Charlie.”

Harry left before the others could begin to argue, and Draco didn’t waste any time in slipping out of the room after him. 

Neville was standing closest to the door anyway so he said, “I’ll head over to Hogwarts and break the news.”

“Good idea,” Tonks said with a knowing look, “Ginny probably won’t be so upset if it comes from you.”

“You are her best friend after all,” Hermione said harmlessly as she slipped away, it was late and she wasn’t supposed to be out of bed too regularly at the moment. Her comment had been a coincidence though because she had no idea about Neville’s affections for the Weasley, unlike Tonks.

“Dora, stop meddling,” Remus murmured after Neville had left the room and Lilly had decided to accompany him to Hogwarts. 

“My Dora meddling,” Charlie said sleepily, “Doesn’t sound at all like her.”

“I have not been your Dora for many years darling,” Tonks said with a slight smile, “It might have escaped your notice but I’m having another man’s baby.”

Charlie waved his hand nonchalantly, “You are the first and last girl I ever loved, you’re always gonna be my Dora.”

“Well if you hadn’t gone and decided you preferred blokes after a good 4 year relationship you wouldn’t have that problem,” Tonks said affectionately, “I do hope you know that your little sister has Neville Longbottom head over heels by the way.”

“Our little sister has too many blokes head over heels,” Bill remarked, “That’s the trouble, she’s too attractive for her own good.”

“At least Neville’s the good kind of bloke though,” Charlie reasoned, “Good honest lad.”

“You do know he’s a werewolf, right?” Bill asked his slightly delusional younger brother.

“What?” Charlie asked in surprise, opening one eye, “When did that happen?”

“When you were breaking into Nurmengard,” Remus said with a sigh, “He was bitten rescuing the others from Malfoy Manor. His girlfriend broke up with him, and Ginny has been his personal healer.”

“Well werewolf or not, he’s one of the more decent guys to crush on her,” Bill reasoned, “She generally has terrible taste in men.”

Charlie nodded his agreement, “I’m more qualified, and I agree with that.”

“Qualified?” Tonks snorted, “Because you’ve slept with a few guys?”

“A lot of guys,” Charlie mumbled.

“We don’t need to know the ins and outs of your sex life Char,” Bill said in amusement, “And Ron definitely won’t when he gets here.”

“Does he even know?” Remus asked with a chuckle.

“Nope,” Bill said, “A select few people do, myself included. But it was hard for me not to know since I lived with Char for months when I lost my job in Egypt.”

“You knew anyway,” Charlie scoffed, “You worked it out years ago, so did Fred and Georgie.”

“Yeah and Ginny clocked it pretty quickly too,” Bill said, “I reckon Dad knows, and I think Mum suspects but pretends the whole thing isn’t real.”

“Somebody has to give that woman grandkids soon to get her off my back,” Charlie grumbled, opening an eye and focusing it on Bill, “Looking at you Billy, you’re the newly wed.”

“We are in the middle of a war, Char,” Bill said, smirking at Remus and Tonks, “Some of us are bearing that in mind at the moment.”

Tonks snorted, “Yes well as lovely as this is, being pregnant and the only sane person in this bloody safe house, it was not planned.”

“Shock horror,” Charlie said with a lopsided grin.

Their conversation was cut short, or at the very least changed tack when Ron and Ginny walked into the very over-crowded bedroom. Ginny had been crying, and Ron looked quite pale.

“Charlie!” Ginny exclaimed, hugging her brother and wrinkling her nose at the smell, “You stink.”

“I did just get cursed Gin,” Charlie yawned.

“Why were you at Nurmengard in the first place?” Ron asked.

“Harry didn’t make me do anything,” Charlie said, “He asked for a favour, and I helped. I’m alive, what’s the problem?”

“The problem is you scared us,” Ginny said quietly.

“I know,” Charlie said, Ginny still managed to melt his heart. She had always been able to do that to him and Bill, they blamed the age gap, “Come here and give me a hug, I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too,” Ginny said, hugging him again, and not complaining about the smell this time.

“What am I, invisible?” Bill joked, “I mean I’m only your oldest-”

“Most overprotective brother,” Ginny finished with a grin, but she launched herself at him anyway, “And I’ve missed you too.”

“I’ve been way too busy leading a rebellion to miss either of you,” Ron smirked, leaning against the doorframe.

“Yes well done Ronald, you’ve finally found something you’re the best at,” Charlie said with an amused look, “Has it gotten you a girlfriend yet?”

Ron’s ears turned red, and Bill grinned, “That’s a yes then.”

“They’re not dating,” Ginny said with a roll of her eyes, “Even though everyone with eyes can see that they want each other.”

“Well there is a war on,” Ron reminded the others, “And in Hogwarts I’m one of about 30 people trying to protect every other student in the school. Surprisingly enough I don’t have time for romance.”

“How noble of you,” Charlie grinned, “Quit being proud and give me a hug, I know you’ve missed me.”

Ron rolled his eyes but hugged his brother anyway, he wasn’t at all surprised when Charlie conjured up a fake spider on his back, but for the first time ever he didn’t screech or jump in fright, he just brushed it off.

“Well,” Bill laughed, “Would you look at that Char? Our baby brother is all grown up!”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“So why me?”

“Because of what you said when we first found out about Grindelwald’s connection to Gregorovitch,” Harry replied, shutting the door to the bedroom.

Draco frowned, “I’m not following you.”

“About Grindelwald and Dumbledore having a thing,” Harry said, “If it’s true then you’re the best person to help figure this out.”

Draco’s frown deepened, “You do know I’m not gay, right?”

“I know,” Harry said with a roll of his eyes, “You are dating my best friend after all. But you do have a lot of friends who are...” he trailed.

“Let’s go with unsure of their sexuality,” Draco said in amusement, “You’re right, I do. But I fail to see how that is going to help.”

“I just reckon you’ll be the only person that will be able to understand that relationship,” Harry said, pouring the memories into the pensieve, “The way Charlie was talking about Grindelwald’s reaction to Dumbledore’s death...I dunno, I’m thinking maybe you’re right.”

“Alright then,” Draco said, “Let’s do this.”

Harry looked a little nervous, but he nodded and they plunged themselves into the pensieve.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Hey you’re back!”

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell us about Charlie breaking into Nurmengard,” Ron muttered.

“I know, I’m sorry,” Harry said sheepishly, “But I didn’t want to worry you.”

They were all gathered in the kitchen, with the exception of Bill who was still sitting by his brother’s side. 

“As good as your intentions were, you have to be honest with us in the future Harry,” Ginny said, yawning and nursing a cup of coffee.

“I know, which is why I’ll tell you the truth now...Bill and I are currently planning a break in...to Gringotts,” Harry said quickly, “There’s a horcrux in the Lestrange’s vault there, and with Bills help I think we can kill it without anyone getting hurt.”

“Bill signed up for it,” Ron sighed, “So it’s on his head.”

“You’re not blaming me?” Harry asked in surprise.

Ron shook his head, “No, you’re just the leader. What people chose to do when they follow you is a different story.”

Harry nodded, glad that Ron was finally beginning to understand. He glanced at Ginny, she looked upset but she wasn’t angry and that made him feel a little relieved. 

“Did you glean anything from those memories?” Remus asked calmly, “And do you want a cup of coffee?”

“Yes,” Harry and Draco answered simultaneously.

Remus chuckled and began to pour out two more cups as the boys pulled up seats. 

Harry sipped his coffee gratefully, and Draco, rather crudely said, “Well Dumbledore was definitely gay. Him and Grindelwald were properly...you know, in a relationship of every variety.”

“You saw memories of that?” Neville asked with a raised eyebrow.

Harry nodded and made a face, “And I never wanted to see Dumbledore like that. I’m not homophobic but he’s Dumbledore, I never wanted to see him naked!”

Remus had to hide a small smile of amusement, and he saw Tonks doing something similar. 

“I meant about the Elder Wand,” Remus said, smiling slightly, “Not about Dumbledore’s sexuality.”

“I can’t believe he had a thing with Grindelwald,” Hermione said, shaking her head, “And then he defeated him all of those years later. I mean that would be like-”

“Don’t even continue with that comparison,” Harry said, and Hermione nodded. She shut her mouth, it probably was best if she didn’t finish that thought.

“It wasn’t just a thing anyway,” Draco said, “They actually seemed to really love each other.”

“But it was kind of Grindelwald’s fault that Ariana died,” Harry said, “You know Dumbledore’s little sister? He and Dumbledore were having a fight and a spell ricocheted, they never worked out which one of them killed her.”

“That’s horrible,” Lilly said sadly.

Harry nodded miserably, “So Grindelwald left, and Dumbledore didn’t see him again until he had to duel him all those years later.”

“No wonder he never killed him,” Ginny said, “Imagine having to kill the person you love. I certainly couldn’t do it...even if he did become an evil lord.”

“I highly doubt anyone worthy of your love could become an evil lord Gin,” Harry said with a slight smile, aware of Neville tensing up behind him.

Ginny smiled at him, “I know, I was just proving a point.”

“As far as the Elder Wand goes though,” Draco said, “We were right.”

“Grindelwald did still have it when he and Dumbledore duelled,” Harry said with a nod, “Which meant that he was the last person to have it.”

“But did he still have it when he died?” Lilly asked, “I mean there were about 50 years between that duel and Dumbledore’s death, right”

“Yes, but he was always a very powerful wizard, up until his death,” Remus said slowly, “I don’t think it could have been taken from him without him dying in the process.”

Harry’s frown deepened, “Which means that Snape is now the master of the wand...”

“No!” Hermione said sharply, she looked at Harry with wide disbelieving eyes. He instantly understood her meaning and acted on a whim. He pulled his own wand from his pocket and before anyone knew what he was doing he pointed it at Draco and said, “Expelliarmus!”

Draco’s wand flew from his pocket to Harry’s hand, and the Slytherin jumped, “Merlin’s balls Potter! What was that for?”

“Snape was never the master of the wand because he killed Dumbledore but he didn’t disarm him,” Harry said, “You did.”

Draco frowned, and then when he realised what had just happened he glared at Harry, “You’re seriously telling me I was the master of the most powerful wand in the world and you just took stole that from me?”

“Don’t be a baby Draco, you can’t be trusted with power like that,” Hermione said calmly, “I don’t think I need to remind you of the history of dark magic in your family.”

Draco knew she was right but he crossed his arms irritably anyway.

“So you are now the master of the elder wand, but you don’t have the wand?” Remus asked Harry with a raised eyebrow.

“Where would it be if Snape didn’t take it?” Ginny asked.

“It must have been buried with Dumbledore,” Ron said, “It’s probably still in his tomb...which means Daphne and I could-”

“- No,” Harry said before he could finish, “It stays where it is for the moment. You-Know-Who has no idea that we know where it is, and that we have worked out who the master is. He probably thinks Snape is the master, that’s probably why he’s getting all of this preferential treatment, head of Hogwarts and all of that.”

“Alright,” Ron nodded, “But when you need it, we’ll get it.”

“And I appreciate that,” Harry said honestly, “But I think what everyone needs right now is sleep, it’s the middle of the night.”

There were nods and hums of agreement, and gradually everyone trickled out of the room as they headed back to bed. In the end only Harry and Ron were left, and Harry was grateful because he really wanted a quick chat with Ron about the fact he had been a terrible best friend lately.

“Do you have time for a quick one before you go back?” Harry asked sheepishly, “I want to apologise.”

“Sure,” Ron said with a tired smile, “What’s up?”

“I’m just sorry for being a terrible friend,” Harry said honestly, “We’ve barely spoken since the war started, and you’ve changed quite a bit. I feel like I’ve not even been taking notice of you.”

“You do have bigger things to worry about,” Ron pointed out with a smile, “Don’t worry about it. To be honest, I’m kind of enjoying it, not the war...the leadership.”

“What do you mean?” Harry asked curiously.

“You’re my best mate, and don’t get me wrong I have missed you,” Ron said, “But I’ve kind of been stuck in your shadow my whole life. This year I’ve been the one in charge, and I’m pretty good at it.”

“You’re great at it,” Harry said with a smile, “Daphne sings your praises and even Ginny only has great things to say about you.”

“And that’s definitely rare,” Ron said in amusement.

“Are you and Daphne...?” Harry trailed off, but he knew that Ron got the gist of what he was asking.

“Nah,” Ron said, “Everyone seems to think we are, but no.”

“Why not? If you don’t mind me asking,” Harry said, feeling a little odd talking to this new, more mature version of his best friend.

“It really is because of the fact we’re in the middle of a war,” Ron said, “And I know that you guys are all in relationships. But it’s different at Hogwarts, we’re living in this self-enclosed area and when people think there isn’t a sense of authority things get chaotic. We’ve already had to set up an isolated area to prevent fights and...well someone got pregnant because they think rules don’t exist.”

“Jeez,” Harry muttered, “Who?”

Ron shook his head, “One of the 6th years. But the point is, Daphne and I are all that’s holding it together. Sure, we have Susan and Ginny, but they basically run the hospital wing with Hannah. Daphne and I run the entire operation, and as much as I want...well I know that she’s fantastic, but we shouldn’t be together because if we get distracted it’s not just a small amount of people who suffer. We’re responsible for the welfare of every kid in that school, Harry.”

Harry nodded, a dark look passing through his eyes, “I can’t even imagine how hard it is,” he said honestly, “I guess I just don’t want you to miss out on something if anything...bad happens.”

“By holding out it’s just giving Daphne and I even more motivation to survive the war to find out if there could be anything between us,” Ron said honestly, “And to be honest, I think she’s amazing but I don’t want to do anything for the wrong reasons right now. I want us to want to be together for the right reasons, not just because we’ve been stuck in a room together for the best part of a year keeping each other alive. I want to make sure it really is...”

“You can say the word love you know,” Harry joked.

Ron smiled slightly, “I do though, I want to make sure it’s real.”

“I understand that,” Harry said, “And it’s definitely a pretty mature sentiment.”

Ron shrugged and said, “We’ve all changed though, haven’t we?”

“Yeah,” Harry said, thinking to the events of Malfoy Manor, “We have...look Ron, I haven’t been entirely honest with you. I’m-”

“I know,” Ron said, his eyes meeting Harry’s, “Lilly sort of explained that you knew you weren’t going to survive the war.”

“Did she tell you why?” Harry asked quietly.

Ron shook his head, “No, but I’m pretty sure I’ve worked it out. You’re a horcrux, aren’t you?”

Harry nodded glumly, “Does Daphne know?”

“Yeah,” Ron sighed, “I told her.”

“Well everyone knows then...apart from Susan and Ginny,” Harry said, unable to meet Ron’s eyes, “I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you.”

“I know why you didn’t,” Ron said, gripping Harry’s shoulder firmly, “But I’m with Lilly here. You’ve survived a whole lot of things you weren’t supposed to.”

“I wish this was one of those things,” Harry said in a whisper.

“You don’t know that it won’t be,” Ron said, but Harry could see the doubt in his eyes. He nodded all the same, wondering if the conversation had reached the end of its lifespan.

“Just promise me one thing Harry,” Ron said, his voice lower than normal. 

Harry looked up and was surprised to see his eyes looking a little watery, “What is it?” he asked.

“Promise me you won’t just slip away when the time comes,” Ron said weakly, “You’ll say goodbye to us, won’t you? Because we need that closure, without it...we’ll fall apart, all of us.”

“I’ll say goodbye,” Harry promised.

He was surprised even further when Ron grabbed him and pulled him in for a bear hug.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Well my little brother has grown up, hasn’t he?”

Harry yawned and glanced up from his comic book. He had said goodnight to Lilly, but hadn’t been able to sleep himself so he had decided to sit in the comfortable chair in the drawing room that Hermione normally stole.

“Yeah,” Harry said, “I barely recognised him at first, but he’s still the same just...more serious.”

“Aren’t we all?” Bill sighed, sitting down heavily in an armchair, “I’m going to head back to Fleur now, she’ll be feeling neglected.”

“She’ll understand,” Harry said, “Charlie’s your brother, although I never realised how close you two were.”

“Well there was just us for a while, till Perce came along,” Bill said thoughtfully, “And since there’s only two years between us we were always close growing up. I used to dare Charlie to do the most ridiculous things and he always did because I was his big brother...” he trailed off thoughtfully, “And I’ve stuck up for him in a good few bar fights because of his sexual preference.”

“I can’t believe I never knew about that,” Harry said, “I feel guilty for not knowing...but I’d only met Charlie a few times compared to how often I saw the rest of you.”

“He hid away in Romania because he could keep it hidden better there,” Bill sighed, “But he’s going to come back after the war, face the truth so to speak. But yes, Charlie and I are close, Percy was off on his own whims most of the time and the twins were chaos. Then Ron and Gin were our kid brother and sister because of the age gap so it was Charlie and me against the world.”

Harry smiled slightly, “That’s nice though, I always wished I had a sibling...”

“You’ll kind of have a little brother soon,” Bill said with a smile, “When Dora pops.”

“I never really thought of it like that,” Harry admitted, “Although speaking of Percy, whose side is he on?”

“Merlin knows,” Bill scoffed, “He’s still working for the Ministry. But he’ll see his senses soon and come crawling back, war tends to make you extra fond of those you care about. You know, in a lot of ways Ron is very similar to Percy.”

Harry frowned, “I’ve never seen any likeness,” he admitted.

“Percy threw himself into his studies because he wanted to be the best at something,” Bill confided in Harry, “I was a good all-rounder and Charlie was this amazing Quidditch player. He could have played for England if it hadn’t been for the awkward question of his sexuality. In that high profile a job it would have come up, and he never wanted to take the risk. He always said he preferred dragons because they didn’t judge him.”

“It sucks that he had to think like that,” Harry said sadly, “But I suppose I see what you mean about Percy and Ron. Ron always hated being the youngest brother, he never thought he’d find something he could beat you all at.”

“He’s leading a rebellion inside Hogwarts,” Bill said with a proud smile, “He’s trumped all of us in my eyes for sure and I reckon Mum’s too.”

“How is she?” Harry asked, “I haven’t spoken to her or your Dad since the wedding.”

“They’re coping,” Bill said honestly, “They’re just worried about all of us, naturally I suppose.”

Harry yawned again, “Yeah, I’m worried about everyone too...I just want it to be over.”

“Hopefully it will be soon,” Bill said, pushing himself to his feet, “When do you reckon we’ll be able to put our Gringotts plan into action?”

“I dunno,” Harry said honestly, “Remus and Hermione reckon that the map will be ready around mid-March but that’s if everything goes to plan”

“Alright, well keep me in the loop anyway,” Bill said as he made for the door, “And make sure Charlie doesn’t try and leave tomorrow if he’s in no state to. Gin said he was mostly alright, just suffering the after effects of the curse. Normally that’s a couple of days of flu-like symptoms but Charlie has a pretty good immune system.”

“We’ll keep an eye on him,” Harry promised, “Get back to your wife before she sends out a search party.”

Bill laughed and said, “Night Harry.”

“Night Bill,” Harry said sleepily, watching the redhead leave the room and descend the stairs. He let his eyes drift shut, as sleep finally claimed him.

TBC :)


	55. We See Heart to Heart

"Do you think there’s any chance he’ll survive this Remus?”

Remus had been wondering the same thing as he watched Harry practice at the makeshift firing range he had created in the garden. Draco and Neville were with him, blowing off some steam before the full moon that night.

“I don’t want to hope for something and then be proven wrong,” Remus said quietly, “And I don’t want you to do that either Dora. I understand that Lilly’s only way of coping with Harry’s fate is believing she can change it, but can we really change a prophecy? I think that Harry has to die at some point, and if we avoid it this time, it will only happen in a different way, perhaps the next day.”

“You’re so certain the future is mapped out for us?” Tonks asked, absentmindedly looking out of the window at the dry, but cold February day.

“I think our paths in life are defined,” Remus said, his eyes on the boy outside, “And I don’t think we can cheat death when our time comes.”

“But he’s so young,” Tonks said sadly, “It shouldn’t be his time.”

Remus sighed, “I know...”

“You do have a theory Remus,” Tonks said, surveying her husband, “I can see it in your eyes.”

“It’s not a theory, it’s a wish,” Remus said, “And I’m trying not to hold onto it.”

“What is it?” Tonks asked.

Remus didn’t look at her as he replied, “When Lily died, she sacrificed herself so that Harry could live. Dumbledore spoke to me about how her love had created this protection around Harry, that was why he wouldn’t allow me to take Harry in when he was a baby. He had to stay with people who had the blood of his Mother for the protection to last.”

“Like blood wards,” Tonks said slowly.

“But a deeper magic than that,” Remus said softly, “A bond that survives even death...part of me wonders if that protection will help Harry survive. If it will enable the horcrux to die, but him to live.”

Tonks was silent for a moment as she considered his theory, “Blood magic itself is understudied Remus, it’s deemed medieval and crude. Love and sacrifice and its part in blood magic is even more of a mystery.”

“Are you saying you think I’m right or that I’m being naïve?” Remus asked.

Tonks smiled very slightly when he turned to look at her, “I’m saying I don’t know, but I do think having something to believe in is important.”

Remus couldn’t return her smile, but he gave her a small nod and returned his gaze to the boy in the garden, he had not believed in a god or a higher power since before he had been bitten but he prayed every night that somehow, if there was anyone up there, they would allow his Godson to live.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The sky outside had darkened, and the moon had just appeared from behind the clouds. Hermione was sitting in the bay window in her bedroom, her feet pulled up tightly and blankets surrounding her. It was a chilly night, and this old Manor got draughty especially when you were sitting in front of an old window.

She was watching the outhouse, wondering when the transformation would begin if it hadn’t already, wondering if Draco was in a lot of pain. She jumped when a knock sounded on her door, but she assumed it was just Harry who had taken to checking on her when Draco was gone on the full moon.

“Come in,” Hermione called softly, not wanting to disturb Tonks in the bedroom downstairs. She was exhausted at the moment, and Hermione did not know how she found the strength in her to look after all of them during a war whilst heavily pregnant.

The door opened, and Hermione was surprised when Ginny slipped in and shut it quietly behind her. She glanced over to the window where Hermione was reading by wand light, the rest of the room was encased in darkness.

“Ginny,” Hermione said with a smile, “I didn’t know you were here.”

“I was just checking that none of Neville’s bad cuts or bites were going to tear when he transformed,” Ginny said honestly, “But I thought I might as well stay the night in case anyone needs my help tomorrow.”

Hermione nodded, “That does make perfect sense,” she said, “There are blankets in that cupboard if you want to keep me company.”

Ginny smiled at the invitation and pulled out a large fluffy blanket. Hermione levitated a few pillows from the bed over to the bay window so her friend could prop herself up at the other side. Ginny pulled her knees up and got comfortable, looking out of the window just as the moon fully exposed itself.

Hermione scrunched her face up as she heard a scream, it was definitely Draco’s. Ginny didn’t jump or look alarmed as three howls sounded from the old outhouse and shadows danced across its windows. 

“Does it hurt them a lot, do you think?” Ginny asked, her gaze still focused on the moon.

“Draco said it feels like every cell in his body changes,” Hermione said, “And he can fell all of it.”

Ginny frowned, “I can’t imagine how hard it must be for them.”

“I think they can come to terms with the physical manifestation of it,” Hermione said honestly, “The fact they can all be together and lock themselves up in there makes them feel safe...it makes them feel like they can’t hurt anybody.”

“But it does change so much,” Ginny said, “Not of them because they are the same. It changes things for them.”

Hermione nodded, she looked over at the younger girl. She seemed to have matured just as much as Ron this year, but Ginny had always been mature for her age anyway. Hermione often forgot that she was a year younger.

“It shouldn’t,” Hermione said.

“A lot of things shouldn’t happen,” Ginny said quietly, “My brother shouldn’t have been forced to live in Romania to hide from the world. He should be allowed to love who he loves openly.”

Hermione opened her mouth, but Ginny shook her head and said, “I know that you know. You knew the moment you met Charlie, you’re very perceptive Hermione.”

Hermione smiled slightly, “It’s a curse as much as it is a gift. But you are right, Charlie should be able to live his life however he wants without discrimination. Just like muggle-borns should be allowed to live equally with half-bloods and pure-bloods. There shouldn’t be the horrific bullying that there is at Hogwarts and there certainly shouldn’t be discrimination in the Wizengamot. Even before this entire You-Know-Who business there was only one muggle-born and a handful of half-bloods deciding what laws all witches and wizards live their lives by.”

Ginny nodded her agreement, “I should have known better to get into a debate on ethics with you Hermione, but you are right. I don’t agree with everything you say, I think house elves wouldn’t be house elves if they were freed. But they should get some sort of a break, some sort of recognition. It’s difficult to find a balance, you don’t want to take their purpose away from them...”

“That’s what Ron was trying to say,” Hermione realised, “Albeit in a terrible way.”

Ginny laughed, “Well he was never the best at expressing himself, but that has changed now...a lot has changed and I think when this is all over even more will.”

“What do you mean?” Hermione asked.

“We’re going to win this war,” Ginny said confidently, “And when we do the good people of wizarding Britain are going to realise that it was down to a handful of brave people, and that amongst those people were muggle-borns, house elves and werewolves. When that happens a lot of the prejudices are going to go out of the window.”

“I don’t think it will be that easy,” Hermione admitted, “People have been holding these prejudices for years Ginny. One war isn’t going to sweep them under the carpet.”

“No, but it is going to provide a catalyst for change,” Ginny said, “Maybe Draco is content to complain about his limited job opportunities, but Neville is different. He’ll fight for what he wants and I’ll do everything I can to help that. He’s going to be an amazing teacher one day, werewolf or not.”

Hermione smiled at her friend, “You two are really close, aren’t you?” she asked, the realisation that something might be going on between them dawning on her.

“He’s been my best friend for years,” Ginny admitted, “I’ve always been closer to the people in your year than my own, with the exception of Luna. You, Harry and Ron were off doing your own thing in your 5th and 6th year, and as much as Neville is a part of it now he was left out then. Me, Neville and Luna, we had our own little trio, Luna jokingly called it the silver one.”

Hermione laughed, “I’m sorry that I never knew that. We never meant to exclude you it was just...well until Draco and I started to...”

“You can’t call it seeing each other,” Ginny grinned, “You fought a lot and then kissed in broom cupboards.”

Hermione’s cheeks flushed, but she laughed because she knew the redhead was red, “Until we got involved in 6th year then, let’s say,” she compromised, “Ron, Harry and I were just so insular. We never really let anyone else in and when we did we realised how much easier this war would be to win if we went with that tried and tested theory of safety in numbers.”

“It has worked out for you so far,” Ginny said, “I know you were poisoned, and a couple of new werewolves have been born out of it. But we’re all still here, aren’t we?”

“For the moment,” Hermione agreed, “But I think we all know that it’s far from over. When Bill gets the cup, unless he can do it expertly, news is going to spread about a break-in to Gringotts. After that You-Know-Who will get suspicious and he’ll check on the remainder of the horcruxes.”

“What if he gets afraid and runs away?” Ginny asked, “Like he did last time?”

“Then we follow him and we kill him and his snake,” Hermione said darkly, “But I don’t think it’s going to be like last time and Harry doesn’t either. That’s why we’re leaving the Elder Wand where it is.”

Ginny’s eyes snapped up at that, “To lure him to Hogwarts?”

“It’s the easiest way,” Hermione said, “When You-Know-Who realises his snake is his only horcrux he will go for the wand.”

“Not if he doesn’t know where it is,” Ginny pointed out, “And even if he did know where it was, why would you want to bring him and all of his Death Eaters to a school filled with kids?”

“Because it won’t be filled with kids,” Hermione said matter of factly, “I was always going to tell you about this, I was just going to wait and tell Ron and Daphne at the same time. Harry will feel his anger, and when that happens we come through the mirror and you start evacuating the school. That way the only people left will be those who want to fight. You take everyone to Bones Manor.”

“That’s your plan?” Ginny asked, and it was hard to decipher what she was thinking.

“That’s the plan,” Hermione said, “And he’s getting close to figuring out who has the Elder Wand.”

“How do you know?” Ginny asked.

“Because Bill checked in with us yesterday with bad news,” Hermione replied, “Gregorovitch was killed in the safe house the order were keeping him in, along with Hestia Jones and Daedalus Diggle.”

Ginny’s eyes darkened at that news, “So he knows that Grindelwald had it?”

“If he knows what Grindelwald looked like back then, yes,” Hermione said, “Which I suspect he does. It’s only a matter of time until he gets into Nurmengard and finds Grindelwald dead...when that happens he’ll know somebody else is looking for the wand.”

“And he’ll put the pieces together and work out that Dumbledore must have had it next,” Ginny said, following Hermione’s train of thought with ease, “But he’ll think Snape is the master because he didn’t see Draco disarm Dumbledore.”

“He’ll think he’s the master once he’s disarmed Snape,” Hermione agreed, “But of course Harry is.”

“So you’re just going to let him get it?” Ginny asked, “Even if he’s not the master he could unleash hell with it.”

“No, he couldn’t, not without the wands allegiance,” Hermione said, “Harry spoke to Ollivander about wandlore when we rescued him from Malfoy Manor. We know what we’re doing and if he’s not the master the Elder Wand will be just like any other wand for him. It won’t make him anymore powerful, trust me.”

“I do,” Ginny said honestly, looking out of the window once more as a loud bang sounded from the outhouse, “I just don’t want to lose anyone that I care about.”

“No, I don’t either,” Hermione said, wondering how the conversation had strayed from Ginny’s friendship with Neville to Voldemort’s lust for the Elder Wand, “Neville’s one of those people, isn’t he?”

“I told you, we’ve been friends for years,” Ginny said evasively.

Hermione chuckled, “Ginny, you’re like my sister. I’ve known you since you were 10, it’s more than that isn’t it?”

The redhead didn’t blush, she just smiled slightly and watched the moon disappear behind the clouds, “Yes, I like him, can we leave it there?”

Hermione grinned and shifted slightly in the window, “No, we can’t leave it there! When did this happen?”

Ginny rolled her eyes and shot her friend an exasperated look, “I thought you hated gossip.”

“I hate it when Lavender and Parvati gossip about who has the nicest shoes and who has the best bum,” Hermione said with an exasperated wave of her hand.

Ginny snorted, “I heard you and Lilly arguing about which one of your boyfriends had the nicest bum literally two days ago.”

Hermione’s cheeks flushed slightly, “That was different...”

“So different,” Ginny smirked.

“Come on, when did you start to feel this way about Neville?” Hermione prodded, “I’m not letting you change the subject that easily.”

“I don’t know,” Ginny said honestly, “So I can’t answer your question. I’ve always thought he was sweet, I mean he asked me to the Yule Ball in 3rd year so I that could go... and so that I wouldn’t miss out on anything, and we’ve been friends ever since.”

“Yes, but when did the friendship/romance line get crossed?” Hermione asked.

“Merlin Hermione, you’re nosy,” Ginny said with a shake of her head, but she was smiling slightly too, “I really don’t know...I was proud of him in the DA and then at the Ministry and we got closer last year...but I think it must have been sometime early in the war...”

“When we were all staying at Grimmauld Place,” Hermione said.

“He had nightmares, and I didn’t sleep well so we spent a lot of nights sitting up in the kitchen talking,” Ginny admitted, “And then one night...well, he kissed me and it wasn’t like any other kiss, I could actually feel the magic and that has never happened to me.”

Hermione leant forward eagerly, feeling like such a gossip, but it was nice to feel so normal again, even it was just for one night, “You felt the magic?”

“I didn’t realise this was a girly sleepover,” Ginny snorted, “What next prayer circles and conjuring fairies with toad stools?”

Hermione rolled her eyes, “Oh shut up, what do you mean you felt the magic?”

“I mean it crackled,” Ginny said, “It was like...I don’t know, it’s hard to explain but it was like when we kissed our magic sort of collided and the fusion made it crackle. Does that make sense?”

“It makes perfect sense,” Hermione said honestly, “Because exactly the same thing happened when Draco and I first kissed, although I had no idea what it was until I read up on soul magic for the horcruxes and came across a particularly interesting section on magic interference. The whole theory was that you feel your soulmate through their magic...that your magic will connect when you find them I suppose is a better way of saying it.”

“You believe in all that stuff? Soulmates and fate?” Ginny asked sceptically.

“I believe that something pulls us together,” Hermione said, “I mean who would have thought Draco and I would ever get together?”

“Maybe no one else did, but I always saw it,” Ginny laughed, “From the moment I came to Hogwarts. It was like you didn’t know whether to jump each other’s bones or kill each other.”

Hermione laughed and said, “Well you were one of the only people who saw it for what it was. But the point I’m making is that when you feel the physical manifestation of your magic like that with someone...well it’s a sign you shouldn’t let it slide. Did you ever talk about the kiss?”

“No, Neville was upset about his parents,” Ginny said with a wave of her hand, “I didn’t want him to do something he would regret because he was upset. I think he was embarrassed so we never talked about it, and even though we’ve gotten closer again in this past month with Neville’s condition, it still hasn’t come up in conversation.”

“Maybe you should bring it up,” Hermione suggested.

“I might, when the time is right,” Ginny said, “No, don’t say the time is right now. Just because there’s a war going on doesn’t mean I’m going to jump the poor guy alright? He’s still Neville, even if he is a pretty bad-ass werewolf these days, I don’t want to give him a heart attack.”

Hermione grinned at her friend, “The guy who stared down Bellatrix Lestrange and Lucius Malfoy, and managed to survive becoming a werewolf, yet he’d still be a flustered wreck if you told him you liked him.”

Ginny chuckled despite the fact that Hermione was teasing her, “That’s what I like about him the most, he hasn’t changed at all despite everything he’s been through. Neville wouldn’t be Neville if he didn’t get flustered, and I do find it quite endearing.”

“I certainly don’t have that problem,” Hermione laughed, “Draco is always so sure of himself, sometimes it’s like nothing will ever phase him as far as our relationship goes anyway. It’s a different story concerning his personal life, but I can’t complain, I did fall in love with a cocky, arrogant, suave aristocratic arse after all.”

“And you wouldn’t change him for the world,” Ginny said knowingly.

“No, I wouldn’t,” Hermione agreed, looking back to the window thoughtfully. Her little midnight chat with Ginny had shed light on a lot of things, and although she didn’t know it yet, it had done the same for the younger girl.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Woah, you’re up early.”

Harry rolled his eyes as he dragged himself into the kitchen, “Tonks couldn’t sleep because the baby was trying to kick its way out again.”

“How does that affect you being awake at 6am?” Ginny asked Harry with a raised eyebrow.

“Because he’s such a lovely guy, he gave her a massage so she could get back to sleep,” Lilly smirked, stepping into the room behind him.

Harry glared at Ginny, “Don’t say anything, why are you here anyway?”

“Wow, how rude was that Hermione?” Ginny asked the girl next to her.

“Very rude,” Hermione said with a disapproving shake of her head.

Lilly chuckled and poured herself a cup of coffee, “Did you just stay over with the assumption you’d have werewolves to heal this morning?”

“That, and I wanted to keep Hermione company since she doesn’t get much sleep on the full moon,” Ginny said honestly, “I figured I’d give your boyfriend a break.”

“Which I appreciated by the way, so thanks Gin,” Harry said with a sleepy smile.

Ginny smiled back, “No problem.”

“Did you have a fun sleepover then?” Lilly asked in amusement, “I almost wish I had joined the fun. I heard you giggling at one point from across the hall.”

“We were just catching up,” Ginny said, “We used to be really close.”

“We still are,” Hermione assured her friend, “There’s just this awkward big war in the way you know?”

“Tell me about it,” Harry joked.

“Bummer, right?” Lilly chipped in.

The four of them were all chuckling as the backdoor opened and the werewolves dragged themselves in. As usual they were in varying states of hurt and undressed. 

“Uh what happened to your clothes?” Hermione asked Draco with a raised eyebrow. He was wearing an old pair of jeans but nothing on his top half.

“I couldn’t find the spare clothes I left out there,” Draco yawned, “I think I must have destroyed them by accident last night.”

Neville and Remus looked better clothed, and all three of them were clearly exhausted. 

“Who attacked who this time then?” Ginny asked, getting to her feet and assessing the state of Neville and Draco.

“I attacked him,” Draco muttered.

“Why?” Hermione asked irritably.

“He called me a ferret!” Draco exclaimed, “And I keep forgetting that when I hit him he hits back harder.”

Neville grimaced, “I’m sorry.”

“It looks like you gave as good as you got this time, Draco,” Ginny said, “You’re a right mess Nev.”

“Serves me right I suppose,” Neville said.

“Get on the sofa so I can sort you, Hermione you can deal with your boyfriend,” Ginny said.

Hermione nodded and gestured for him to come over. He obliged and sat down next to her, Remus watched the whole thing in amusement because he was entirely unscathed yet again. He shook his head and joked, “These young werewolves, always scraping for a fight.”

Neville shot Draco a guilty look, and Draco shook his head, “I’m fine,” he said, trying not to wince as Hermione rubbed the powdered silver and dittany cream onto a particularly nasty cut on his cheek. 

They all made small talk after that, and Tonks emerged for breakfast looking as exhausted as the others felt. She sat and talked to Remus in an undertone, and Hermione continued to dab at Draco’s wounds. Ginny, being a healer, had finished up with Neville already and was contemplating heading back to Hogwarts when the boy in question began to complain.

She was leaning against the bar, looking out at the rainy morning and Neville was sitting on a barstool watching the others intently. 

“I feel so alone.”

Ginny’s head snapped up, “What did you just say?”

“I’m a lone wolf,” Neville joked weakly, “I know I have my friends and Remus and Tonks, but I don’t have someone like everyone else does. Look at them all, after the moon they have people to look after them, people to get them through every moon...I don’t have that.”

Ginny was staring at Neville in disbelief. Maybe it had been her talk with Hermione the night before, or maybe it was the fact she had barely gotten any sleep. But for some reason that comment irritated her a lot more than it would have done on an average day, and holding in her temper had never been her strong point. 

“Am I actually invisible?” Ginny snapped, pushing herself away from the bar and stalking around it to face Neville, “I have been here for you since you got bitten! I have been healing your wounds, checking up on you, keeping you company! I’ve done everything for you that Hermione did for Draco and that Tonks does for Remus! How can you be so blind not to see it? You bloody idiot!”

Neville stared at her in surprise, “Yeah but Gin it’s different, we’re just friends.”

“Just friends?” Ginny asked angrily, “We have never been just friends Neville! You kissed me in that kitchen at Grimmauld Place and we never talked about it! But you know what? I’ve thought about it a lot, and I’ve thought about you a lot! I thought maybe you just needed time to come to terms with things, I was trying to give you space to get used to all of the changes in your life. But I can’t not talk about it anymore, because it meant something to me and it sure as hell meant something to you too!”

The entire kitchen had fallen silent as everyone watched the exchange, either with open mouths or amused smiles. 

Neville opened his mouth, and then shut it without saying a word. He had paled a little, and he looked entirely stunned, “Huh?” he managed to get out.

Ginny actually growled in frustration and stepped (or rather marched) forward. She pushed herself onto her tiptoes and kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck. His brain was in overdrive at the fact that this was happening, but he kissed her back in what turned out to be a very short, but very passionate kiss. 

When Ginny broke it she grabbed her bag and flung it roughly over her shoulder, “I’m going back to Hogwarts, when you work out what I am to you, we’ll talk about this.”

Before Neville had a chance to say anything, not that he could anyway because he was overwhelmed, Ginny spun on her heel and stalked from the kitchen, her fiery mane of hair flowing behind her as she disappeared out of view.

“What?”

“Eloquent Neville,” Draco said, amusement shining in his eyes.

Neville frowned and continued to stare at the spot where Ginny had disappeared from, “Did that just happen?”

“Yes that just happened,” Draco said, pushing himself to his feet and standing behind Neville. He gripped the taller boy’s shoulders and marched him towards the door, much to the amusement of everyone else who knew exactly what Draco was doing. 

“Uh Draco, what are you doing?” Neville asked in the hallway.

“I’m marching you up to the drawing room so you can go through the mirror to Hogwarts and tell Ginny that you feel the same,” Draco said matter of factly.

Neville shrugged his friends hands off of his shoulders and walked in step with him up the stairs, “I’m not dreaming then? That seriously happened.”

“Yes, your lifelong crush on Weaslette is becoming a reality, congratulations,” Draco said in his dry sarcastic way.

“Shut up ferret,” Neville said offhandedly, but a grin was beginning to form on his face as he came to terms with the fact that Ginny had just confessed that she had feelings for him.

“Fuck you fatbottom,” Draco countered, and both boys snorted with laughter at the childish nicknames.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When Neville stepped out of the secret room into the main mess hall he saw no sign of Ginny. He did however come face to face with Ron, which probably wasn’t the most ideal thing at that current moment.

“Neville!” Ron said eagerly, “What are you doing here?”

“Uh, looking for Ginny,” Neville said honestly.

“She’s doing her rounds in the hospital wing,” Ron said, “But she’s in a really bad mood. What did you do to her?” he joked.

“Nothing, that’s the problem,” Neville admitted sheepishly, “She admitted she liked me and I just stood there and gaped like an idiot.”

Ron roared with laughter at the image that created. He patted Neville on the back and said, “Good luck recovering from that one.”

“But you’re alright with it?” Neville asked tentatively.

“I’m fine with it,” Ron said, “She’s dated a lot of arseholes, it’s about time she had a decent boyfriend.”

Neville laughed weakly, “Right well, thanks Ron,” he said, heading towards the hospital wing and entering cautiously. He spotted Ginny right away, wearing her white apron and smiling at a 1st year she was tending to. Neville waited in the doorway as she finished up her rounds, she never looked around or noticed that he was there until she headed back in his direction to hang her apron up.

“Made your mind up then?” Ginny asked, a little irritably, hanging her apron up and looking at him.

Neville smiled at her, he didn’t know how to answer the question. When it came to relationships words were never his strong point. So he took a step towards her, cupped her face with his hands and kissed her. She instinctively pushed herself onto her tiptoes a little to kiss him back, and he smiled slightly into the kiss. It was unlike the angry, rather passionate kiss of earlier. It was slower, softer and far more...well far more Neville. The first kiss had been a perfect representation of Ginny’s personality, hot, and fiery. But this was Neville, slow, careful, and precise. It was all the better for it, and Ginny completely forgot that they were standing not only in the hospital wing which was full of patients, but in the door of the hospital wing, giving anyone in the main mess a view of the show.

When Neville broke the kiss and a cheer erupted Ginny’s cheeks flushed and Neville smirked at the fact that she was the flustered one now. 

“Yes, I made my mind up,” Neville said softly.

“I guessed,” Ginny said, her lips quirking into a small smile.

Neville just smiled at her, “You have to get back to work, don’t you?”

Ginny nodded reluctantly, “There’s a raid tonight...and you should really get to bed. You’ve been up all night attacking your best friend after all.”

Neville laughed in that barking sort of way, and it made Ginny’s smile widen.

“Alright,” Neville said, “But come by Bones Manor tomorrow? To check up on your patient.”

His smirk made her raise an eyebrow at him, “I’m pretty sure my patient is going to be fine. But I’ll stop by anyway, better safe than sorry after all. Right?”

“Definitely,” Neville said with a genuine smile, “So I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“See you tomorrow,” Ginny said, smiling after him as he walked back into the main mess. She turned around and tried to hide her stupid grin, but Hannah saw it and grinned at her from across the ward, she mouthed ‘smitten’ and Ginny didn’t even bother correcting her. She cleared her throat and walked into the main mess to help plan that evening’s raid with her brother, hoping she wouldn’t get too much of a ribbing for snogging the life out of Neville Longbottom in front of everyone.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Hey Ginny, I wonder who you could be here to see,” Hermione grinned when the redhead stepped through the mirror after lunch the following day.

“I happen to have patients who need checking up on,” Ginny said matter of factly, “How is Draco?”

“Fine, he’s healed himself,” Hermione said, “And Neville is fine too, but you know that. I mean considering the fact you don’t even have your medical bag without you.”

“Damn,” Ginny cursed, “You are too perceptive for your own good.”

“I warned you,” Hermione smirked, “He’s out back at the firing range with the boys, come on.”

The bushy haired girl got to her feet, and she and Ginny walked downstairs together. They took a shortcut through the kitchens and stepped out into the back garden. It was still cold, because it was February in Scotland, but it wasn’t raining today at least. Ginny drew her cloak tighter around herself as she and Hermione walked across the grass, frost crunching beneath their feet. When they reached the firing range they found Lilly, sitting under a warming charm at the old patio area where a few comfortable benches had survived the winter storms.

“Hey Ginny,” Lilly said with a knowing grin, “Here to see Nev?”

“Am I really that predictable?” Ginny asked, sitting down under the warming charm and glancing over at the boys. They had three targets set up at varying distances and were competing to see who could obliterate theirs from the furthest distance.

“Yes,” Lilly laughed, “And don’t worry, they’ll be finished soon. They’ve been at it all morning.”

“Keeps them in practice, I suppose,” Ginny said.

“And more to the point it keeps them sane,” Hermione added.

“Fire in the hole!” Harry shouted for the girls sake, and Neville grinned when he saw that Ginny had joined them.

“What does that mean?” Ginny frowned.

“Cover your ears,” Hermione said, quickly shoving her fingers in her own ears.

Ginny just managed to get her fingers in her ears before the explosion sounded from the firing range. The smoke cleared and Neville shouted, “Beat that ferret!” his target had been reduced to ashes.

“Oh just you wait fatbottom!” Draco said, standing at the designated point and doing a couple of mock runs. When he was ready Harry shouted, “Fire in the hole!” once more and the girls covered their ears. The bang that followed wasn’t quite as loud, but it did set his target alight.

“Pathetic!” Neville joked.

“He did destroy it!” Harry called as the burning target fell to the ground, “But I’m going to trump both of your measly attempts!”

“Do your worst then scarhead!” Draco called.

Hermione laughed at the old nicknames and said, “You might want to use a muting charm, or your ears will be ringing for a while.”

“Why? What’s he going to do?” Ginny asked as Harry sized up the target as if it were a real opponent. 

“Something very loud and flashy probably,” Lilly said with a roll of her eyes, “He is a Potter.”

Ginny took their advice and performed a muting charm which made all noise seem fuzzy and incoherent. She shoved her fingers in her ears too for good measure, and she was glad that she had. Harry pointed his wand at the target, and without any warning it blew up with the loudest bang yet. He didn’t use a spell, the target just blew apart as if it had a bomb inside of it. The pieces were so small that all that was left was ash.

“How the fuck did you do that?” Draco asked in disbelief.

“What spell was that?” Neville asked in awe.

“It wasn’t,” Harry grinned, “I’ve learned to control that uncontrollable magic that makes me level forests. Pretty cool right?”

“It’s not that impressive, scarhead,” Draco scoffed.

“You’re impressed really ferret,” Harry retorted.

“Can you two just leave off for a bit?” Neville asked, surveying his friends in amusement.

“Bugger off fatbottom,” Draco remarked.

Hermione shook her head in exasperated amusement, “I feel like we’re back in school.”

“Tell me about it,” Lilly laughed, “How is everyone up at the school Ginny?”

“Fine,” Ginny said honestly, “Most of the 6th and 7th year Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs are helping with the rebellion now. We do have some Slytherins, but most of them are too afraid to help us...you should see Pansy Parkinson, Hermione. She’s getting her comeuppance for bullying you for all of those years, she’s not got the stomach for what her precious Death Eaters are doing this year.”

Hermione shook her head, “Pansy Parkinson...” she scoffed, launching into an impeccable impression of the girl, “Oh would you look at my darling Drakey in cohorts with those sorts. Of all the people, it had to be scarhead and fatbottom, those horrific Gryffindors!”

The boys had been walking towards the small seated area before Hermione’s impression had started, but they just happened to arrive within hearing distance at the perfect time. Lilly and Ginny were practically crying with laughter and Harry and Neville roared with laughter at the accuracy of the impression.

“Darling Drakey?” Draco asked in disgust, looking mildly offended.

“Tell me it wasn’t accurate,” Hermione grinned.

“It was too accurate,” Draco said distastefully, “I’m going to have bloody nightmares now.”

“While you lot talk about Pansy Parkinson, I’m going to grab Neville,” Ginny said, getting to her feet and hooking her arm through his, “We have things we need to talk about.”

“Have fun talking Neville!” Draco called as Ginny dragged Neville back towards the house.

“Bugger off Malfoy!” Neville called back.

TBC :)


	56. Have a Little Patience

"So, how long have you felt this way for?”

Ginny raised an eyebrow at Neville. They were sitting in the window seat of his bedroom, as they were on the other side of the house the view was of the mountains in the distance rather than the back garden and the outhouse. 

“So formal,” She smirked.

Neville looked a little sheepish, “I didn’t know how else to broach the subject.”

“A while,” Ginny said with a smile, “You?”

“A while,” Neville echoed, “I suppose with hindsight it started in my 5th year...but I’ve only really realised it recently with the war.”

“Me too,” Ginny said softly, “I have a confession...”

Neville looked up at her as she bit down on her lip, “Alright?”

“It was part of the reason I went back to Hogwarts,” Ginny said quickly, “After Harry got bitten by the snake and you and Susan...well I had thought there was something between us but after that I convinced myself I was being delusional. I just didn’t know how to be around you all the time and not say anything, so I left and I’m glad that I did. They need me there.”

Neville still looked guilty, “I’m sorry. I thought there was something there too, but after we kissed and you sort of brushed me off, I thought I was being stupid and I was lonely because Draco had Hermione, and Harry had Lilly,” he rambled, “Susan was there, and it just sort of...happened.”

“I didn’t mention the kiss because I thought you were embarrassed about the breakdown,” Ginny admitted, “And I brushed you off because I didn’t want you to do anything you were going to regret just because you were upset.”

“We’ve just been dancing in circles around each other, haven’t we?” Neville asked with a slight smile.

“Yeah,” Ginny laughed, “For years really. I liked you, but you would make a comment about how great a friend I was, so I’d go out with another loser.”

“You did have a habit of picking the worst guys,” Neville said in amusement, “I mean Michael Corner is an idiot, and as much as I like Dean he’s arrogant. You’ve just moved on from idiots to dangerous guys now.”

Ginny laughed heartily at the comment, which Neville had intended to be serious, “You’re not dangerous Neville. Being a werewolf doesn’t automatically make you dangerous, as far as I’m concerned you haven’t changed a damn bit from the way you were before you were bitten. You just get a bit furry and angry once a month.”

Neville smiled slightly and watched her with awe, “You’re something else Ginny, you know that?”

She glanced down, blushing slightly and it made Neville smile all the wider. When she looked up her eyes were sparkling and she asked, “What do we do now?”

“What do you want to do?” Neville asked, “Do you want to say that we’ve acknowledged something and wait until the war is over?”

“We don’t know how long that will be,” Ginny reasoned, “And I don’t want to risk waiting and then losing you, so no.”

“So we’re together?” Neville asked tentatively.

“If you want us to be,” Ginny said, watching him with interest.

He leant across the window and kissed her. It was similar to the kiss from earlier, it was gentle like Neville, “I want us to be,” he mumbled against her lips.

“Good,” Ginny mumbled back, “Because I want us to be too.”

“Can we stop talking now?” Neville asked, his eyes sparkling as he kissed her once more. 

Ginny just hummed in agreement and returned his kiss, she knew that nothing was normal. But at that moment, right there with Neville, things felt a little more normal than they had for a long time and she was intending to savour that feeling for as long as possible.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Ginny stayed for dinner that night, and was planning to head back to Hogwarts soon after. But it was her day off, Daphne had stepped in to cover healing duties to give her a break. They tried to take a full day off once a week each, but lately it had become more like once every two weeks and Daphne and Ron never got a break.

She felt guilty for not being there, which was why she had always intended to go back and work that evening anyway. But she was having a good time sitting up talking to the others in the drawing room, and she and Neville sat on the window seat in his room, talking into the small hours of the morning. 

As a result, Ginny was exhausted when she stepped through the mirror at 6.30am after a meagre breakfast of cereal and extra strong coffee. She slipped into the main mess which was fairly quiet at this time of the morning and made her way into the hospital wing. Susan was on the early with her this morning because Hannah would be working the late on her own that evening. Ginny grimaced and braced herself for the older girls insults as she put her apron on and walked over to her, ready to get her marching orders for the day.

“I wondered if you were going to show up today,” Susan said irritably, “All of the 1st and 2nd years need seeing to.”

“Anything else?” Ginny asked calmly.

“Yes,” Susan said, glaring at her, “It’s obvious that you have been at my house sleeping with my ex-boyfriend so in the future don’t slip in here like a skank.”

Before Ginny had a chance to stick up for herself Susan had turned on her heel and stalked to the other side of the room. She was seriously tempted to curse her but she didn’t because she didn’t believe in attacking someone from behind, and because she knew fine well that she was a role model to the young children in this room. Instead she closed her eyes, counted to 10, plastered on a smile and got on with her work.

The comments only got worse throughout the day. Every time Susan slipped past her she had to say something and then she was gone before Ginny could combat her with a response or at least tell the girl she hadn’t even slept with her bloody ex. She avoided her on her lunch break, and got through the remainder of the afternoon without having to interact with the Hufflepuff. But just as she was hanging up her apron to go and have some dinner, Susan sprung up again.

“Staying here or running back to your boyfriend?”

“I’m staying here, but thanks for asking,” Ginny replied icily, “And if you are trying to wind me up to the point where I curse you, sorry but you aren’t in luck. I’m not going to do that in a room full of kids.”

Before Susan could reply Ginny stalked off, giving the older girl a taste of her own medicine. Frankly she thought the Hufflepuff was being immature and petty, and with everything else going on Ginny couldn’t be bothered with that. She had dinner, spoke to Ron briefly who congratulated her on finding a decent boyfriend for once and then she settled down in the mess with a book. The large room gradually emptied until slightly later that night when it was only filled by 6th and 7th years because the younger students had gone to bed.

This was when Susan decided to make her move. She stood in front of Ginny, blocking her light so that she was forced to look up from her book, “Do you want something?” she asked sarcastically.

“You said you wouldn’t duel me in front of the kids,” Susan said, a challenge in her eyes, “They’re all asleep, so duel me now.”

Ginny’s eyes flashed angrily, “Gladly,” she said, getting to her feet and grabbing her wand from the table.

Susan drew her wand too and they both opened their mouths to send spells flying towards each other. Before any words could leave their mouths or any spells could leave their wands however, a large barrier appeared before them with a bright flash. They were both startled for a moment until Daphne walked into the gap between them and crossed her arms, “No duelling in the ROR, remember?”

“She’s been prodding at me all day,” Ginny said irritably, “I don’t know what she expects.”

“I don’t care,” Daphne said firmly, “Both of you get to that table at the end of the room now. I want a word with you.”

They both lowered their wands and obliged, Susan because Daphne was her best friend, and Ginny because she could acknowledge that Daphne was in charge and it was her rules she had to play by here. They sat down on opposite sides of the table, and Daphne pulled up a stool up to the end.

“What’s going on?”

“Susan is being immature,” Ginny said calmly.

“Immature?” Susan barked, “You stole my boyfriend!”

“You broke up with him, or have you forgotten that?” Ginny asked coolly, “You wanted him back, and he didn’t want you. It’s hardly stealing, is it?”

“Calm down, both of you,” Daphne said firmly, “I don’t know what is going on between you two but we’re working it out because frankly we only have three healers for a hospital wing so busy it really needs at least five. I can’t afford to lose either of you which means you’re going to have to find a way to abide each other, and the three of us will sit here until that’s worked out. Understood?”

They both nodded, albeit grudgingly. Daphne leant forward and said, “So what is the problem exactly? The fact Ginny is dating Neville?”

“The fact she crawled in this morning like some cheap slut doing the walk of shame,” Susan said bitterly.

“Susan, don’t use language like that,” Daphne said sharply, “And Ginny, what’s your side of this?”

“I decided to stay over at Bones Manor last night,” Ginny said honestly, “I had dinner there, and I was enjoying talking to everyone and catching up. By the time Neville and I got some proper time alone together it was late. We sat up talking into the night and then I had a nap and came back here this morning. The reason I look tired isn’t because I was up all night sleeping with your ex Susan, I was up all night talking to him which is something you never did!”

“I talked to him all of the time,” Susan argued, “And you wouldn’t know the first thing about our relationship anyway!”

“I know you broke up with him because he got bitten,” Ginny said angrily, “And I think I have a right to be with him now. I was his friend long before you two ever got involved and I was the one who healed him, and talked to him, and reassured him that he wasn’t a monster! What did you expect? Did you expect him to just forgive you after you called him a monster?”

“I was struggling to cope with it, with the changes-”

“There are no changes,” Ginny said coolly, “He’s the exact same person he was before, and if you had bothered to stick around you would have known that but you didn’t. You left, and you lost your chance. I’m not going to dance around him to protect your feelings.”

Daphne blew out a breath, “Alright, calm this down a little. Susan, Ginny has a point you did break up with Neville. You can’t expect him to never date again.”

“Well a little more than a month’s turn around would have been nice,” Susan muttered.

“You really have no right to even talk to me about this,” Ginny said angrily, “Not after everything you put him through. You fucked with his head Susan, and he won’t ever forgive you for that. At best you two will be friends after the war but you’ll never get back together so you really need to stop treating me like shit for realising the man you shoved aside is a damn good one!”

Susan’s anger turned to annoyance then, with herself rather than Ginny. She looked down at the table in a bid to hide her tears, “I know! And I’m regretting it massively, alright?”

Ginny didn’t have any sympathy for the girl. She just crossed her arms and stared at her.

“I realise how big a mistake I made, and now I’m realising it’s too late to do anything about it,” Susan said, “Is that what you want to hear? Because that’s the truth.”

“Well there’s nothing you can do about that now,” Daphne reasoned, “You have just got to accept that he’s moved on and stop taking your anger out on Ginny. This isn’t her fault and you know it.”

Susan just nodded.

“Can you two work together?” Daphne asked, “You don’t have to like each other, and when the war is over you can duel till your hearts are content. But for the moment can you work together without creating tension in the wing?”

“I can if she can,” Ginny said, pushing herself to her feet.

“I can too,” Susan said, she sounded defeated.

“Alright, you can head off to bed Ginny, you’ve got another early tomorrow,” Daphne said, her tone far less firm now.

Ginny nodded and disappeared into the girl’s dorm room promptly, leaving Daphne alone with her best friend.

“I really screwed it up,” Susan said quietly.

“Yeah Susie you did,” Daphne said honestly, “You had a really great guy and you let him go. That’s something you’re going to have to come to terms with, but you’ve got to stop blaming other people.”

“I just wish people realised that I’ve gone through as much shit as Harry or Neville,” Susan said angrily, “I’m just as fucked up, even if it’s not obvious right away! My entire family were slaughtered and I only lived because I was in hospital with spattergroit. If I had been at home and my Aunt hadn’t been with me in St. Mungo’s then we’d all have died! Harry and Neville aren’t the only ones who lost something in the war Daphne, I lost everything so yes I am afraid to commit! And yes I am afraid of werewolves because Fenrir Greyback destroyed my family!”

Daphne’s face paled, “Suse, you never told me Greyback was there.”

“I never wanted to talk about the details, not to anyone,” Susan said, angrily wiping her tears, “It was the three Lestrange’s and Greyback. They killed my Mother, my Father, all four of my Grandparents, my two older brothers and my Uncle. They went into that house and 1 hour later they came out, and my family were all dead.”

Daphne swallowed, “Why didn’t you explain to Neville? He would have understood if he knew.”

“And spill my sob story to him?” Susan asked with a shake of her head, “He would never talk about his parents with me, and I never wanted to talk about mine to him. I thought things would work that way, I figured we were happy to forget about the past.”

“But you can’t ever forget that,” Daphne said softly, “And you have to stop trying to. Trust me, I wish I could forget about Sal, but I can’t. I can’t escape his death, it follows me everywhere and sometimes I wonder if the pain will ever go away. But if I stop talking about him then I might forget him and surely that’s worse than feeling pain?”

Susan shook her head and stared down at the wooden table once more, “I’d rather forget than feel this every day. Maybe I look fine, maybe I look put together but I’m not. I’m the last of my entire family, with my Aunt gone there is just me and that’s the worst feeling in the world.”

“It is not just you, you have friends,” Daphne said, “You have good friends and that definitely counts for something Suse. This whole thing with Neville, well I’m a firm believer in what’s meant for you will not pass you by. It wasn’t meant to be, it probably should have stayed over after it ended the first time.”

“I know,” Susan said, wiping her eyes again.

“Do you promise to stop giving Ginny hell?” Daphne asked, “it’s making my job hard, and the poor girl is only 16, as mature as she acts. This entire thing was very petty of you.”

“I know,” Susan muttered, “And I’m sorry alright? It won’t happen again.”

Daphne nodded and reached across the table to hug her, “Just stay strong alright? Boys aren’t the most important thing in the world.”

Susan snorted, “That’s rich coming from you. You’re clearly head over heels, why aren’t you together yet?”

Daphne’s eyes darkened, “Because we can’t be, and you know how I feel on the matter. I wish I could be selfish and do what I wanted but what I want doesn’t count for much right now. What the school needs, what these kids need...that’s all I have room in my head for right now.”

“You might miss your opportunity,” Susan said, “There’s a battle coming Daphne.”

“I told you,” Daphne said, getting to her feet and glancing at the redheaded boy in question, “What is meant for you will not pass you by.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Hey Daph, what brings you to this side of the mirror?” Hermione asked cheerfully.

Daphne smiled slightly, “I wanted to talk to Harry actually.”

“Is everything alright?” Hermione asked, sensing something odd in the Slytherins expression.

“It’s fine,” Daphne said, “I just...well I think he’ll get this...”

“You can talk to me too you know,” Hermione frowned, “I am your friend.”

“I know, it’s not that I don’t want to talk to you honestly,” Daphne said quickly, “Things with Ron are just confusing and with the war I don’t want anyone to get hurt and...well I just think he understands that.”

“He does,” Hermione said, smiling a little, “And I wondered how long it would take for you to crack and ask for advice. The last time I saw him he was down at the firing range out back with Neville and Draco. Just cut through the kitchens and follow the garden path and you’ll find him.”

“Thanks Hermione,” Daphne said, stepping out of the drawing room and following the Gryffindors instructions. At the very back of the garden where it bordered onto the large woodland that was part of the Bones estate, she found them shooting piercing charms at dummies. She paused for a moment and watched as they each shot a charm at their dummies simultaneously. Harry’s went straight through the head, Draco’s through the heart and Neville’s through the balls. Daphne laughed at the difference between the three men and called, “Oi Potter!”

Harry turned around sharply, surprised to hear that voice here. He smiled when he saw the blonde girl and waved her over. She had to put up with a hug from Draco before she could actually get any words out though. 

“What brings you to Bones Manor?” Harry asked conversationally when Draco had realised her.

“I wanted to have a chat with you actually, if you have the time,” Daphne admitted.

“Sure,” Harry said, “Come on into the outhouse, it’s kind of a boys zone because its where everyone transforms but it’s quiet enough and I’ll using muffliato so don’t even try to listen in,” he added, looking at Draco and Neville.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Draco said, the picture of innocence, he was lying through his teeth of course.

He shook his head at his friends and led Daphne into the outhouse, shutting the door and putting up a silencing charm as well as using muffliato. Daphne took a seat on the slightly wrecked couch and Harry dropped down onto the moth-eaten armchair across from her.

“What’s up?”

“Ron,” Daphne said honestly, biting down on her lip as she did when she was anxious, “It is killing me trying to keep this in. He knows how I feel, I’m certain of it, and I know he feels the same. I know that keeping our lives separate is what’s for the best but it’s been months and months and it’s getting harder not to say anything.”

“Why are you asking me for advice about this?” Harry frowned, “I’m pretty sure Hermione would have been a better option.”

“You understand why it would be a bad idea for Ron and I to act on our feelings,” Daphne said, “And I don’t think Hermione does.”

“I do understand that you’re trying to make sure you don’t get involved and then make a mistake because your feelings are involved,” Harry said, “But honestly, you clearly already have some pretty strong feelings so would it make that much of a difference?”

“I don’t know,” Daphne said, letting her head drop into her hands, “It’s just that we see each other day in day out. We spend all of our free time together, although we don’t get much of that...I can’t remember the last time I had a day off...but the sexual tension is killing me, every time I see him come in from a raid looking all rebellious I want to jump his bloody bones!”

Harry’s cheeks flushed, “Yeah, go in and talk to Hermione about this. She’s definitely more qualified than me,” he said awkwardly, “But while you’re here I do have a proposition for you.”

“Alright,” Daphne frowned, “What is it?”

“A couple of days off,” Harry said honestly, they were nearing the end of February now and all of their plans were coming together, the map was even progressing well, “For you and Ron. It’s his birthday at the beginning of next week and I think you should come over to Bones Manor for a couple days. Neville, Draco and I will head on over to Hogwarts to run that ship, and I think it would boost moral too.”

“A couple of days off sounds fantastic,” Daphne said honestly, “And I know Ron will appreciate that too.”

Harry smiled slightly, “But I do have something to tell you too. There’s a battle coming, and it’s coming soon. We have two months, three at best and people are going to get hurt, they are going to die.”

“What are you saying?” Daphne asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

“I’m saying that you and Ron need to have a good think during those couple of days you spend here because it’s probably going to be your best chance at exploring what could be between you before that battle hits,” Harry said quietly, “You and I both know Ron, he’ll be on the front line, right in the danger zone.”

Daphne swallowed but nodded, “I’ll think about that,” she promised.

Harry smiled at her, “That’s all I ask.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Tonks, do you know how you become an Animagus?”

Tonks smiled very slightly, “No, I don’t,” she said, laughing inwardly at the fact Remus had told her only a week before that Harry was going to get fed up of being the only non-werewolf in their friend group very quickly.

“Don’t you learn in Auror training?” Harry asked.

“It’s an optional class,” Tonks said, looking over at the boy, “But I didn’t take it because as a Metamorphmagus I can’t become an Animagus too.”

“Can you change into an animal?” Harry asked curiously, “Or can you just look human?”

“No, I can’t change race. So goblins, house elves, animals, they’re all out,” Tonks said, “I can change my features to look like those of animals, I can make my nose look like a pig snout but I can’t grow a tail.”

“Right,” Harry said, “Can you impersonate another person?”

“No, you would need polyjuice potion for that,” Tonks said with a smile, “I can change aspects of myself, I could make my hair the same colour and style as yours and I could change my eye colour and shape. Changing the shape of my face would be a lot more difficult though.”

“What about your body? Can you make yourself taller or shorter?” Harry asked curiously.

“I could when I was younger,” Tonks replied, “But I don’t bother so much now. Being pregnant means I can’t use any of my power at the moment though and I’m seriously sick of this boring brown hair. I think I’ll make it bright blue when the baby is born, since he’s going to be a boy.”

“Do you think he’ll be a Metamorphmagus too?” Harry asked, “Is it genetic?”

“It can be,” Tonks replied, “But neither of my parents are. I think I had a great Aunt who was, so I’m not sure if the baby will be.”

Harry frowned, opened his mouth and then shut it again. He had debated asking her another question about the baby, but he had decided against it before he let the question leave his mouth.

“We don’t know what traits of his Father’s he’ll get,” Tonks smiled, reading Harry like a book, “Lycanthropy isn’t genetic so he certainly will not be a full wolf. But he might have wolfy traits.”

“Like his Uncle Draco,” Harry grinned.

Tonks chuckled, “Exactly.”

“Is Remus okay about that?” Harry asked, not wanting to prod too much into their personal life.

“He’s worried,” Tonks admitted, “About how that will present itself. But I think when the baby is born he will realise that things are alright.”

“When did the healer say he was due?” Harry asked.

“The 27th of March,” Tonks said with a smile, “Lilly’s birthday.”

“It would be an eventful birthday,” Harry laughed, “But Hermione says most first babies are late.”

“They are,” Tonks said, “So she’s probably right.”

There was an unspoken question between them though as they both went back to what they had been doing. Would that be too late? Would the battle have to happen before then? Would it happen the moment Bill killed that horcrux in Gringotts? Neither of them could answer any of those questions right now, so silence seemed to be the best option.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Remus, I have to ask you to do something that you are really going to struggle with,” Tonks whispered.

Remus frowned, it was late at night and he thought she had been asleep for a good while when she spoke. He rolled over to look at her and was alarmed when he saw tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Dora, what’s wrong?”

“It’s a terrible thing, but I think you’ll understand,” Tonks whispered weakly.

“What is it?” Remus asked, wiping her tears and staring at her intently.

“I need you to lie to Harry,” Tonks said, so quietly he had to move to hear her.

“Lie to him?” Remus frowned, “Why would I need to lie to him?”

“The map,” Tonks said, “You’re close to finishing it, aren’t you?”

Remus’s frown deepened, he had a feeling he knew why she was asking him this, “Yes, I think it will be finished in a couple of weeks.”

“It can’t be,” Tonks said, “Lie to him, stall your work on it, please.”

“Dora-” Remus began.

“Please Remus,” Tonks said, her tears falling once more, “I just want Harry to meet his Godson. The moment you finish that map there’s going to be a battle and he’s going to die, and our son will never know his Godfather.”

“I know,” Remus said, tears pricking his own eyes, “But how can we justify making this horror last any longer just so that Harry can meet our son?”

“I just hate this,” Tonks sobbed.

“I know,” Remus said, holding his wife tightly, “But I cannot lie to Harry. I will talk to him, I will talk to him about the fact he needs to work out exactly what is going to happen after Bill kills that horcrux. At the moment he knows he is trying to lure You-Know-Who to Hogwarts after the break-in, but he needs a better plan and he needs to work out with those in Hogwarts how to evacuate an entire school through one fairly small mirror. That could take up to a couple of weeks, if he deems it necessary. It’s the best that I can do.”

“Okay,” Tonks said, “I’m sorry, for being so selfish.”

“You’re pregnant and we’re in the middle of a war,” Remus said, kissing her on the forehead, “You’ve spent so long looking after everyone else, you are allowed to be selfish sometimes.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Remus, did you help my Dad and Sirius become Animagi?”

Remus smirked and kept his gaze on the map he was working on, “I did, why do you ask?”

“Well does it take long to become one?” Harry asked.

“It takes a good few months, yes,” Remus said, “It took James and Sirius 3 months, I believe.”

“So there’s not any point doing it then,” Harry said, “I did think about it, to keep the others company.”

“And because you feel left out,” Remus said knowingly.

“That too,” Harry admitted, “But I’ll be dead before it works anyway, I mean that map will be done in a couple of weeks and then there will be the battle-”

“- Harry,” Remus cut in, abandoning the map momentarily, “I need to talk to you about that.”

Harry frowned, “What about it?”

“Do you remember when Dora asked you to delay until the baby had been born?” Remus asked.

Guilt flitted across Harry’s face, “I know, but-”

“She wants you to delay for the wrong reasons,” Remus said honestly, “But there are several good reasons too. Reasons why you shouldn’t run off to Gringotts the second the map is finished.”

“Tell me them then,” Harry challenged the older man.

“You need a plan,” Remus said, “A decent one. You need to know who is going to be doing what when this final battle comes. You need to have a long sit down with those in charge on the Hogwarts side and work out how you are going to get all of those students out of that school in a short space of time.”

“I know,” Harry said.

“And that’s going to take a little while, a couple of weeks probably,” Remus said.

“Which would give us till the end of March,” Harry said, “When the baby is due.”

Remus nodded, “I want you to meet your Godson as much as Dora does, but I won’t lie to you either. There isn’t anything to be lost in spending another couple of weeks getting your head together. The better planned the battle is...well the less chance there is of great loss of life.”

“Alright,” Harry said with a slight nod, “We’ll delay until the end of March. I’ll inform Bill.”

Remus nodded again, his expression softened, “Thank you,” he said genuinely.

Harry still looked a little shirty, but he nodded for the umpteenth time, “I want to meet him too Remus,” he said simply before leaving the room to call Bill and update him on their break-in plans. 

TBC :)


	57. This Could Be the Start of Something Good

February died out in a downpour of rain that year, and March dawned brightly the next morning. The 1st of March brought a change in residency at Bones Manor. Harry, Neville and Draco packed their bags in preparation of their two days of leading the rebellion within Hogwarts. They kissed their girlfriends goodbye (with the exception of Neville who was going to be seeing more of his girlfriend in the coming days) and stepped through the mirror. 10 minutes later Ron and Daphne stepped through in the other direction, the change-over sufficiently handled.

Once the initial hugs had been exchanged Hermione and Lilly decided to show Ron and Daphne where they would be staying.

“Are we not sleeping in the Manor?” Daphne asked with a slight frown as they stepped out of the front door into the expansive grounds.

“No,” Lilly said brightly, “You have the gamekeeper’s cottage all to yourself. There haven’t been gamekeepers here for years though so it’s lovely.”

“It’s really nice down at that end of the garden,” Hermione agreed as they walked along a long winding path, “It’s just so isolated, you know?”

Ron and Daphne shared a vaguely amused look because they knew exactly what their friends were doing. Ron had to stifle a laugh as Daphne rolled her eyes at him.

“Here we are!” Hermione said as they reached the little two storey cottage. It was built in the same style as the manor, beautiful old stone covered in ivy with a red tiled roof. 

“There are two rooms, and a kitchen and living room,” Lilly said, “You can eat with us in the main kitchen if you like, but if you would rather have some time alone the elves will happily bring your food out here.”

Ron shook his head, “Nah, wouldn’t want to give them anymore work. We’ll eat in the main house.”

Hermione smiled slightly, “You’ll make a good ambassador for S.P.E.W yet.”

“I really wish somebody had told you in 4th year that an organisation with initials spelling spew would never go far,” Daphne teased, shaking her head at the Gryffindor in exasperation.

Lilly snorted in amusement, “Anyway, we’ll leave you guys in peace. Have fun!”

She linked her arm through Hermione’s and they headed off up the long winding path. Daphne shook her head in amusement and pushed open the cottage door. Ron stepped into the house after her, shutting the door behind him and glancing around.

“Well this is quaint,” Daphne said with a smile. They had stepped into a living room with a large stone fireplace, the only other thing on this floor was the small kitchen and dining area. It was small, but it was homey and warm despite the big stone walls. Daphne made her way up the wooden staircase to investigate the second floor. The roof there was steeped, and there were three doors. The one directly in front of the stairs was a bathroom, and then there was a double room to either side.

“Do you have a preference?” Ron asked, glancing into both rooms.

“Honestly I’m just excited about sleeping in a real bed and having a bath,” Daphne said in amusement.

“There’s a bath?” Ron asked eagerly.

“The simple things excite you when you’re living in a room with 30 odd other people, don’t they?” Daphne laughed as she picked the more feminine of the two bedrooms and dropped her bag down onto a bed with a floral quilt.

“A bath and a real bed,” Ron said with a nod and a smile, “Very exciting. But I’ll tell you what I really want to do.”

“Hmm?”

“I want to go outside and stay there,” Ron said, “I don’t care if I’m walking or sitting or flying, I just want to be outside. We’ve been stuck in that bloody room for months with no windows.”

“That’s a great idea,” Daphne said, opening her rucksack and pulling out the book she was currently reading, “Emma” was one that she had borrowed from Hermione after the Gryffindor girl had discovered how much she enjoyed “Pride and Prejudice”.

“I wonder if there’s a broom shed around here,” Ron said, “I might go for a brief fly, not high obviously because I don’t want to break through the wards but it would be nice to feel the wind.”

“We passed a pretty nice rose garden with some hidden alcoves on the way out here,” Daphne said as she looked at the dark sky and the rain that was threatening to fall, “I’ll find somewhere rain proof and settle down to read I think.”

Ron smiled slightly, “Well I’ll see you at dinner then,” he said, and they happily went their separate ways. Some time away from each other was as nice as some time away from the Room of Requirement. There were intense feelings between them, but they had been living in each other’s pockets and it was nice to have some real alone time.

They were unphased by Hermione and Lilly’s meddling, and they really did enjoy their alone time that afternoon. They ate in the main house and used it as an opportunity to catch up with the others, Remus and Tonks in particular. Then they rather dully spent the evening sitting in silence in the same room, content with each other’s company. Ron was sprawled across the sofa, the gangly pain in the arse that he was, and Daphne was curled up in a cat-like way in a comfortable old armchair. They were both reading, although their reading material was vastly different. A comic book about the Hulk and a Jane Austen novel were scarcely comparable, and the thought of trying made Daphne laugh out loud.

Ron looked up with an easy smile, “What’s funny?”

“Just a thought,” Daphne admitted, “About how different we are. I mean I’m reading a Jane Austen novel, and you are reading a kids comic book.”

Ron laughed and said, “Well opposites attract.”

“So they say,” Daphne agreed.

“I could get used to this you know,” Ron said, shutting his eyes briefly.

“What, us?” Daphne asked, her heart skipping a beat

“No,” Ron said, opening his eyes and looking at her, “The peace and quiet, but I could get used to that too.”

Daphne looked conflicted, she pulled her eyes away from his entrancing blue orbs and said, “Ron...”

“I know,” Ron said with a wave of his hand, “We shouldn’t talk about it.”

“It’s getting harder, isn’t it?” Daphne asked quietly, “To not talk about it.”

Ron nodded, shoving his comic book aside and sitting up properly so that he could look at her, “Yeah, it is. I know we’ve never really talked about it, but we both know there’s something there.”

“We’ve never talked about it because we know we can’t act on it,” Daphne said, unable to look him in the eye.

“I know,” Ron said, “I’m sorry, I should never even have brought it up.”

“It’s fine,” Daphne said dismissively, glancing down at her book which she had suddenly lost interest in.

“I think I’ll just head up to bed,” Ron said, sounding defeated as he got to his feet.

Daphne nodded and kept her gaze on her book to avoid seeing the disappointment on his face. She listened to his footsteps until they stopped, and she assumed that meant he was in bed. She sighed and pulled her mirror out of her bag, she needed to talk to someone about this.

“Daphne, are you seriously calling me?” Hermione asked in amusement as her face appeared in a dark room, “You are staying on the same estate!”

“I know, but the estate is huge!” Daphne argued, “It would take me about half an hour to get to you!”

“You do know you can use floo right?” Hermione asked with a raised eyebrow.

Daphne frowned, “How? We’re in a safe house, and a warded area.”

“Yeah but floo inside the estate isn’t affected. The inter-floo system is entirely separate to the Ministry run one, aren’t you supposed to be the pure-blood who knows this stuff?” Hermione teased.

“Oh shut up, I’ll be with you in a minute,” Daphne said, rather rudely ending the connection. She found a pot of floo powder sitting above the fireplace and threw it in. She stepped into the fireplace, said “Hermione’s bedroom,” and hoped it would work. Seconds later she stepped out of another fireplace, into Hermione’s bedroom.

Hermione grinned and lit the lamps on either side of the bed, “Let’s talk about it,” she said, patting the bed next to her.

Daphne nearly rolled her eyes, “On second thought I’m gonna go downstairs and talk go Lilly about this-”

“Nope,” Hermione said, grabbing her wand from the bedside table and locking the door.

Daphne groaned, “What is this some girly sleepover?”

“Well if you want it to be a sleepover,” Hermione said in amusement, she stomped on the floor and called, “Lilly!”

“Two minutes!” A muffled voice called back.

Daphne flopped on the bed and said, “You suck Hermione.”

“I’m a fantastic friend,” Hermione said cheerfully.

Moments later the cupboard door opened and Lilly walked out. Daphne frowned at the girl, “How the hell did you do that?”

“It’s an ancient pure-blood house, it has cool secrets,” Lilly said matter of factly, “Aren’t you the rich, posh pure-blood one?”

Daphne snorted, “Believe it or not the Greengrass’s aren’t an ancient family. Our house is a house, not a manor, and it was built in the 1960’s.”

Lilly shrugged, “What’s going on here?”

“A sleepover by the looks of it,” Daphne said, smiling despite her apparent annoyance about that fact.

“Oh no, it’s not a sleepover without snacks,” Lilly said, snapping her fingers and saying, “Gabbles?”

A female house elf appeared with a crack, “Yes missy Lilly?”

“Do you have anything like popcorn in the kitchen?” Lilly asked, much to the amusement of Hermione and Daphne.

“Yes missy Lilly! Gabble will make you some!” The elf said enthusiastically, she disappeared with another crack.

“Oh Merlin, I’ve not done this since the dorm room sleepover days,” Daphne laughed, “And holy shit, Pansy can gossip.”

Lilly snorted, “Speaking of Pansy, you haven’t heard Hermione’s impression of her, have you? It’s impeccable.”

Hermione blushed slightly, “It’s not that good,” she admitted.

“Go on then, I want to hear it,” Daphne said, her eyes sparkling with amusement.

Hermione looked mortified, but she cleared her throat anyway, “Heavens Drakey! What have you done with your hair? It looks hideous, honestly you should slick it back, it looks so sexy!”

Daphne was beside herself with laughter, “How the hell did you get that so good?”

“I don’t know,” Hermione chuckled, “It’s about the only impression I can do. I did it once when she really pissed me off and Ron about choked on his laughter.”

Lilly grinned and flopped down on her stomach on the bed, “I never thought I’d be having a sleepover with Slytherins ice queen and Gryffindors princess. How the times change, right?”

Hermione laughed, “Well we can always get Ginny too,” she joked.

Daphne shook her head, “God, no. That situation with her, Susan and Neville is killing me right now. Do you know how hard it is to have those two working in the same hospital wing?”

“Hard I’m guessing from your reaction,” Hermione said with a raised eyebrow.

Daphne nodded, “Yes, Ginny’s being pretty mature about the whole thing really. But Susan is still pissed off about it. She sometimes mutters traitor when I speak to the bloody girl.”

“Sometimes I think she forgets that she broke up with him,” Lilly said honestly.

“She’s got a whole boat load of issues,” Daphne sighed, “Which I really shouldn’t discuss without her permission. She’s my best friend, but I get on just fine with Neville and Ginny so I’m taking no sides here.”

“That’s the safest way,” Hermione said as Gabble appeared with a giant bowl of popcorn.

“Thanks Gabble,” Lilly said cheerfully.

“Can we talk about you and Ron now?” Hermione said, smirking at her Slytherin friend.

“Not without alcohol,” Daphne muttered, “There must be a hidden stash of that somewhere in this old house, right?”

“There’s a huge store in the lairds lug,” Lilly said, when Daphne looked confused she elaborated, “It’s a secret alcove above the drawing room. Come on, we’ll head down.”

Hermione unlocked the door and they set off down the stairs as quietly as possible. Neville’s room was vacated at the moment, but they didn’t want to be responsible for waking Remus and Tonks up. They split up at the drawing room, Lilly continued downward to find some glasses and Hermione and Daphne snuck into the darkened room, lighting as few of the old gas lamps as possible.

“It’s up there,” Hermione said, using her wand to bring the large ladder at the side of the room to the centre where the hidden alcove was located, “I’ll hold this and you can climb up.”

Daphne rolled her eyes, “Aren’t you supposed to be the brave one?”

“I’m in flimsy pyjamas and you actually have clothes on,” Hermione said with a raised eyebrow, “I’m being practical.”

“Fine,” Daphne said, testing the slightly rickety ladder. She climbed up it and pushed open the trapdoor in the roof. With a little effort she pulled herself into the hidden room and muttered, “Lumos.”

“What’s up there?” Hermione called.

“A lot of alcohol,” Daphne replied, “I mean for a small room they have crammed it in. Do you fancy firewhiskey, butterbeer, vodka, gin, ordinary beer-”

“Just grab a bottle of firewhiskey and a case of butterbeer,” Hermione said before the blonde girl could continue.

Daphne did so, levitating the desired objects from the room so that they dropped soundlessly onto one of the sofas. She headed back down the ladder which Hermione popped back in its rightful place. Hermione grabbed the alcohol and set off back upstairs with it while Daphne nipped to the bathroom adjoining the drawing room.

As it so happened that meant that Hermione and Lilly had a few moments alone in the bedroom before their mutual friend got back. Lilly pulled something from the pocket of her jeans and asked Hermione, “Do you have any secrets you don’t want to tell us?”

“No,” Hermione said slowly, “Why, do you?”

“No,” Lilly said, a smirk appearing on her face, “I found this in the potions cupboard, it’s veritaserum. There’s only a tiny drip left, but maybe it will loosen Daphne’s tongue on the whole Ron subject.”

Hermione bit her lip, “Oh Lilly, I don’t know if that’s-”

She cut herself off when she heard footsteps on the stairs. Lilly grabbed the bottle of firewhiskey, twisted it open and dropped the remainder of the potion into it. Hermione glared at her, but she said nothing because at that point the door opened. Luckily Lilly had already shoved the empty phial under the bed.

“So,” Daphne said, sitting down on the bed, “We’re drinking, eating popcorn and gossiping?”

“Yes,” Hermione said matter of factly, “For one night let’s pretend to be normal teenage girls.”

“Yes, lets,” Lilly grinned, handing out the glasses of firewhiskey, “Let’s play a game.”

“A drinking game?” Hermione asked warily.

“What’s wrong Granger? Scared?” Daphne asked with a grin.

“No,” Hermione said honestly, “It’s just...the last time I played a drinking game Draco got upset and ran from the room, and then I found out he was a Death Eater...”

“Well Draco isn’t here,” Lilly said calmly, “So what do you want to play?”

“Considering we’re all girls I don’t suggest “Spin the Bottle”, and “Never Have I Ever” is only good if you want to know everyone’s dirty secrets which I don’t,” Daphne said, “So how about “Truths”?”

“Nice and simple,” Lilly agreed as they all got comfortable on the bed. They all ended up sitting around cross-legged with the popcorn bowl in the middle and the firewhiskey bottle levitating above it.

“So the rules are, we take it in turns to ask each other truths,” Hermione said, “And if there’s a question we don’t want to answer we have to do a forfeit?”

“Precisely, but I’m adding another rule. No talk of the war at all, this is a break from all of that shit, okay?” Daphne asked.

“Deal,” Hermione and Lilly agreed.

Daphne nodded, “Good,” she said, taking the first sip of firewhiskey. She made a face and Lilly and Hermione instantly tensed up, assuming she could taste that the drink had been spiked.

“I thought this would have been nicer firewhiskey,” Daphne said, “I mean considering the Bones owned a distillery but I suppose the best stuff is hidden somewhere else. This is just Ogden’s.”

“Well the boys stole all the decent stuff from the lairds lug ages ago. They’ve hidden it all out in the outhouse, so stop being such a snob and play the game,” Lilly retorted.

“Alright, who’s asking first?”

“I will,” Hermione said, “And I’m going to ask you Daphne, are you love in with my best friend?”

“Yes,” Daphne replied instantly, surprising even herself.

Lilly grinned, “Alright, I have a question for you as well. Why are you not acting on this love for our very own Weasel king, huh?”

Daphne rolled her eyes, “Because there’s the school to worry about and the fact we live in each other’s pockets. We would have to keep it secret so that it didn’t cause rebellion in the Room of Requirement, it’s just so complicated!”

“That doesn’t mean you can’t act on it over the next couple of days,” Hermione said, “You could have a few days of normalcy together before you go back to Hogwarts.”

“But how could we just forget when we got back?” Daphne asked with a sigh, “We wouldn’t be able to just pretend that things hadn’t changed.”

“Oh Daph,” Lilly said with a smile, “You’re head over heels.”

Daphne actually blushed, “Oh shut up, this isn’t how this game works. We’re supposed to take it in turns to ask questions, not judge our friends.”

“It’s a game of “Truths”,” Hermione grinned, “The whole purpose is to judge our friends.”

Daphne’s eyes flashed mischievously, “Fine then, let’s see how you like it. How has being a werewolf changed things between you and Draco in the bedroom?”

Hermione’s cheeks flushed but she could feel the tug of veritaserum forcing her to answer, she ignored Lilly who was positively cackling beside her, “That’s a horrible question, but to be honest it’s just made him a little more...” her cheeks transitioned from pink to scarlet, “Well dominant around the full moon time and he...growls.”

“He growls?” Lilly asked with a raised eyebrow, “That’s pretty hot.”

Hermione shrugged in response, “Can we just get on with the game?”

“By all means,” Daphne smirked, “It’s your turn to ask.”

Hermione’s eyes flashed just as mischievously, and Daphne looked slightly worried, “Payback Daphne, how badly do you want to screw Ron?”

“How crude,” Lilly giggled as she topped up their glasses of firewhiskey.

Daphne hadn’t cottoned on that there was a reason why she was being so truthful yet. But she felt the truth threatening to spill out, unlike Hermione she wasn’t particularly embarrassed by it however, “So bloody badly! I swear, I find him more attractive all of the time and there is so much sexual tension. I don’t know how I haven’t jumped him yet, he gets in from a raid all sweaty and bad-ass looking and I just want to jump his bones!”

Hermione grinned in amusement, “Now that I can relate to. I do miss being dragged into broom cupboards by Draco in-between classes.”

“I miss that too,” Lilly reminisced, “Except with Harry, not Draco, shit!” she added when the other two girls looked at her in disbelief.

“This is the problem with boyfriend sharing,” Daphne snorted.

“Well it brought us together as friends,” Lilly said as she popped a handful of popcorn into her mouth, “Without Draco and our vendetta against him we wouldn’t have become so close and by bringing Hermione in to destroy him we made another friend.”

“Yeah and look how that went,” Daphne laughed, “She didn’t destroy him, she fell in love with him and reformed him.”

“Hey it all turned out alright in the end,” Lilly shrugged, “I’m dating the boy-who-lived, you want to shag his ginger sidekick and Hermione has a werewolf boyfriend who is kinky in the bedroom.”

The comment and the calmness which with it was delivered cracked them all up, and for a moment they forgot all about their game. 

“I’ve missed this so much,” Daphne said, grabbing some popcorn before Lilly finished it all.

“What, salted popcorn and firewhiskey?” Lilly joked.

“No, female companionship,” Daphne admitted, “I mean I love having Ron around but he’s such a guy. This is exactly what I needed.”

“I’ve never done this,” Hermione admitted, “The other girls in my dorm did but I used to block them out. All they ever talked about was who had the nicest bum and who probably had the biggest, you know what.”

“You know what,” Lilly cackled, “Oh Mione, you are so naïve, it’s sweet.”

“I wonder who does have the biggest you know what,” Daphne mused.

“I am so not disclosing that information about Draco with you,” Hermione retorted.

“And Harry would kill me if I told you anything,” Lilly added.

The veritaserum wasn’t forcing them to talk yet because they weren’t asking direct questions. That was, until Daphne jokingly asked Lilly, “Well you do know what they say about short guys right?”

“It’s actually to do with shoe size,” Lilly said evasively, “And the best things come in small packages, look at me, I’m fantastic.”

“And so modest,” Daphne said sarcastically.

Hermione laughed and said, “I think it’s your turn to ask a question Lil.”

Lilly looked between them thoughtfully, “Okay I have one for both of you. If you couldn’t date your other half for whatever reason, who would be your next choice for a boyfriend? And why?”

Hermione glanced at Daphne sheepishly, “Do you want to go first?”

“Absolutely not,” Daphne replied, “On you go.”

Hermione bit her lip as she felt the truth tugging at her, she groaned, “Fuck.”

“That bad huh?” Daphne laughed, “I mean to make the great, sweetly angelic Hermione Granger swear.”

“Who is it, Severus Snape?” Lilly joked.

Hermione was fighting it, but veritaserum was strong and dangerous for a reason, “Harry,” she blurted out.

Daphne gaped at her, and Lilly froze, “My Harry?”

Hermione could only nod weakly, “I’m sorry that just...came out.”

“Go on then, answer the why part,” Lilly said, remarkably calmly.

“Because he’s my best friend and I won’t lie, there were times when I wondered if there could be more between us,” Hermione said, it was all spilling out, “He’s a lovely, sweet guy and I’m sure he would make a fantastic boyfriend. But I don’t think I’ll ever feel the things I feel with Draco with another guy so it’s all irrelevant really.”

Lilly smiled slightly, “Good answer, are you feeling the effects of the booze already?”

Hermione nodded, she knew the heat in her face wasn’t just embarrassment, she was a lightweight, she always had been.

Daphne chuckled, but her laughter died in her throat when Lilly prompted her to answer the same question. 

“Harry.”

It wasn’t such a surprise this time, Lilly just snorted, “Well my short, heroic boyfriend is a popular flavour it seems. Why do you want him Daph?” she teased.

“He doesn’t judge,” Daphne answered honestly, because she didn’t have a choice, “It’s one of the things about Ron that does bother me. I mean the war has changed him and he’s a damn sight less judgemental now than he was when I first met him but he still is. Harry just accepts people as they are, he doesn’t care about their past or their sexual preference, blood status, all of it is just irrelevant to him and I admire that. You’re lucky Lil.”

Lilly smiled a little, “I know,” she said, “And don’t worry, I’m not offended by your answers. I kind of feel honoured actually.”

Hermione shook her head in disbelief as Lilly topped up their glasses again, they were making their way through this bottle of firewhiskey way too quickly. She decided that Lilly needed the same question as punishment for the embarrassment of that one, “So as payback then Lil, same to you, if you couldn’t date Harry who would you date and why?”

Hermione could see Lilly fighting with herself, but the veritaserum won out and she said, “Draco.”

Hermione’s eyebrow quirked up, “Go on.”

Lilly who rarely got flustered, actually blushed, “I didn’t love him, I mean I thought I did. But what I feel for Harry just beats anything I felt for Draco. But he was so sure of himself and I liked that, I mean Harry is lovely and sweet and everything, but sometimes he can just be a little awkward.”

Hermione smiled, “No offence taken, but ask your question Daphne so we can get away from this boyfriend sharing thing...”

Daphne snorted in amusement and they threw some typical questions around, like how was your first time? And (to Daphne) are you a virgin? It was a test to make sure she hadn’t been lying to them about her relationship with Ron, but she replied “Yes” so they knew she really had been holding off on acting on her feelings. They were laughing and having a good time, all the while getting really drunk because they hadn’t realised that the whiskey they were drinking tasted horrible because it was extra strong. Sometime in the middle of the night they gave up and all crowded into the double bed to sleep, but as much as they knew they would regret it in the morning that night had helped them all more than they knew.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Where is everyone?” Ron frowned, stepping into the main house’s kitchen at 9am and finding it abandoned.

“Sleeping off last night,” Remus said with an amused shake of his head, “Dora has just taken up a pot of coffee and three hangover potions.”

Ron snorted, “So that’s where Daphne disappeared to last night then.”

“It appears they had an impromptu sleepover,” Remus yawned, “There was a lot of giggling.”

“Sounds like a nightmare,” Ron laughed, sitting down across from the man who was looking through the prophet carefully, “Any bad news?”

“Not today,” Remus replied, “It makes a pleasant change.”

“Yeah,” Ron agreed, running his hands through his hair, he had been growing it out while living in the Room of Requirement. As a result his red hair was now almost long enough to pull into a small ponytail, Harry had joked that he was channelling Bill, “How much longer do you think this war will last?”

“Not long,” Remus replied cryptically, “One way or another it will over before it’s even been a year.”

Before he had any time to elaborate Tonks walked into the kitchen, only 25 days from her due date she was huge and ready to pop at any moment. She was followed by three very sleepy, hungover looking teenage girls.

“Did you give them a lecture Dora?” Remus asked without looking up from his paper.

Tonks laughed, “I’m the cool parent Remus, if you want to give them a lecture go ahead.”

Remus looked at her with a mixture of exasperation and amusement, “The deal was that you deal with the girls and I deal with the boys.”

“If one of them gets pregnant that comes under my jurisdiction,” Tonks said matter of factly as she scoured the cupboards for sugar, “But giving lectures is so not my division.”

Ron looked between the two adults in amusement. Remus rolled his eyes and turned around, “I gave the boys a lecture for getting drunk and not focusing on the war so it’s only fair that I give you three a lecture too.”

“There is a pretty big difference though,” Lilly said as she jumped to reach the top of one of the cupboards and pulled down a pack of pop tarts, “We got drunk and gossiped about our boyfriends. The boys got drunk and performed extreme dares.”

Ron laughed loudly, “I wish I’d been there for that.”

“Harry jumped out of a tree, accio-ed his broom and did a wronski feint after about half a bottle of firewhiskey,” Tonks said with a shake of her head, “It’s a miracle he didn’t break his neck.”

“Well all the same,” Remus said, “I’m sure your boyfriends won’t appreciate being gossiped about, so don’t do it again.”

“Yes Dad,” Lilly said with an amused smile.

“He probably is the closest you’ll get to your real Dad,” Tonks yawned, “Speaking of gossip and all, I always thought you fancied my cousin.”

Remus choked on his coffee and Ron roared with laughter.

“Sirius and I?” Remus asked in disbelief, “Merlin Dora, pregnancy is making you delusional.”

Daphne shook her head in amusement, “And for the record I don’t have a boyfriend, I was just listening to them gossiping about their boyfriends.”

“Oh come now Daphne sweetheart,” Tonks said as she sat on the sofa, resting her glass of water on her bump, “I’m sure you found someone to talk about.”

“She did,” Lilly said, her lips quirking into a smirk.

Daphne rolled her eyes, and Ron’s ears turned red. Tonks grinned (rather wickedly) and said, “Speaking of Ron, Happy birthday!”

Ron smiled, still looking thoroughly embarrassed, “Thanks,” he said.

“Here’s a little gift from Remus and I,” Tonks said, levitating a beautifully packed parcel from the top of the kitchen cupboards.

Ron opened it eagerly and laughed when he found four Hulk comics inside, “Thanks!” he said gratefully.

“Here’s a little something from Harry and I too,” Lilly said, popping a parcel onto the table.

“And this one is from me,” Hermione said, “I would say and Draco, but I doubt he even knows it’s your birthday.”

Ron smiled, a small thing like a birthday meant a lot at a time like this. He thanked Lilly for small lion pendant she and Harry had given him. Then he hugged Hermione for the jumper she had knitted him, it wasn’t a Weasley jumper but it was nice all the same.

“I have a present for you too,” Daphne said, “But it’s back at the cottage so I’ll give it to you later.”

“You shouldn’t have bothered,” Ron said, “I didn’t expect any of this.”

“Well there’s more,” Tonks said, “We’re having a little dinner later with all of your favourites. Harry and Hermione helped there.”

“Thank you,” Ron said with a broad smile, “I can’t wait.”

Hermione smiled at the redhead, he really was incredibly grateful and it was nice to see, “So how are you going to spend your birthday?”

Ron glanced out of the window at the sky which was clear of dark grey clouds, “I think I’ll go flying...”

“I’ll join you,” Daphne said, “I could maybe show you a thing or two.”

Ron scoffed, “Which one of us played for our house Quidditch team?”

Daphne quirked up one of her eyebrows, “I saw you play Ron, 99% of the time you were dreadful.2

“But the other 1% of the time I was amazing,” Ron said pointedly.

“Very reliable of you,” Lilly joked as she slipped past him and dropped down into an armchair.

“And for the record, I wasn’t on the team because the Slytherin team wouldn’t let girls join,” Daphne said, “I’m actually a really good flier.”

Ron caught her eye, smirked and said, “We’ll see about that later then Greengrass.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It stayed dry for the rest of the morning, and there was still no sign of rain when Ron and Daphne raided the broom shed that afternoon. Ron decided that Harry wouldn’t mind if he borrowed his Firebolt and Daphne settled for a Nimbus 2001. They raced around the gardens a few times, and Ron of course had an edge because the Firebolt was such a damn good broom. They must have whittled a good few hours away messing around because the sky began to darken and rain threatened to fall. 

“One last game,” Ron said as he met her mid-air, “Before the rain starts.”

“Alright, what are we playing?” Daphne asked.

“Tag,” Ron replied, “I’ll give you a 30 second head start.”

Daphne soared away instantly, and 30 seconds later Ron flew after her. They ducked through the arches in the rose gardens, soared over the house, sped around the back of the barn and did a loop of the fountain gardens. Ron was gradually gaining momentum and he finally caught Daphne close to the cottage where they were staying.

He swept passed her, taking his hands off of his broom and pulling her onto the Firebolt. Daphne shrieked in fright, because they were pretty high up, but Ron was strong enough to easily yank her onto his broom. She glared at him, “Merlin, Weasley, are you trying to kill me?” she exclaimed, her heart pounding hard in her chest.

Ron just laughed, and despite the fact she could have just plunged to her death, Daphne did too. When she finally looked up and caught his eyes her laughter died in her throat at the look that was shining in his eyes. She opened her mouth to say that they should probably head downward when a loud rumble sounded above them. There was a flash of lightning somewhere in the distance and then the heavens opened.

Daphne laughed loudly as his drenched hair fell around his shoulders, and Ron gazed at her in a way that made her wary. She opened her mouth once more, to suggest that they really should go inside now. However, before she could say a word Ron had leant forward very slightly, so as not to tip the broom. His lips brushed hers ever so slightly, and at that slight touch Daphne’s resistance crumbled. She closed the miniscule gap between them, kissing him tentatively. He returned the kiss immediately, and they forgot about the rain pouring down and the fact they were hovering on a broomstick several feet in the air. He was a good kisser, despite the horror stories Ginny had told about how he kissed like a 12 year old (apparently this came from the source of Lavender Brown so it wasn’t highly reliable). But if that had been the case, it didn’t show at all. He was perhaps a little over eager, he delved in pretty quickly but that could quite easily have been because he and Daphne had spent the last 6 months dancing around each other, never letting this spill out.

The kiss ended abruptly when the broom gave a jolt. It wasn’t enough to knock them off, just to give them a fright. Ron rolled his eyes as Daphne wrapped her arms around him, “You know what they say about brooms having personalities like their owners, this is Harry’s broom.”

“So it’s a cheeky git then,” Daphne said with a weak laugh as they landed silently on the wet path outside the little cottage.

“Exactly,” Ron said, stepping off of the broom and sending it back towards the broom shed.

“Ron, I really wish you hadn’t done that. I’ve been trying not to do that because I knew that if I did I-” Daphne said the moment his blue orbs locked onto hers.

“- Daphne, I can’t just not talk about this anymore-”

“- You have to!” Daphne exclaimed, “This isn’t about us! It’s about everyone in Hogwarts and their safety, if we’re too wrapped up in each other we can’t keep them safe!”

She could see anger building up in his eyes, she half expected an angry explosion. She would have preferred that to what came, anger would have made her shout or possibly even cry with frustration. But what Ron did was worse, so much worse.

“Fine,” He said coolly, emotionlessly even, “It didn’t happen, just like the last 6 months didn’t happen as far as you are concerned. Happy?”

“No,” Daphne whispered.

“Well that seems to be what you want,” Ron said, yanking open the door to the cottage, “So now you have it.”

TBC :(


	58. Need You Now

“We can’t tell Daphne.”

“She’s actually got the chance to relax at the moment,” Draco agreed, “We won’t tell her unless something goes badly wrong and we don’t have a choice.”

Neville nodded, “What are we going to do?”

“We use the map and the cloak and we go and get her out,” Harry said simply.

“We?” Draco asked, “You’re Undesirable number 1, what do you think will happen if Death Eaters see you in Hogwarts? They’ll be pressing the dark marks on their arms frantically to bring You-Know-Who here.”

“We’ll go instead,” Neville said with a firm nod.

“What, Undesirable number 2 and 4?” Harry asked irritably, “You’re just as in danger of being caught as I am!”

“I’ll go, for the love of Merlin,” Ginny said, pulling her apron off as she stalked over to them.

“Have you forgotten that you’re an undesirable too?” Harry asked her with a raised eyebrow.

Ginny scoffed, “And? I’ve gone on a raids before and I’ve never been stupid enough to get caught so where’s the problem?”

“You never told me that,” Neville said, narrowing his eyes at her.

“Because I knew you’d react like this,” Ginny said pointedly, “I can take care of myself and I came back here so that I could actually do something, remember?”

“Look, you two aren’t having a domestic with this situation at hand,” Susan said quietly, “We need to be practical here. Ron and Daphne normally send out teams of 6, there are 4 of you, find 2 others and all go. Just don’t be stupid enough to get caught.”

“Susan’s right,” Ginny said, and she noticed the small amused smile on Neville’s face at that.

“Alright, who are the two best people to take?”

“Seamus and Terry,” Ginny answered immediately.

Harry nodded and waved them over. They talked in whispers at the far end of the room and put a plan in place. A glance at the Marauders map told them that Astoria was in the Headmasters office of all places. But Snape himself was nowhere to be seen and the Carrows were at the bottom of the school, lurking in the dungeons like the bats that they were. Harry would go under the cloak, and everyone else would use disillusionment charms. They would get Astoria, and get out. It was simple, which of course meant that it would never go to plan.

All the same they rendered themselves invisible and left the room. It felt strange for Harry in particular to be back in the castle again. At first glance nothing had really changed, apart from the fact that the corridors seemed even eerier and quieter in the dark than they ever had before. Thanks to Harry’s map however they got to the Headmasters office without bumping into a single teacher, student, ghost or cat. 

They left Seamus and Terry guarding the entrance and hurried up, removing their charms (and in Harry’s case his cloak) as they stepped into the office.

“Draco!” Astoria gasped, she recognised her sisters other friends but she didn’t know them on a personal level.

Draco smiled at the Slytherin girl, “Hey Tori, we’re here to get you out,” he said.

“But we don’t have long, so come on,” Neville added, ushering her towards the door and taping her on the head, rendering her invisible.

“You guys go back,” Harry said as his eyes found a portrait of Dumbledore, who was watching him with sparkling blue eyes, “I’ve got the cloak so I’ll be fine. Here take the map,” he added, thrusting it into Neville’s hands.

“What if Snape comes back?” Draco asked in disbelief.

“I’ll throw the cloak on and sneak out again when he leaves,” Harry said offhandedly, “I’ll be fine, just get Astoria back to the Room of Requirement. If anything happens to her Daphne will kill all of us.”

“I’m not leaving you here,” Neville said firmly, “Not on your own to get caught and handed over to You-Know-Who.”

“Neither am I,” Draco said, “Hermione would never forgive me if I did.”

Harry caught Ginny’s eye, she seemed to be the only one who understood, “Harry, I know you think you have to die anyway but that doesn’t mean you can just throw your life away. Is talking to Dumbledore really that important?”

“Yes, and the longer we argue about it for the more chance there is of all of us getting caught!” Harry snapped.

At which point the door opened, and Snape walked in. 

“Oh, fuck,” Draco muttered as the Headmaster shut the door quietly behind him and surveyed the room.

“Language, Draco,” The older man drawled, “And may I ask what brings you to my office, Potter?”

Harry gaped stupidly at Snape, and the former Potions Master said, “I see some things never change.”

“We were retrieving Astoria so that her older sister didn’t kill us, sir,” Draco replied calmly.

“Are you aware of how dangerous it is for four people, wanted by the Ministry, to be in a school run by Death Eaters?” Snape asked with a raised eyebrow, but he hadn’t made a move to press the dark mark on his arm.

“Yes, very,” Neville said, edging towards the door, “Which is why we’ll just be taking our leave now.”

“I don’t think so,” Snape said, locking the door with a wave of his hand.

Draco narrowed his eyes at his Godfather, “You’re not one of them, are you?”

“Are you serious?” Harry asked in disbelief, “He killed Dumbledore!”

“Ah Harry, you mistake that for a malicious act,” Dumbledore said with a smile, “Severus, my dear old friend, was merely putting me out of my misery.”

“And becoming You-Know-Who’s right hand man at the same time, pretty convenient isn’t it?” Ginny fired up.

“Do not talk about things you do not understand, you stupid little girl,” Snape snapped.

“Don’t call her a stupid little girl,” Neville said angrily, stepping forward and clutching his wand.

“What are you going to do about it Longbottom? I am not a boggart you can make disappear,” Snape said with a wicked smirk. 

Neville’s eyes flashed, “No you’re just a sadistic over-sized bat!” he said, feeling the horrible pull of anger that threatened to turn him into the monster he hated.

“Calm down,” Draco said, a little panicked, “You don’t want to make them come out, it hurts like hell when we aren’t in form.”

“Believe it or not Draco, I can’t control it,” Neville said through gritted teeth as the skin on his knuckles broke and the bone claws began to extend.

“Just shut your eyes and think of something happy,” Draco said quickly, “Look at Ginny or something.”

Neville did as his friend suggested, and blew out a breath of relief when the claws slipped back into his hands. When he looked up he was rather pleased to see Snape looking a little unnerved.

Harry smirked a little, “Don’t make him angry professor, you wouldn’t like him when he’s angry.”

“When did Longbottom become a werewolf, exactly?” Snape drawled.

“When I killed my Father and Harry killed my Aunt at Malfoy Manor,” Draco replied calmly, “I presume you heard about that?”

“Of course I heard, the dark lord was infuriated,” Severus said, fixing his icy eyes on Draco’s, “And I did not believe you to be a killer, Draco.”

“Well I didn’t think I’d ever be a werewolf but I am. Shit happens Uncle Severus,” Draco said darkly.

“Sarcasm does not suit you Draco,” Severus said, sweeping around them and sitting down behind the desk, “But I happen to be grateful that you entered my office tonight because I have something to give you, Potter.”

Harry frowned, “What?” he asked warily.

Snape pulled Dumbledore’s pensive from beneath the desk and shut his eyes, extracting the silvery liquid and placing it into a phial, like the one they had gotten from Grindelwald. He handed it to Harry who accepted it gingerly, as if it was a bomb.

“Do not let anyone else see those memories, and do not watch them in front of me,” Snape said, a darkness in his eyes, “It will explain much about your imminent death. I am informed you are aware of the fact you are a horcrux.”

“I don’t know how you know that, but yes,” Harry said, “No thanks to you,” he added, glaring at Dumbledore’s portrait, “You could have just told me instead of leaving me cryptic bloody hints!”

“Alas Harry, it was something that you needed to work out alone,” Dumbledore said, “I do however apologise for being unable to give you more help and guidance while I was alive.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Harry sighed half-heartedly.

“And you can’t claim the moral high ground sir,” Draco added, “I mean we know about you and Grindelwald.”

The portrait Dumbledore lost the sparkle in his eyes, “Yes, that was a lifetime ago in very different times. Very different times indeed. Unfortunately Gellert took a very different path in life from myself.”

“In the end he did the right thing,” Neville said, because he thought maybe it would help bring Dumbledore some closure, “He asked the person we sent there to talk to him to kill him, to stop You-Know-Who finding out who had the Elder Wand. He was crying about the fact he had let you down before he died...But it was you who had the Elder Wand, wasn’t it?”

“Yes,” Dumbledore replied, “And I am very impressed that you have worked this out.”

“It’s still with you, isn’t it?” Harry asked, “In your tomb?”

Dumbledore simply nodded, “Indeed it is.”

Harry’s frown deepened, “Then you know you’re going to die, surely?” he asked Snape.

“Yes,” Snape replied calmly, “The dark lord believes that I am the master of the Elder Wand. When it does not work for him, he will blame the fact that I am alive and he will kill me.”

“And you’re fine with that?” Draco asked angrily.

“I have nothing to live for,” Snape said, “I have done my duty to the school, I am ready to face death Draco.”

“You’ve done your duty?” Draco asked irritably, “You’ve done your duty to everyone apart from me, your goddamn Godson!”

“You are not a child anymore Draco, you do not need looking after,” Snape drawled.

“Like I ever got looked after,” Draco practically spat, “Just tell me one thing, is my Mother alive?”

Snape’s eyes darkened.

“Is she alive, Severus?” Draco snapped more loudly.

“Yes,” Snape said, catching Draco’s eye, “But she is being humiliated as punishment for your Father and Aunts failure. The Dark Lord has her under an Imperius Curse, he is using her as if she were a house elf.”

Draco growled angrily, and Neville stepped forward and grabbed his arm as the claws threatened to come out, “Happy place, remember?” he muttered, “Think about Hermione.”

“He is using my Mother as a house elf!” Draco shouted, and the claws came out in full force.

Neville grimaced, “I know, and it’s fucking disgusting but put them away. They aren’t going to do you any good here, and you’re scaring Astoria.”

Draco hissed angrily but retracted the claws anyway, ignoring the strange look that had passed across Severus’s face.

“We need to get out of here,” Harry muttered, “Before we get caught.”

“Are you going to let us leave?” Neville asked, eyeing Snape suspiciously.

Snape waved his hand nonchalantly, and the door clicked, “Be my guest,” he said coolly as it swung open silently.

They didn’t waste a second in bolting out of that door, getting as far away from Snape as they could, as fast as they could.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Ron and Daphne didn’t talk over his birthday dinner that evening. Remus and Tonks could tell that something had happened, and Hermione and Lilly had the common sense not to push as they trudged through an awkward meal. They all spent some time in the drawing room after that, Ron and Daphne sitting at separate ends of the room. The others stayed silent on the matter but they couldn’t help noticing the fact that every time Ron or Daphne thought the other person wasn’t looking they kept glancing across at them. 

They disappeared back to the cottage, separately. Hermione was half-expecting Daphne to step out of the fireplace again, but she had too much on her mind and for once she needed to work through it herself. She needed to figure out her priorities, and she could only do that alone. She lay in her darkened bedroom, staring up at the roof as her mind raced. It wasn’t a question of whether she wanted him or not, she knew she wanted him. She knew she had fallen in love with him. It was a question of whether she risked everything for him. It was a question of how much would change if she got up and walked across the hall tonight. She had never wanted anything as much as she had wanted him, never.

He changed her life, he made her doubt her opinions. He changed her view point on the world, she had once regarded him as a blood traitor but she would spit in the face of anyone who called him that now. She had already fallen for him, but making that leap would be complete surrender and she wasn’t sure if she was ready for that. 

The things that people had said to her over the past few weeks rang through her head as she lay in the room, listening to the owls hoot softly outside.

“This is a war Daphne, you don’t know how much time you have left.”

“There’s going to be a big battle...he’ll be on the front line...you know him, he’ll be in the danger zone.”

“I don’t want you to miss out on a lost opportunity.”

She groaned and stared angrily at the plain roof, as if it would somehow answer her questions. If she told Ron tonight that she was in love with him, if she gave into that temptation, she would have a day of pure bliss with him. But was that going to help or make things worse? The logical part of her brain said it would make it all the harder to go into battle with him. But then there was her heart, and her heart said that some time together, some memories, would be appreciated sincerely if anything did happen to him in the battle.

And then there was Ron to think about. She had always considered the fact that he might die, but she had never thought about what her own death would do to him. He felt the same as her, he felt just as strongly about her. Surely she owed him something? But then it was all for the wrong reasons! And would this even have come about if there hadn’t been a war? 

She rolled over and stared out of the window irritably, the darkened gardens didn’t hold any of the answers to her questions either. Daphne closed her eyes tightly, it all came down to one decision because as soon as she got up and crossed the hall she couldn’t turn back. She couldn’t go back once she knocked on the door to his bedroom. The question was, did she do the bold thing and take a risk? Or did she play it safe and potentially live to regret it?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A mere few feet away Ron was lying in his bed, covers kicked to the side because he was far too hot in this proper little house. He was used to shivering every night in the Room of Requirement which always seemed to be cold, regardless of the amount of bodies crammed into it. He watched the shadows dance across the roof from the candle that was burning on his bedside.

He had been reading, but he had given up on that when he realised that the only thing on his mind was Daphne. Daphne bloody Greengrass. The ice queen, the ice queen with a heart of pure gold. She was no queen, she was an angel. He admired her, he was in awe of her, he loved her. Oh Merlin, he loved her so much. Too much.

Part of him knew that she was right, he knew that they shouldn’t be together because of the fact they were essentially running an entire rebellion between them. But she was so strong, and brave, and her smile made his day. Seeing her smiling at him in the morning got him through the shittiest days, and seeing her smile in the evening filled his dreams with angels with long flowing blonde hair and dazzlingly blue eyes.

He knew he couldn’t give her what she needed in the long run. But what she needed and what she wanted were very different things. He knew she was expected to make a good pure-blood marriage to some pretentious arse like Theodore Nott or Blaise Zabini. He knew things would change after the war, their world was so insular right now. Nothing seemed to exist beyond the walls of Hogwarts and Bones Manor. But there was a world out there, and when that world was exposed Daphne would be embarrassed to be seen with a blood traitor like him.

Or would she? A little voice in his head asked, because she wasn’t your average pure-blood girl. She was the toughest person he knew, tougher than any man he knew in fact. That little voice wondered if she would tell the people who called her out on her choice of boyfriend idiots and smile at him in that way that dazzled him.

Then of course thinking of after the war made him wonder if there would be an after the war. He knew he could die, and he knew that she could die. He had seen what happened in war, he had seen Draco Malfoy get maimed and have his entire life changed. He had seen Hermione nearly die, he had seen Neville Longbottom, the most cautious guy he knew, become a creature traditionally regarded as a monster. He knew how fragile their lives were, and if he was going to die he wanted that girl in his memories before he did. He had protested for so long, he had convinced himself that it was a bad idea, but his willpower was growing weaker by the day and their meddling bloody friends hadn’t helped the situation.

He pushed himself into a sitting position and swung his legs out of the bed, thinking very seriously about going to her and telling her to stop being so bloody stupid. There was a line, a very fine line, between them being friends and them being lovers and gods he was tempted to cross it.

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Daphne blew out a breath and pushed herself up. She felt a little sick, her stomach jolted and butterflies seemed to flutter around inside at several hundred miles an hour. Her feet fell silently onto the cold stone floor and she drew in a deep breath.

She had to make a decision tonight. They couldn’t go back to Hogwarts like this, they were in limbo, she had to decide one way or another right here and now. 

Her heart wanted Ron, it wanted him so badly. But her head told her that love wasn’t an option in a time like this. She gripped the edge of the bed so hard that her knuckles went white. She wished she could speak to her Mother, or her sister, she needed to know what to do.

Do what everyone has been telling you, a voice inside her head said, go to him, go to him before it’s too late.

She shut her eyes tightly, images flashed before her. Smiles, and laughs, and hugs and the relief that flooded through her when he walked through the door after a particularly dangerous raid. She imagined a world without that smiling face and felt tears prick at her eyes, although they were shut too tightly to let any of those tears fall. When she opened her eyes there was a determined glint in them. She couldn’t do nothing because if she lost Ron in this war she would spend a lifetime working for the Department of Mysteries trying to send herself back to this moment so she could fly across that corridor into his arms.

Upon this realisation she got to her feet a little shakily and stared resolutely at the door, as if willing it to open of its own accord. It wasn’t going to, and if she stopped now she would never make it out of this room. She steeled herself and blew out a final shaky breath before taking two short steps and gripping the old brass handle.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

He had to tell her. He had to say it. Maybe she knew he had feelings for her, but Ron had never told Daphne that he loved her and he had to do that at the very least.

If he never did and Merlin forbid, something happened to her, he would never forgive himself. Never. He knew that things were coming to a head, he wasn’t stupid. People lied all of the time in war, but he had gotten good at deciphering the truth hidden beneath the lies.

Remus had said that there wasn’t any bad news in the paper, but he had said the war would be over within the year, one way or another. 

The horcrux would be found soon by his older brother, it would be destroyed and when that happened everything else would follow. Tonight could well be his last chance, his only chance to tell Daphne that he loved her. 

He let out a breath he hadn’t realised that he had been holding and he got to his feet. He had never loved anyone before, what he had felt for Hermione had been no more than a mere schoolboy crush and even he didn’t know what his ‘thing’ with Lavender had been about. But thinking about Daphne set his heart on fire. She made him think about things he had never thought about, she challenged his perceptions, taught him to be a better person, called his bullshit prejudices out for what they were. He could die in a day, or a week, or a month. Or he could live until he was an old man. He didn’t know his own fate, but he did know that what he did tonight would change it one way or another and despite everything else that tonight’s decision would affect, only one thing really mattered when it came to making that decision.

It was a simple question. If he did not go to her tonight would he live to regret it? The answer was an instant yes, and it propelled him towards the door. He did not hesitate for a moment longer as he pulled on the handle and stepped out into the hallway, determination gleaming on his face. He had worked his way up to storming across the hall and banging her door down.

Naturally, he froze in surprise when he was faced with the girl who had been occupying his thoughts all night. She stopped in her tracks too, and the sight must have been hilarious. Ron stood in his old, slightly too small, maroon pyjama trousers, and Daphne stood opposite him in her Slytherin green silk ones. They must have looked ridiculous, staring at each other in that hallway. The moment barely lasted for a few seconds, but at the time it felt like they stood frozen in that hallway for hours.

Daphne broke the silence, “I can’t,” she said simply.

“Neither can I,” Ron said, his voice low and husky as he took the final step needed to meet her in the middle of the hall. His lips claimed hers instantly, and she let out a small gasp of surprise as he pressed her back into the stone wall. She kissed him back with as much fervour, the tension that they had been holding in for so long finally being released. He broke the kiss for long enough to lift her up, and she wrapped her legs around him instinctively. Somehow subconsciously she knew what he was going to do. Subconsciously she had expected this to happen. His sheer strength didn’t surprise her, he was lanky but strong, she knew that. He claimed her mouth once more as he carried her with ease into her bedroom, shutting the door behind him with a loud click.

He dropped her onto the bed, and when Daphne looked up at him she knew that she had been right. That line had definitely been crossed and there was no going back, but she found that she didn’t want to go back.

He kissed her again, but it was different this time. It wasn’t so desperate, it was more like the kiss on the broom. Soft, gentle and caring, like Ron. She deepened the kiss and ran her hands through his hair, which she loved longer (although she doubted she would ever tell him that). He lowered himself to kiss her easier, and she gasped when she felt quite how much of an effect she had had on him.

He broke the kiss, looking her with uncertainty, “I’m sorry, I’ve just wanted this for-”

Daphne shook her head and pulled him down once more, “Me too,” she mumbled against his lips, moaning into his mouth as his hands began to roam now that she had given him permission. 

He was so careful, despite how long a wait there had been for this it wasn’t a mad rush. It wasn’t a desperate hook up, they were savouring it and they both knew why. This might well be the first, last and only time they would do this. They both acknowledged that and respected that, and the fact that Ron was so okay with that told Daphne quite how much he had grown up throughout the course of the war.

Their clothes were gradually discarded until they were practically bare with each other, a few meagre pieces of fabric separating them. By that point Daphne had pulled herself up onto her knees to kiss him easier because he was too damn tall. They were pressed tightly together, each wanting and needing to feel as much flesh as they possibly could. 

“We don’t have to do this,” Ron said as he kissed a soft, tender spot on her neck, “I know it’s your first time, I want it to be special for you.”

Daphne threw her head back, “This is special, you idiot,” she moaned.

He laughed and the sound echoed around the small room, “We’re in an old cottage on our friend’s estate,” he said, his lips leaving her mouth so that he could look at her properly.

“It’s not the place,” Daphne said, her eyes locking onto his, “It’s you. I don’t want this because I don’t want to die a virgin, I want it because I love you.”

The revelation should have stunned Ron, but he had known for a while even if he had never let Daphne know that, or told her that he felt the same. So he just smiled at her and whispered, “I know, and I feel the same,” his lips found hers once more and he grabbed his wand from the bedside table, removing the final layer that separated them.

Daphne’s eyes flashed with fear, and anticipation. Ron’s eyes were so warm and kind though, and she knew that he would only ever be good to her. He would never rush anything, he would treat this night with the respect it deserved. He gently pushed her down onto the bed and hovered above her, his eyes raking over her.

“Do you have to do that?” Daphne asked, a little self-consciously.

“Yes,” Ron said softly, looking into her eyes, “I want to burn every second of this into my memory, I want to remember every detail.”

Daphne’s cheeks flushed with colour, and she was grateful when Ron kissed her softly, “Are you sure?” he whispered against her lips.

“I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life,” Daphne whispered back.

“I’m going to use a soothing charm, so it doesn’t hurt, okay?”

“Okay,” Daphne breathed.

“Relax Daph,” Ron whispered into her ear, “It’s just me, nothing scary.”

She smiled very slightly at those words and gasped when she felt him move against her. It wasn’t because she was in pain, it was a gasp of surprise. But she relaxed when his lips claimed hers once more, and her eyes fluttered shut as her hands slipped over his muscular arms. He moved slowly and carefully, and Daphne fell in love with him a little more that night. Well in fact, she fell in love with him a lot more. 

She had always wondered about this moment, she had known it wasn’t right with Draco and there hadn’t been a serious boyfriend after that. Not until Ron, and even he wasn’t her boyfriend, strictly speaking. But she was glad she had waited, she was glad it was him for her because she could not imagine someone sweeter, someone more caring, someone who loved her that much. It was like they were surrounded by a buzz of magic, they couldn’t hear it but they could feel it around them. They moved perfectly with each other, Daphne’s moans were mirrored with Ron’s gasps. They breathed heavily, their chests heaving against each other, their sweat soaked bodies sliding easily against each other. 

When it all came to a head, it was a sweaty mess. Daphne called his name and had she not been in complete ecstasy she would have mentally thanked Hermione and Lilly for giving her and Ron the cottage. But she was in complete ecstasy so such a thought never crossed her mind. Ron held her tightly, his breathing as erratic as his movements as he whispered throatily, “I love you Daphne, I’m sorry that I never said it, but I love you.”

That was the catalyst, those were the words that made her come apart beneath him. They gasped and panted and tried to catch their breath in the aftermath. Daphne smiled slightly, she had never felt more content and satisfied, and that was not just in a purely physical sense. She had spent 6 months falling in love with Ronald Weasley and she had been forced to be content with the smallest of physical contact, with smiles and conversations held without words. She had longed for this, and it had been nothing short of perfect. 

He caught his breath and rolled to the side, getting as close to her as possible. Her smile widened, of course he was a cuddler, had she expected anything less from him? 

“I mean it you know,” Ron breathed, “I love you.”

Daphne turned her head to look at him, tears sparkling in her blue eyes, “I know, and I love you too.”

“Why are you crying?” Ron asked, gently wiping the stray tears away with his thumb.

“You know why,” Daphne said, her voice breaking, “We have to go back to Hogwarts tomorrow. We have to go back to our lives, pretending this never happened and...it won’t now.”

“Not until after the battle at least,” Ron said.

“What if there isn’t an after the battle for one of us Ron?” Daphne asked, it was the forbidden thought, the thing they knew could happen but never really acknowledged.

“There will be,” Ron said firmly, his blue eyes gazing intently into her soul, “I love you too much to die on you now. You aren’t getting rid of me that easily.”

Daphne smiled tearfully and kissed his lips lightly, “So this isn’t a goodbye?”

“It’s not a goodbye,” Ron murmured against her lips, “It’s a see you later.”

TBC :)


	59. The Half-Blood Prince's Tale

The drawing room of Bones Manor was a place of solace. It was where everyone could sit together and read, where they could be comfortable with their friends and family, but alone in their own world. It was always very quiet, apart from when it was being used as a makeshift hospital wing of course. As such the smallest of sounds could easily be heard, and as noon approached on the 3rd of March, the occupants of the room heard Ron and Daphne’s every footstep as they walked up the wooden stairs together.

Hermione glanced up when they walked in, she smiled slightly at the fact they were holding hands, their fingers intertwined.

“You missed breakfast,” Lilly said with a slight smile.

“We decided to eat in the cottage,” Daphne said with a smile that gave her away completely, “We were enjoying the peace and quiet while we could.”

“Of course you were,” Tonks said with a knowing smile.

“I guess you worked out your differences then,” Hermione said, looking at their joint hands.

“Yeah,” Ron said with a sheepish smile, “In the end.”

“So what happens now, when you go back?” Lilly asked curiously. 

“We go back to life as normal,” Daphne said honestly, “But at least we won’t have any regrets now if things don’t go the way we want in this battle we all know is coming.”

“I’m happy for you both,” Tonks said with a smile, “Take care of each other when you go back.”

“We will,” Ron promised.

“We always do,” Daphne said, smiling at the redhead and dropping his hand, “Are you ready to go back?”

“No, I’m not,” Ron said honestly, “But we don’t have a choice. After you,” he gestured through the mirror.

“Thanks for these last few days,” Daphne said, hugging her two friends and kissing Tonks on the cheek, “And tell us as soon as that baby is born, I can’t wait to meet him.”

“Of course,” Tonks smiled, waving goodbye as they stepped into the mirror and it de-activated.

Hermione and Lilly caught each other’s eyes and grinned, “They totally did.”

“Oh yeah,” Lilly smirked, “They went there.”

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“Welcome back to hotel Hogwarts,” Harry joked when they stepped out of the mirror.

“I wish we could have stayed at Hotel Bones Manor,” Ron chortled, “That cottage they let us stay in was so nice.”

“I thought you would appreciate it,” Susan said brightly, “It’s a great little place, so isolated.”

Daphne hid an amused smile at the word ‘isolated’ and asked, “Was everything alright when we were gone?”

“Yeah,” Draco said with a wave of his hand, “The kids were well behaved.”

“We just had the one little blip,” Neville admitted sheepishly.

“What happened?” Daphne asked, narrowing her eyes at her friends.

“Well, we sort of had to...rescue your sister,” Harry said quickly.

“From Snape’s office,” Draco added. 

“What?” Ron snapped, “Why the hell was Astoria in Snape’s office?”

“She snuck out with one of the raiding parties,” Neville replied, “I don’t know why.”

“I’m going to bloody well kill her,” Daphne muttered, “She’s alright isn’t she?”

“She’s fine, just a bit shaken up,” Draco replied honestly.

“But Snape did catch us,” Harry said, “But it’s okay, I think he’s on our side. He gave me a phial of memories and told me to watch them alone. Apparently it will explain a lot, and Dumbledore’s portrait said that he had asked Snape to kill him, to put him out of his misery.”

“Snape could have enchanted the portrait, Harry,” Ron pointed out, “How do you know he hasn’t told You-Know-Who you were here?”

“Uh because he has a giant snake on his arm that tells You-Know-Who that serious shit is going down and he didn’t press it?” Draco said, “I mean I hate to point out the obviously Weasley but with you it’s necessary-”

“- Oh shut up Draco!” Daphne snapped, “You’ve been leading this thing for 2 days, he has done it for 6 months!”

Draco raised an eyebrow at his friend, “Sticking up for your boyfriend, Daphne?”

Daphne’s eyes flashed angrily and she punched Draco in the face, right in the face. Harry had to hide an amused smirk as he silently thought to himself that Draco had really deserved that.

Ron grinned, “Thank you Daphne, are we ready to kick these idiots out and get our rebellion back under control?”

“I do believe we are,” Daphne said matter of factly, she reached behind her and activated the mirror, “On you go boys.”

They obligingly walked through the mirror, Harry sniggering at Draco all the while. Neville stole a quick kiss from Ginny before leaving, under Ron’s watchful eyes. When they were gone and the mirror had been de-activated Daphne shook her head, “We leave for one day and they get caught by Snape.”

“Never should have taken that holiday,” Ron joked.

“Was it worth it?” Susan asked, looking between them with narrowed eyes as she tried to work out exactly what had happened over the past two days.

“Yeah,” Ron and Daphne replied simultaneously, catching each other’s eyes.

“Oh my god,” Susan said, her eyes widening, “You two-”

“Ugh,” Ginny said with a shake of her head, “Before I hear anything about my brothers sex life, I’m gonna go bat-bogey myself in the face.”

Daphne laughed at the image conjured up by the younger girls words, and Ron’s ears immediately turned bright red, “Come on Ron,” she said calmly as she stepped into the main mess hall, “We have a rebellion to run.”

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“What the hell happened to you?”

“Daphne,” Draco replied with a roll of his eyes, “Can you fix noses?”

Hermione nodded, “Uh-huh, but tell me what happened first so I can work out if you deserve a numbing charm or not.”

“He insulted her for sticking up for her ‘boyfriend’, in other words Ron,” Harry said matter of factly.

“You bloody arse,” Hermione said, “Episkey!”

“Fucking hell! Ouch!” Draco shouted.

“It doesn’t hurt that much,” Harry snorted, “I would know, you did break my nose in 6th year after all...”

“You deserved it, you were spying on me!”

“Well I thought you were working for You-Know-Who!”

“I was working for him, but that’s not the point! You nosy little shit,” Draco said, sitting down heavily on the sofa.

Neville shook his head at the boy, “You need to control your anger.”

“Says the guy who nearly clawed Severus Snape to death,” Draco snorted, “You need to control your temper.”

“Uh excuse me, your claws came out too,” Neville said irritably.

“I controlled my temper, for once,” Harry said smugly, “Where’s Remus?”

“Asleep,” Tonks said, “And why were you talking to Snape?”

“Because he gave me this,” Harry said, pulling the phial of memories from his pocket, “He said I’d understand the whole thing about me dying better. But he told me to watch them alone, I’m guessing that they are his memories.”

“That and Dumbledore’s portrait told us that Snape killed him to put him out of his misery,” Neville added, “So we’re pretty sure he’s on our side.”

“Well Remus always said that he was,” Tonks mused, “And Dumbledore trusted Snape with his life.”

“If he is on our side he’s doing a terrible job of showing it,” Draco said, “I mean the school is still a mess.”

“He can’t do everything perfectly though can he?” Harry said, “Or You-Know-Who would get suspicious.”

“You’re right,” Tonks said slowly, “But it’s certainly worth talking to Remus about when he wakes up. And those memories could be really useful Harry.”

“I’ll watch them later,” Harry yawned, “Snape said that I should wait until battle was imminent. To be honest, for now I want to sleep, that was exhausting. I don’t know how Ron and Daphne do it.”

“Me either,” Draco said, resting his head on Hermione’s shoulder and shutting his eyes.

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March dragged on. The map of Gringotts was finally beginning to come together with animated dots flickering in and out of existence. Remus and Hermione were perfecting it so there wouldn’t be any awkward malfunctions for Bill. There was not much for the others to do, apart from shoot sideways looks at Tonks every few days closer to her due date she got. March’s full moon came and went uneventfully, for once, and Harry began to plan with a fervour. The Gringotts plan came together well and it came together easily.

As it was a single person operation there was only so much planning they could really do. Harry sat down with Bill and explained what he thought he should do, but Bill was free to make changes. He showed him the map and promised that in a few weeks it would be working consistently, and he also gave Bill a brief go under the cloak which barely covered him considering his height and build. He had decided to disillusion himself underneath the cloak to be safe, just in case his feet showed if he had to twist around a corner quickly. 

When their little planning session was over, Harry had been forced to sit down with everyone else staying at Bones Manor to work out how this battle was going to play out. The biggest question that they could not answer was how they would evacuate Hogwarts. But they had decided that they would have to find room for an entire school of students in Bones Manor somehow. Remus and Tonks were given the job of staying at the Manor (because Tonks would probably not long have given birth which would mean she would be in no state to fight in a battle). They talked amongst themselves and decided that they had to hope for a dry few days because the only place they could fit that many students would be the grounds.

Harry had to work out the logistics of getting the students out of Hogwarts, but that was a separate planning session. One he would be having with Ron, Daphne and possibly Susan and Ginny.

They couldn’t predict what would happen when the actual battle began, because none of them were seers. But they did decide to issue the call to arms on the old DA coins to bring the likes of Fred, George, Angelina and Oliver, to the battle. They also figured that they would need a professor on their side, probably McGonagall, to send out a patronus and bring the members of the order to the battle. All that they knew beyond that was that somebody would have to kill the snake, and Harry would have to die at Voldemort’s hand. 

As March wore on and Lilly’s first real birthday approached, Harry hopped over to Hogwarts to discuss his plans with the other half of his following. He, Ron and Daphne set up tables and chairs in the secret room to hold the ‘meeting’. Harry filled them in on everything he and the others had decided and they talked about the possibilities for getting the students out. In the end it was decided that the mirror would be enlarged to fit the wall in the secret room, enabling about 6 students to come through at a time. Harry promised to enlarge the mirror on the Bones Manor side to the same size, if not bigger. He made them promise to leave the elder wand where it was. He then left Hogwarts having been assured by Ron that he would talk to McGonagall about summoning the order members when the battle was clearly imminent.

Remus had been right. The entire thing felt very well planned when Lilly’s birthday (and consequently Tonks’s due date) loomed on the 27th of March. The map had been finished a few days earlier which meant that they were entirely ready to launch the mission but Harry had promised to wait until the end of March which meant a few days of sitting around, hoping Tonks would go into labour sooner rather than later...

“Happy Birthday!”

Lilly frowned, “It’s not...oh god that’s weird.”

Harry smiled sheepishly at her, “I know, finding out your birthday isn’t actually your birthday after 17 years must be...”

“It is,” Lilly said, “Very weird.”

“Well,” Harry said, his eyes darkening, “As morbid as it is, at least you get to spend it with me.”

“Don’t say that,” Lilly said, glancing downwards.

“The battle will have happened by the time it gets to your other birthday,” Harry said quietly, “And you know what that means.”

“Yes, I know, I don’t need you to keep reminding me,” Lilly said curtly, “Is this my birthday present? You being here and talking about death?”

“No, I’m sorry,” Harry sighed, kissing her gently and wrapping his arms around her as they lay in bed together, “I had a whole other birthday planned for you. It involved staying in bed until at least noon.”

Lilly smiled slightly and kissed him back. Her eyes fluttered shut, and her hands instinctively got lost in his messy hair. She squealed in surprise when he pulled her on top of him, deepening the kiss as he did so.

“I like the sound of that birthday present,” Lilly murmured against his lips.

Harry chuckled, the sound coming from the back of his throat, “I thought you might,” he whispered, sliding his hands down her body, savouring the feel of her soft skin. He fully intended to give her a birthday that she would never forgot, but as he pulled her tighter to him and grabbed his wand he saw something flash in her eyes.

“What is it?” Harry asked softly, his face inches from hers, his wand still in his hand.

“Can we not use the spell, just this once?” Lilly asked, it was barely even a whisper. Harry struggled to hear her in fact.

“What?”

“The charm,” Lilly said, meeting his eyes with her desperate blue ones, “Can we not use it?”

Harry frowned, “Why?”

Tears glistened in her eyes and she rolled away, facing the window and refusing to look at him. 

“Why, Lil?” Harry asked as he shuffled closer to her and held her tightly.

“Because you’re going to die,” Lilly sobbed, “And at least then I would always have a piece of you.”

Harry sighed sadly and shut his eyes tightly, blocking out the tears, “No,” he said, his voice broken, “That is not the way to go about things.”

“I know,” Lilly said, pulling her knees up tightly, “But I just don’t want to lose you Harry.”

Harry tightened his grip on her and let his tears fall, “I don’t want to die either, but we shouldn’t do things for the wrong reasons, we should never do that.”

“Why not?” Lilly cried, “It’s probably how both of us came about!”

“And look at the state of us Lilly,” Harry said, forcing her to turn around, “Neither of us had parents because the war took them. Do you really want to inflict our pain on a baby?”

Lilly nodded, “I know that you’re right,” she said, rubbing her face with the blanket, “But I’m scared.”

“So am I,” Harry said, pushing himself from bed and grabbing his pyjama bottoms from the floor, “But I haven’t given up yet. I might not have found a way around this, but I’m not resigned to dying, not yet. Let’s watch the memories from Snape, maybe there will be an answer in them.”

Lilly looked at him sceptically, “You still think there’s an answer, after all of this time?”

“I think there is an answer,” Harry said firmly, “I’ll borrow the pensieve and bring it over here and we’ll watch them together. Okay?”

“Okay,” Lilly whispered.

Harry leant down and kissed her on the cheek, “I’ll be right back,” he promised as he slipped out of the room and tiptoed silently across the hall. He heard murmuring coming from inside Remus and Tonks’s room so he knocked tentatively.

“Come in!”

Harry stepped inside and found Tonks lying in bed, and Remus sitting by the window reading a book.

“Morning Harry,” Tonks yawned, “Do you think this baby will make an appearance today? I feel like a beached whale.”

Harry laughed weakly and shut the door behind him, “I hope so.”

“What can we do for you at this morning, Harry?” Remus asked, seeing that the boy looked uneasy.

“I need to borrow your pensieve Remus,” Harry said, “I think it’s time to watch those memories from Snape. This battle could come tomorrow or in two weeks but it’s definitely coming soon.”

Remus nodded, “You are free to use it whenever you wish, but something else is troubling you.”

Harry bit his lip, he opened his mouth to say something and then shut it again and shook his head.

Tonks smiled sleepily and patted the bed, “Sit down and talk to us sweetheart.”

Harry was torn between keeping Lilly’s break-down a secret, and talking to people who actually understood about it. In the end his need to understand what was going on in his girlfriend’s head won out so he sat down next to Tonks. He brought his legs up and crossed them, looking pensive for a moment.

“Lilly just said something really odd to me,” Harry said after a long moment, “And really scary too...”

Remus frowned, “What happened?”

Harry’s cheeks flushed, “It’s just...it’s awkward.”

Tonks chuckled, “It’s alright, you can talk to us about anything Harry. We aren’t going to judge you.”

“Well,” Harry said, looking at a patch on the bed, “We were about to do what couples do on each other’s birthday’s and I was going to use the protective charm....and she asked me not to.”

“You better have used it Harry,” Remus said, an odd firmness in his voice.

“I just said no,” Harry said quickly, “And then she cried...a lot.”

Tonks sighed, “It’s because of the horcrux, isn’t it?”

Harry nodded and continued to stare down at the bed.

“I think I might need to have a word with Lilly,” Tonks said, glancing anxiously at her husband.

“No, no!” Harry said, looking up sharply, “You can’t tell her that I told you, she’ll be mortified!”

“If she approaches me about it then,” Tonks reasoned, “And I think she will.”

“Okay,” Harry said with a nod, “But...well it made me wonder. Was I only born because of the war? I mean my Mum would have been 19 when she got pregnant and my parents were 20 when I was born...was I an accident Remus?”

Remus sighed and walked over to the bed, sitting down next to Harry, “No Harry, it was nothing like thatt. Your Mum and Dad were young, yes, but they weren’t as young as you and Lilly. They finished school in 1978, and they were married on the 8th of September 1979. You were most certainly not an accident, they always wanted a baby, you just came a little earlier than they were expecting.” 

“Okay,” Harry said, a little relieved, “I told Lilly why I didn’t want to...”

“Do you want to tell us why that was?” Tonks asked gently.

“We were both born in a war...Lilly and me,” Harry said quietly, “And neither of us ever had any parents because of it. I wouldn’t want to inflict everything we went through as kids onto a baby.”

Remus smiled sadly at him, “That’s very wise and mature of you, but you got one thing wrong. You never had no parents, you have had me since you were 13.”

“And me since you were 15,” Tonks piped up with a smile.

Harry smiled tearfully at them and got to his feet, “I know, and I’ll stay until the baby is born, I promise. But I have to watch those memories.”

Remus nodded and watched Harry retrieve the pensieve from the cupboard, “Harry, I have to warn you of something.”

Harry frowned when he turned to the man, “What?”

“You might not like everything you see in those memories, you might not like the way your Dad comes across,” Remus said slowly, “And you might not like the way things were between your Mum and Severus. If that is the case and you need to talk about it, I will be here. Okay?”

“Okay,” Harry said, anxious about what he would find in Snape’s memories now, “Thank you Remus.”

Remus just nodded, a dark look still lingering in his eyes. Harry left the room and made his way back across the hall to the room he shared with Lilly. She had gotten dressed, but her eyes were still red and puffy. She looked embarrassed, and he knew that they would have to talk about this properly but first they would watch the memories, in the hope they would bring them some closure at the very least.

“Are you ready?” Harry asked, placing the pensieve on the bedside table and pouring the phial of memories into it.

Lilly blew out a shaky breath and nodded. She stood by Harry’s side and gripped his hand tightly as he plunged them into the past.

They remained hand in hand as they stood in a deserted playground and watched Severus Snape watching two sisters, Harry’s Mother and his Aunt Petunia. They watched in silence as Lily did magic and scared her sister, and Harry finally began to understand why his Aunt was the way that she was. They watched as Snape came out of the bushes and tried to speak to them, watched as he was embarrassed in his attempts. Harry actually felt a twinge of sympathy towards him. 

Lilly frowned as the scene changed so that they were watching Harry’s Mother and Snape sitting in a thicket of trees together. They were discussing Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic, and this fascinating world that Lily Evans had only ever dreamed about. There was one vital moment which made both Harry and Lilly freeze.

“Does it make a difference, being Muggle-born?”

They watched Snape survey her, wondering what he was going to say until eventually he said, “No, it doesn’t make any difference.”

“He lied to her,” Harry whispered, more to himself than to his girlfriend but she tightened her grip in his hand anyway. They watched as Snape fumbled over his words, he clearly had a childhood crush on Harry’s Mother which was strangely unnerving. But their privacy was ruined when they discovered Petunia spying on them, she insulted Snape and mysteriously ended up injured seconds later. Lily turned on Snape and blamed him before running off after her sister.

The scene changed again, they were on Platform 9 ¾ which had not changed a single bit in the years between Harry’s Mother going to Hogwarts and himself heading off to the school. They watched silently as Lily apologised to Petunia for leaving, and Petunia’s grudge against her sister was clearly born. They watched the scene change and found themselves on the Hogwarts Express, they watched Snape sit down with Lily in a compartment on the train. He said that she had better be in Slytherin, and it set off a chain reaction in the carriage. 

Harry’s heart caught in his throat when he saw his Father, mouthing off about how he would rather leave than be in Slytherin to another boy who was clearly...

“Sirius,” Harry breathed, “Lilly, that’s your Dad,” he said.

Lilly had already noticed, her eyes wide. She could only nod as Sirius told James that his whole family had been in Slytherin, but that he was hoping to break the tradition. He asked James where he reckoned he would be heading and Harry’s father held up an invisible sword, “Gryffindor, like my Dad,” he said.

Lilly tightened her grip on Harry’s hand once more as this caused a scene because Snape of course was against Gryffindor entirely. Lily defended her friend and they moved to a new compartment, with James and Sirius insulting them as they left.

“He was a bully,” Harry muttered as the scene changed.

“My Dad was a bully too,” Lilly said quietly, “You aren’t alone in that.”

“I know, I’m sorry,” Harry sighed as they watched the sorting ceremony. They saw James, Sirius, Lily, Remus and Peter fucking Pettigrew become Gryffindors, and Snape of course went straight to Slytherin. 

They continued to watch as the memories rolled by. They watched Snape and Lily’s friendship begin to fall apart because of his tendency to surround himself with evil bastards who Harry knew would become Death Eaters in later life. Harry realised how Snape’s bitterness about his Father came about, he clearly still held onto his crush on Lily, and by this point James’s interest in her had manifested itself. He saw the memory he had witnessed in his 5th year, Snape’s embarrassment as James bullied him relentlessly, the way he spat the word “Mudblood” at Lily.

“It’s like watching Draco and Hermione,” Lilly whispered.

“Draco treated Hermione worse,” Harry said honestly, “And she still fell in love with him.”

The scene had changed, Snape was trying to apologise to Lily in front of the portrait of the fat lady but she wasn’t letting him. They fell silent to listen, it had been the final straw and she stalked away from him, it was over. The scene changed again, and it took longer this time. He felt a little queasy, as if he was apparating. When things settled Harry and Lilly found themselves watching Snape and a younger Dumbledore in conversation. 

Harry watched with horror as Snape begged Dumbledore to hide Lily and her family. It was apparent that he didn’t care for Harry or James’s fate, that all he cared about was Lily’s welfare. Dumbledore was disgusted by the sentiment, but agreed to keep the Potter’s safe in return for Severus’s service to him. This was the moment Severus Snape became a spy. 

As the scene changed and they found themselves in Dumbledore’s office, Harry had to fight the anger and the sick feeling in his stomach. He saw Snape asking Dumbledore why she had died, why he hadn’t protected her. But of course it wasn’t Dumbledore’s fault that the Potter’s had put their faith in the wrong person, in Peter Pettigrew. All of the dots began to connect as he watched Dumbledore tell Snape that if he loved Lily he would protect her son, him. 

“Are you okay?” Lilly asked softly.

Harry nodded, but he could not form words. He wanted this to be over, this horrible experience, how could Snape be the good guy in all of this? How was that even possible? He forced himself to watch as Dumbledore and Snape discussed the darkening of Snape and Karkaroff’s dark marks in Harry and Lilly’s 4th year. They watched as they jumped to 6th year, to Snape trying to heal Dumbledore’s crippled hand, watched Snape criticise Dumbledore for putting the ring on and cursing himself. They saw Snape tell Dumbledore that the curse would strengthen over time. Their suspicions had been right, they realised this as they watched Dumbledore tell Snape that he must kill him rather than allow Draco to do so. They watched Dumbledore and Snape talk about Harry, argue about him.

Eventually the vital memory began to play out in front of them. The one that contained the answers that they both needed.

“If there comes a time when lord Voldemort stops sending that snake forth to do his bidding, but keeps it safe beside him, under magical protection, then, I think, it will be safe to tell Harry.”

“Tell him what?”

“Tell him that on the night Lord Voldemort tried to kill him, when Lily cast her own life between them as a shield, the Killing Curse rebounded upon Lord Voldemort, and a fragment of Voldemort’s soul was blasted apart from the whole, and latched itself on to the only living soul left in that collapsing building. Part of Lord Voldemort lives inside Harry, and it is that which gives him the power of speech with snakes, and a connection with Lord Voldemort’s mind that he has never understood. And while that fragment of soul, unmissed by Voldemort, remains attached to, and protected by Harry, Lord Voldemort cannot die.”

Harry swallowed hard, his hand sweating in Lilly’s as the thing they had all dreaded was finally confirmed. 

“So the boy must die?”

“And Voldemort himself must do it, Severus. That is essential.”

Harry missed the importance of this comment, but Lilly didn’t. She frowned, mulling over the significance of this one simple sentence as Harry watched the scene unfold, horror dawning on his face.

“I thought we were protecting him for her. For Lily.”

“We were protecting him because it has been essential to raise him, to let him try his strength. Yet the connection between them grows stronger, a parasitic growth. Sometimes I have suspected that Harry himself knows it...but his new friendships this year have made him all the stronger.”

“You have kept him alive so that he can die at the right moment?”

“Don’t be shocked Severus. How many men and women have you watched die?”

“Lately, only those whom I could not save.”

Harry’s mouth was dry as Snape came to the realisation that Dumbledore had used him. He watched as Snape’s patronus manifested itself, a silver doe for Lily because he was still in love with her...

The scene changed, and oh God did Harry want this to be over. He saw Dumbledore and Snape discussing the plan to remove Harry from Privet Drive. He saw Snape crying on the floor of Sirius’s bedroom as she clutched the letter from Lily, the half that had been missing. The part that was signed with her love. It all came to an end and Harry very nearly wretched when he had seen it all. He threw open the window and hung out of it, breathing heavily.

“Harry,” Lilly said, tugging at his arm, “Harry, there is good news in this.”

“Good news?” Harry asked in disbelief, “Dumbledore knew! He always knew and he was raising me so that I could die at the right moment! I was just another pawn in his game, he manipulated me! He used me! HE EXPECTED ME TO BE OKAY WITH DYING TO SAVE EVERYONE ELSE!”

Harry was panting, feeling sick with anger and feeling a seething, burning hatred for the man he had once admired, “HE IS JUST LIKE GRINDELWALD! HE MAKES ME SICK LILLY, FUCKING SICK!”

The door was forced open with a snap, and Remus stepped in, alarm shining on his face. His room was just across the hall, and Harry had practically been screaming, “What’s happened?”

“Dumbledore knew!” Harry spat, “He knew I was a horcrux and he never told me! HE AND SNAPE KEPT ME ALIVE SO I COULD DIE AT THE RIGHT TIME TO SAVE EVERYONE ELSE! MY ENTIRE LIFE HAS BEEN MANIPULATED BY THAT SICK OLD BASTARD!”

Harry gripped the windowsill so hard that the splintering wood dug into his hands and fingers, but he didn’t care. He had never felt so angry, “And there were no answers! None at all! So that’s it now, there is no hope, I am going to die!”

“No!” Lilly exclaimed, “There is hope! There is! You just didn’t see it, you didn’t understand but Dumbledore said something Harry. He gave us a new piece of information.”

“Oh and what was that?” Harry asked bitterly as his screaming rant drew the other occupants of the house to the room (with the exception of Tonks who as she had rightly put it, did resemble a beached whale at the moment).

“Dumbledore said that You-Know-Who had to kill you,” Lilly said, “He said it was essential. Why would that matter unless there was a reason? What if he means if You-Know-Who tries to kill you he’ll just kill the part of himself in you?”

“That’s a longshot Lilly, at best,” Remus said quietly.

“But it’s something!” Lilly shouted, tears brimming in her own eyes, “Goddamn it Remus it’s something!”

Harry’s breathing was still erratic, but he frowned, “You’re right...it is something...and there’s something else! There’s something else! He didn’t mention the Hallows at all in those memories!”

“So?” Draco frowned, “How is that significant?”

“What are you meant to be if you have all three Hallows?” Harry asked them.

“The master of death,” Hermione whispered.

“Harry it’s a story, maybe it was once true, maybe the Hallows do exist,” Remus said logically, “But it is still a story, you cannot put your faith in it.”

“Well I need to put my faith in something!” Harry snapped, breathing heavily, “Dumbledore said to me when he told me about the prophecy that the problem with him being vastly intelligent was that when he made mistakes they were far bigger than other peoples. So yeah he made a massive mistake when he didn’t tell me and let me grow up like a lamb to the slaughter but what if the Hallows were his way of trying to keep me alive? What if he just didn’t want to give me hope if he was unsure that it would work?”

“Harry,” Neville said, “You’re clutching at straws.”

“Of course I am Neville!” Harry bit angrily, “Because I want to live! I never had much to live for before 6th year and now I have far too much to lose!”

Before anyone could say anymore there was a call from across the hall, “I hate to interrupt your argument, but I’m pretty sure I’m going to have a baby today so if you guys could break it up to get Ginny or Susan here I’d really appreciate it.”

Remus paled and gripped the door, “Oh God.”

“Don’t pass out,” Harry said, stepping away from the window and gripping his arm, “Neville, go get Ginny, quick!”

“Why not Susan?” Hermione asked as Neville darted down the stairs.

“Because Ginny’s better at comforting people, and I’m pretty sure a woman in labour comes under that category,” Harry said, his own worries forgotten about for the moment as he stood next to Remus, “Are you okay?”

Remus nodded numbly, and Neville nudged him, “You should probably go through there you know.”

Draco scoffed, “In pure-blood families the man doesn’t stay with the woman while she’s in labour.”

Hermione raised an eyebrow at Draco and stepped towards Tonk’s bedroom, “Well when you and I have kids you’ll be right in the thick of it since it will be your fault that I’ll be going through all of that pain.”

Draco’s face paled, “I don’t think I want to have kids with you.”

Hermione smirked and opened the door, “Tough luck, are you coming Remus?”

Remus swallowed and his eyes met Harry’s. The younger boy forced a smile onto his face and said, “Don’t worry about me and my imminent death, we’ll think about that after this baby has been born,” he knew that was what was worrying Remus after all. The distraction was almost the best thing to happen in fact, because it took everyone’s mind off of the depressing news. But Harry felt sorry for Lilly, everyone had forgotten her birthday. 

Remus let out a shaky breath and followed Hermione into the bedroom, looking positively terrified. Harry glanced at Draco and Neville, contemplating how bad the next few hours were going to be. They got their answer when Tonks, the woman who was tough as nails and could withstand the cruciatus curse, shouted very loudly,

“I AM NEVER LETTING YOU TOUCH ME AGAIN REMUS JOHN LUPIN! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!”

Draco grimaced, and Harry looked to Lilly, “Are you rethinking what you said earlier yet?”

Lilly nodded, her face pale, “Uh-huh.”

Draco and Neville looked bemused as Harry leant down and whispered (he had no idea why he bothered because Draco and Neville could hear with their bloody wolf hearing anyway), “We’ll talk about that tomorrow. Right now let’s get comfortable and wait for my kind of little brother to be born.”

They all sat around on the landing, leaving enough space for Ginny to rush by when she arrived. Blankets and pillows were handed out, and they settled down for a long wait but they would all be here for Remus and Tonks, like they had been there for them through all of the trials and tribulations the war had thus thrown at them. 

TBC :)


	60. How Do We Say Goodbye?

“Ginny!”

The redheaded girl spun around when she heard her name. She was just getting ready to perform a diagnostic charm on a 2nd year who she suspected had a broken arm when the call alarmed her. She frowned when she saw Neville rush into the room, breathing heavily as if he had just been for a long run.

“What’s wrong?” She asked, her heart beginning to pound with fear.

“Tonks is having the baby,” Neville said as he came to a halt in front of her, “And with her Mum gone someone has to deliver it, and Harry said you had the best talent of calming people down so...”

Ginny’s eyes widened, “Oh Merlin, is someone with her now?”

“Hermione and Remus,” Neville said with a nod.

“Hermione will know what to do until I can get there,” Ginny said, glancing around the hospital wing, “Hannah!”

The blonde girl turned around, “Yes?”

“Can you handle things here? I have to go and deliver a baby!” Ginny called across the wing.

Hannah’s eyes widened, “Of course, go!”

Ginny grabbed a bag and began to fill it with essentials while Neville waited anxiously. When she was ready, she slung the bag over her shoulder and grabbed her boyfriend’s hand, “Come on let’s go!”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“How long do you think it takes to have a baby, exactly?”

“A long time,” Lilly said, raising an eyebrow at Harry, “Hours.”

Draco made a face, “And is she going to shout that loudly the whole time?”

“Probably,” Lilly said, “She’s pushing something very big out of a small-”

“- Okay, I’ve heard enough!” Draco exclaimed, going a little green in the face.

Harry would have snorted in amusement, but he was too worried about Tonks to laugh. Their conversation paused slightly then, because they heard footsteps on the stairs and moments later Ginny and Neville appeared on the landing.

“Good luck,” Draco said, “There has been a lot of shouting.”

“It’s childbirth, what do you expect?” Ginny asked in disbelief, barging past them into the bedroom and shutting the door behind her.

“Sophistication and grace,” Draco mumbled in response to her question.

Neville snorted, “Good luck with that when you and Hermione have kids.”

“We both have to survive the war to have kids,” Draco pointed out, “And I’m not even sure we’ll manage that yet.”

Harry stiffened slightly, and Lilly got to her feet somewhat awkwardly, “I’ll see what I can do to help,” she said, slipping into the bedroom.

“What was that about?” Neville asked his friend.

“She asked me something weird earlier,” Harry muttered.

“What did she ask you?” Draco asked noisily.

“To not use the protection charm,” Harry said in a whisper, so Lilly wouldn’t hear but they doubted she’d hear anything over Tonks’s yells of abuse towards Remus.

Neville appeared to choke on thin air, “You said no, right?”

“Of course I did!” Harry exclaimed, “Look at the state of kids born because of war. I have no parents, neither does Lilly, Draco had a shitty childhood, and yours are...”

“Good as dead,” Neville finished darkly, “I know.”

“She’s desperate,” Draco said, sympathetic for once in his life, “And can you really blame her? She’s known all of this time that she was going to lose you, I can’t imagine how hard that would be...”

“I know, but I actually have some hope now after seeing those memories,” Harry said with a frown, “And I don’t want Lilly and I to do anything for the wrong reasons.”

“You’re right,” Neville said, “But you have to see this from Lilly’s point of view too. She’s scared and she’s desperate.”

Harry sighed and leant back against the wall, “I know, I do see it from her point of view. I just-”

“I AM NEVER DOING THIS AGAIN REMUS!”

Draco grimaced, “Guess this kid is going to be an only child then.”

“I think it’s going to be a long day,” Harry said as a scream sounded from within the room.

“Yeah,” Neville agreed, “You know, Remus never needed to give you the talk Harry. I think this is the best way to scare all of us off having kids for a good few years.”

“You’re lucky, Ginny’s a year younger,” Harry said, “And Hermione is going to be career minded for a while. Lilly’s already broody, how much worse will it get if I survive this war and this kid is around her all the time?”

“Tough luck,” Draco said in amusement.

Neville smiled slightly, because Harry was talking about living again, and entertaining the possibility that there might be a life for him beyond the war. It was a refreshing change, the arrival of this new baby came at a time when they all needed hope, more than they knew themselves.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Can I help?”

“Yes,” Ginny said the moment Lilly had shut the door behind her, “This has got to be the fastest birth ever, can you find some soft towels and make sure they are warm? Oh and Hermione, I need boiling water in a clean, sterile container.”

The two girls nodded and disappeared down the back stairs so as not to walk over the boys once more. Ginny glanced at Tonks who was doing remarkably well, all things considered. Her hair was soaked with sweat, and her teeth were gritted. Remus looked like he was going to throw up as he sat by her bed, Tonks clutching his hand.

“I did warn you,” Tonks breathed, “My Mother was barely in labour for 2 hours with me.”

“Well, you were right,” Ginny said calmly, “It’s the fastest labour I’ve ever seen.”

“How many labours have you seen, exactly?” Remus asked, amusement slipping into his panicked voice.

“One,” Ginny admitted somewhat sheepishly, “But that one was complicated because the baby wasn’t facing the right way, this one is all going perfect. He’s in the right direction, blood pressure and heart rate are all fine. He’s just eager to come out is all.”

“I wish he didn’t have to,” Remus said quietly, “This is no world for a child.”

“Not right now,” Ginny said softly, “But one day soon it will be.”

Tonks managed the smallest of smiles, “Because of Harry,” she said.

Ginny nodded, “Because of Harry.”

“Towels, currently under a warming charm,” Lilly said as she burst back into the room and placed the towels on the bay window seat.

“And sterile boiling water,” Hermione added, panting a little as she placed the large bowl down on the bedside table.

“Alright,” Ginny said with a nervous smile, “Let’s see this baby then!”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“What do you reckon they’ll-”

“I HATE YOU REMUS!”

“-name him?”

“I dunno,” Harry said, “I think they’ll name him after someone they love...who they lost.”

“Ted for Tonks’s Dad?”

“Or Sirius,” Harry said quietly.

“By that logic James is in with a shout too,” Draco pointed out.

“Or Harry,” Neville said quietly, meeting his fellow Gryffindors eye, “They love you, and they are terrified of losing you.”

Harry swallowed and looked down, “No, they had better not do that. It would only make it worse for Lilly after I...well you know what I mean. And they will know that too, I think you might be right about Ted though Draco...”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Almost there, Dora,” Remus whispered as he held a cool compress to her forehead.

“Almost there?” Tonks hissed, “I’ve been almost there for the last hour Remus!”

“You really are nearly there now,” Ginny said calmly, “I can see his head, that means it’s only going to be a few more pushes now until it’s all over. Little pushes though remember? Not big ones.”

Tonks nodded and scrunched up her face, all in all she had been relatively quiet. There had been no anguished cries of “I can’t do this!” just a few screams and some insults that had been hurled Remus’s way. She did as Ginny said, and the others in the room couldn’t help but think that Ginny’s talents would be wasted if she did anything other than healing after the war.

“That’s it,” Ginny breathed, and seconds later a scream sounded, echoing around the room.

Tonks crumpled back into the bed, completely exhausted. 

Ginny smiled at Remus, “Do you want to sever the cord?”

He nodded, and tearfully walked around the bed. He did a double take when he saw his son, he had mousy brown hair and blue eyes (as all babies do when they are first born). 

“He has a good set of lungs.” Hermione said with a tearful smile.

“He is perfect,” Remus whispered, severing the cord carefully because his wand hand was shaking. 

“Blankets, and warm water,” Ginny murmured to Lilly and Hermione.

They handed her the essentials, and she cleaned the little boy up before wrapping him in a blanket and gently placing him in his Mother’s arms, “Meet your son,” she whispered.

Tonks smiled sleepily down at him, like he was the most perfect thing she had ever seen.

“We really do need to pick a name,” Remus said as he sat down on the edge of the bed and admired the baby boy.

“Edward,” Tonks said softly.

“For your Father,” Remus realised, smiling sadly at the sentiment, “Edward Lupin...”

“He needs a middle name,” Tonks said, raising her eyes to meet his, “I mean he is part Black and traditionally we have 5 names.”

“I think 3 would suffice,” Remus said, not letting his eyes leave his wife’s.

Tonks smiled knowingly, “Edward Sirius Harry Lupin it is then.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Do you hear that?” Harry asked, sitting up straight.

“That’s a baby,” Neville said as the scream sounded from inside the bedroom.

Draco breathed a sigh of relief, unconsciously letting the others know about his greatest weakness. The fact he really did care, despite his cold, sarcastic exterior.

“Wonder when we’ll be allowed to see him,” Neville mused.

“When they’ve had time to catch their breath, I imagine,” Harry said, his face regaining some colour.

“I hope she’s alright,” Draco said, “Tonks, I mean.”

“She’ll be fine, Ginny’s a great healer,” Neville said with complete confidence.

“But she is only 16,” Draco pointed out.

“And?” Harry remarked, “We’re only 17 and 18, but look at what we’ve done this year. Age doesn’t make a damn bit of difference.”

“Well said,” Ginny’s voice said as the door creaked open. She smiled at the three boys in the hallway, “Would you like to meet your Godson Harry?”

Harry was on his feet in a shot, “Of course I would.”

“You two can come in as well,” Ginny added, for the benefit of her boyfriend and Draco. She held the door open fully and re-entered the bedroom, with the three boys traipsing in after her.

Harry smiled sadly as he stood by the bed and stared down at the little baby, he had never seen a human being so tiny, “He’s so small.”

“Do you want to hold him, Harry?” Tonks asked, meeting his eyes with a sad sort of smile.

Harry nodded, “But...I don’t know how.”

Tonks chuckled and said, “Come here, I’ll show you how.”

Harry sat down on the edge of the bed, and Tonks gently placed the tiny, delicate baby in his arms, “See, you make sure his head is supported just here with your arm...and don’t hold on too tightly.”

Harry nodded and looked down at the tiny boy in his arms, he frowned, “Is his hair...?”

Tonks laughed as the little boy’s hair slowly transitioned from mousy brown to jet black, “He’s a Metamorphmagus.”

Harry stared at him in amazement, “Wow,” he breathed.

“Meet your Godson, Edward,” Remus said with a smile.

“Edward,” Harry said, “After your Dad?”

Tonks nodded, “Ted or Ned for short...we haven’t decided what suits him more yet.”

“Does he have the traditional 5 names?” Draco joked, he being a Malfoy first and foremost (as his Father had always drummed into him as a child) only had the two names.

“No,” Tonks chuckled, “He only has three names.”

“Edward Sirius Harry,” Remus added, catching Harry’s eye.

Harry had to swallow again and fight back tears. Lilly stepped up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder, he tried his best but a few tears escaped him anyway, “I’m honoured,” he managed to choke out.

“Well you are one of his Godfathers,” Tonks said, a mischievous sparkle in her eyes.

“One of?” Hermione asked, “He’s going to have two Godfathers?”

“James and Lily gave Harry two Godfathers and it didn’t do him any harm,” Remus replied.

“And if anything ever happens to us and he needs a motherly figure I’m sure you will do just fine, Hermione,” Tonks said with a smile, “Since you are dating his second Godfather.”

Draco’s eyes widened, and he froze with disbelief, “Me?” he asked weakly.

“If you accept,” Remus said.

Draco, who tried to hide his emotions as much as possible and failed to do so now that he was a werewolf, actually got a little tearful, “Of course I accept, I mean I’m honoured. But I don’t know that I would be a good influence on him exactly-”

“You will be a wonderful influence,” Tonks said softly, “We have complete confidence in you.”

Remus nodded his agreement, Draco gave a tearful nod and was grateful when Hermione walked over to him, enveloping him in a hug. Harry smiled slightly as he looked away from his best friend and back down to the now dark-haired baby, “You know, he’s so small it’s like I’m holding a teddy bear,” he mused.

“Teddy,” Remus said, as if a brainwave had hit him, “Edward, Teddy for short.”

“Teddy,” Tonks whispered as she ran her finger gently over the boys face, “Teddy Lupin.”

“It suits him perfectly,” Remus agreed with a vibrant smile at his wife. 

Harry felt a tug in his chest as he sat on the bed with them and their new baby. For the first time in his entire life he felt like part of a family, and he hated the fact that all of this happiness could soon come to an end. He wanted to hold the baby for hours, but he knew that the longer he held him for the more attached he would get and getting attached to anything or anyone at the moment was a bad idea.

“I think it’s Draco’s turn to hold his Godson,” Harry said, his voice strained. He gently passed the baby to Draco and cleared his throat, “I’ll go and tell Daphne, Ron and Susan the good news,” he said.

“Harry, please stay-” Remus began to say.

Harry shook his head, “I’ll be back in a little while, congratulations.”

He left the room before anyone could stop him, and he darted down the stairs at top speed, escaping through the mirror into the empty secret room in the Room of Requirement. He took a moment then to compose himself, to steady his breathing and wipe away his tears. What kind of sick fucking game was this? He had so much love in his life, so much to lose, and now he had to die. Why not when he had been a 10 year old orphan with a shit life and nothing to live for? He resisted the urge to punch a wall and let out a shaky breath. He didn’t know how long he could pretend for, he didn’t know how long he could keep pretending for Lilly’s sake that he might survive this when the gut wrenching feeling told him he was going to die. He composed himself, and blew out a breath before walking into the main mess hall.

It was lunch time so he spotted the people he needed to see easily enough. They were all at the main table at the top of the hall and they waved him over the second they saw him.

“Bloody hell Harry, you look tired, are you alright?” Ron asked, with genuine concern.

“I’m fine,” Harry lied, “I have some good news for you all. Remus and Tonks now have a baby.”

Susan smiled, “What have they named him?”

“Edward Sirius Harry Lupin,” Harry said, trying not to get tearful again.

“Oh Harry,” Daphne said softly, “You must be honoured.”

“I am,” Harry said in the most monotone voice he could muster, “Tonks is exhausted, but you can come and visit tomorrow if you can find the time to slip away.”

Ron nodded, “We will and...when is it happening?”

“1st of April,” Harry murmured, “So if you need to make any preparations on this end you should probably start now. You only have 5 days.”

“Thank you for the heads up,” Daphne whispered.

Harry gave them a nod, “Well I should be heading back. I’ll see you guys soon.”

They let him go, for the most part anyway. Harry thought he had gotten away with it, but as he was about to step through the mirror the door swung open and Ron stepped into the room.

“What’s up?” The redhead said knowingly, leaning against the door he had just closed.

“Nothing,” Harry muttered.

“I’m your best mate, I can tell when you’re lying,” Ron said pointedly, “You clearly need to talk about something.”

Harry sighed and sat down on the edge of the mirror, “I can’t get attached to him, the baby I mean...it will just make it harder to do what I need to do.”

“You can’t not let yourself love anyone, Harry,” Ron said quietly.

“I love too many people, that’s the problem!” Harry snapped, “And I am going to have to say goodbye to every single one of those people and walk to my death! And I have to do it willingly, not grudgingly.”

“You will,” Ron said, “Because even if you feel selfish right now, if you feel like you can’t...when the time comes you will and it’s because of the amount of people you love. You will walk willingly to your death so that they can live. That’s one thing about this battle I’m sure of.”

Harry looked at Ron, a deep sadness in his eyes, “You’re the greatest best friend anyone could ask for you know. I know lately I’ve gotten closer to Draco and Neville, but you’ve always been my best friend...and I have to thank you for always being there.”

Ron looked down guiltily, “But I haven’t always been there, have I? I never believed you when you said you hadn’t put your name in the goblet of fire...”

“But you believed me when I said that You-Know-Who was back, you believed me when nobody else did,” Harry said, “And you were always by my side, fighting with me, sticking up for me...I suppose Neville always was too but we never appreciated that then.”

“No,” Ron said, “We were too wrapped up in our own trio to see what was beyond it. Sometimes I wonder if things hadn’t changed whether I would have been with Hermione and you might have dated Ginny or something and we would never have known what could have lain beyond that.”

Harry frowned slightly, “I can’t imagine not being with Lilly.”

“And I can’t imagine never having loved Daphne,” Ron said, “So everything happens for a reason and if you do die then there must be a reason behind it.”

“The reason is the end of the war,” Harry said, “It’s the only way it can ever truly end. I know that you know that, I know that you understand. You won’t try to stop me, will you?”

“No,” Ron said, “And I’m smart enough to know that this is our goodbye. Isn’t it?”

Harry’s voice got stuck in his throat. He could only nod until he managed to unstick it, “I think I have 5 days to live and I have a lot of people that I need to say goodbye to. Maybe this way it will be easier.”

“Maybe,” Ron agreed, his blue eyes locking onto Harry’s, “But I’ll believe in you until the very end so I don’t think this really is a goodbye.”

“No?” Harry asked, glancing down at the floor once more.

“No,” Ron said, his own voice a little harsh, “It’s a see you later mate.”

Harry laughed weakly, and tearfully. He pushed himself to his feet and looked at his best friend, the boy who had been his best friend since he had gotten on the Hogwarts Express all of those years ago, “See you later mate,” he managed to say as he hugged Ron tighter than he had ever done before.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When Harry got back to Bones Manor he bypassed Remus and Tonks’s room and slipped into his own one. He was grateful for the fact that it was empty, because he had half expected Lilly to be waiting for him. He would face the others, but he just couldn’t do it yet. 

He sat at the desk and rolled out some parchment, he dipped an old quill into the black inkpot and took a shaky breath as he began to pen a letter to his Godson,

“Dear Teddy,

I am sorry that I never got to spend more time with you. The only memory I have of you is of holding you in my arms on the morning that you were born. I could only think about how fragile and small you were. The fact something as small and perfect as you could exist amazed me.

You changed your hair colour to match mine and I was in awe. I wish I could have been a real Godfather, I wish I could have done the things that a Godfather should do with his Godson. I wish I had taken you to Quidditch games, bought you your first broomstick, given you alcohol well before your parents said it was okay. But I never got the choice, I had to leave this world so that you and your parents could remain in it. I did it for everyone that I loved, for your Aunt Lilly and your Aunt Hermione. Even for your other Godfather who I suppose you must call Uncle Draco. I used to hate that kid, but he became pretty good man in the end. 

I hope he’s been good to you. I hope he took you to Quidditch games, and bought you a broomstick. And I hope you know that your parents and your Godfather, and everyone around you loves you very much. When you get this letter, if she’s still hanging around with this lot, tell your Aunt Lilly that I loved her more than life itself and that I hope she’s moved on with her life and found a good guy to marry. 

Stay safe Teddy, and stay strong.

Love your Godfather,  
Harry.”

He wiped his tears away, trying not to groan with frustration. He felt like a bloody fountain lately. He waved his wand, transforming the spare piece of parchment into an envelope and carefully sliding the letter into it. He cleared his throat and wrote on the front;

“For Teddy Lupin  
To be opened on your 11th birthday and not a day sooner.”

Harry had become so absorbed in his letter to Teddy that he jumped when the door to the room opened. He knew it was Lilly before he even turned around to face her, he knew from the way she opened the door softly so as not to disturb him. 

When Harry turned around, Lilly could instantly sense that he had been crying. She smiled sadly at him and asked, “What were you writing?”

“My goodbye to Teddy,” Harry said with a frown, “He’s the only person I won’t have the chance to say goodbye to.”

“Harry-”

“No, I do have to say my goodbyes,” Harry said before she could say what he knew was on her mind, “Because the idea of me living...it’s a hunch Lilly. If we’re wrong and I do die and I haven’t had a chance to say goodbye...”

“You don’t have to do it just yet though,” Lilly said, her voice small, quiet and broken.

“In 5 days Bill is breaking into Gringotts,” Harry said, looking at her, “And then everything is going to kick off. I might not have time to say my goodbyes properly if I don’t say them over the next 5 days.”

Lilly shook her head, tears cascading down her face, “I don’t want you to say goodbye to me. If you say goodbye it makes it real!”

“It is real,” Harry said, a darkness in his eyes, “And I’m afraid if you don’t accept that now it will only break you more when it happens.”

Lilly wiped her tears away angrily, “Don’t say goodbye to me.”

Harry could feel his anger bubbling up, but he knew that Lilly was only angry because she was upset and if he lost his temper with her then things would be all the worse, “Fine,” he said calmly.

Lilly gave him a small nod, “Now, are you going to come and see your Godson or not?” she asked stiffly.

Harry pushed himself to his feet and followed her silently across the hall. The bedroom had emptied significantly, Hermione, Draco, Neville and Ginny had all left.

“Harry,” Remus whispered, he was holding Teddy and Tonks was asleep, “I wondered if you would come back.”

Harry shrugged, “I was just telling the others,” he lied.

Remus knew, he could tell that Harry was lying and Harry knew that he knew. But neither of them said anything as Harry sat down in a chair by Tonks’s bed and looked at the sleeping baby in Remus’s arms. He sighed and held the envelope out to the older man.

Remus frowned as he took it, and read what was written on the front of it in Harry’s messy scrawl, “What is this?”

“It’s my goodbye, to Teddy,” Harry said calmly, “I can say goodbye to everyone else, I can’t say goodbye to him.”

Remus’s frown deepened, “Harry-”

“Just give it to him when he turns 11 Remus, please,” Harry said quickly.

Remus swallowed and Harry felt guilty when he saw tears swimming in his eyes. He nodded and slipped the letter into his pocket, “I will,” he promised.

Harry gave a stiff nod and shut his eyes tightly as he began to consider his goodbyes and the other thing he was going to have to work out in the next 5 days...his will.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“I, Harry James Potter, being of sound body and mind leave the following amounts and items to the people listed below in the event that I should die suddenly. 

I leave my house, Number 12 Grimmauld Place, and all of its contents, unless specified elsewhere, to Lillian Alison McKinnon-Black. As the daughter of Sirius Black, it is her birth right.

I leave the contents of my vault in Gringotts, to Ronald Bilius Weasley, as a thank you for all that he has done for me.

I leave any books in either my vaults or property, to Hermione Jean Granger, as something to remember me by.

I leave my three most prized possessions: my invisibility cloak, my Marauders map and my Firebolt, to my Godson Edward Sirius Harry Lupin, in the hope that he will get as much use of them as I did.”

Harry rolled the piece of parchment up and tied it neatly with a red ribbon. He blew out a breath and stood up from the desk he had been using in the study.

“What were you just writing?”

Harry glanced over at the familiar voice and saw Hermione lurking in the shadows. It was the 28th of March, his countdown had begun. His goodbyes had to be said. So he did not lie to her, “My will.”

She looked angry, or perhaps she was upset and couldn’t express that, “Your will?”

“Yes,” Harry said as he held it out to her, “And I do need someone to keep it safe for me.”

“Your will?” Hermione asked again, her voice higher this time, “No, I will not keep it safe for you!”

“Hermione,” Harry said softly, taking her hand with his free one, “You have got to come to terms with this. In 4 days I am going to die, I want to do so on my own terms.”

She looked down at the scroll, tears burning in her eyes, “No,” she said again, but it wasn’t a shout this time. It was more of a desperate plea, “I just...I can’t-”

Harry nodded and pulled her in for a hug, she let her tears spill out and held her best friend tightly, “I know,” he said simply, “I know you don’t want to believe it Hermione. But it is the truth, and I want to be able to say goodbye to you properly.”

He pulled back from the hug and felt tears sting at his own eyes, “You have been more than amazing. I want you to know how much you changed my life by being there for me through things that would have made most friends run for the hills.”

“Of course I would never run from you,” Hermione said tearfully, “You’re my best friend. I love you, like a brother.”

“And I love you like the sister I never had,” Harry said honestly, his tears falling, “I know you’ll miss me, but promise that you’ll be happy with Draco. Promise me that you won’t let it affect you too badly?”

“I promise,” Hermione choked out.

“And promise me something else too,” Harry said, reduced to whispering now because his throat was constricted with the pain of saying goodbye to Hermione.

Hermione nodded, “I will always look out for Lilly for you, I promise.”

He gave a stiff nod and swallowed, trying to get his emotions back under control, “You won’t try to stop me, when the time comes?”

“No,” Hermione said, her tears falling faster than ever, “I hate it, I hate all of it so much but I...I understand.”

“It’s for the best,” Harry said, casting his eyes downward, “It’s the best for you...I’m doing this for you, for all of you.”

“I know,” Hermione said, fighting her pain like the heroine Harry knew that she was.

He held out the scroll of parchment once more, “Please, keep this safe for me.”

Hermione accepted the will with shaking hands and gave him a sharp nod, “I will,” she promised.

“Thank you,” Harry said softly, pulling her in for another hug and holding her tightly. He closed his eyes and made sure that he made the most of the moment, he was aware it might well be the last hug he ever gave her, “Thank you,” he whispered again, kissing her on top of the head and shamelessly allowing his tears to fall freely.

TBC :(


	61. Edge of Goodbye

The 29th of March. 3 days until Harry’s inevitable demise, and yet he still had so many goodbyes to make. Ron and Hermione...those had been hard, but Remus and Tonks would be harder. And Lilly...oh Merlin, if Lilly even let him say goodbye...well Harry would fall apart for sure.

“Thank you.”

Neville looked up in surprise, “For what?” he asked as he paused in his task. He, Harry and a few of the others were making the garden as accessible as possible so that they could fit the optimum number of students in it after the evacuation of Hogwarts.

“Everything,” Harry said honestly, “You were always there and none of us ever appreciated you. I never appreciated you, but you were as much a part of this from the beginning as Ron or Hermione.”

“Harry,” Neville sighed, “You don’t have to say nice things to me just because you’re going to die.”

“No, I do,” Harry said with a firm nod, “Because I need to tell you that I do appreciate you Neville. You and I are more alike than I ever knew, more linked than I ever knew. I could have been you and you could have been me so easily, it all came down to that one decision by You-Know-Who.”

“Well, I wish I had been you,” Neville sighed, “Not because I think you’re great and I’m jealous. If it was me...well nobody would mind much about me dying and I certainly wouldn’t be leaving a Godson behind-”

“People would mind,” Harry said harshly, “I would mind, Draco would mind, Remus and Tonks would mind. Lilly, Hermione, Susan, Daphne and Ron, they would all mind. And Ginny...Merlin, can you imagine what that would do to Ginny?”

“Can you imagine what it will do to Lilly?” Neville countered quietly.

“Lilly’s stronger than Ginny,” Harry said, “Ginny has never really had to suffer loss of any kind. Lilly’s had a tough life...she knows pain.”

“Do you really think that makes it any easier for her?” Neville asked, “It just means she can hide the effect it has on her.”

“This isn’t about her,” Harry said with a frown, “This is about me and you. I’m saying goodbye to you.”

“I know you are,” Neville said, surveying his friend, “And you’re doing a pretty clumsy job of it.”

Harry didn’t laugh, although he knew that was Neville’s aim, “I mean it Neville. I admire you, and...treat Ginny good won’t you?”

“Of course I will,” Neville said softly, “I’ll miss you Harry.”

“Yeah,” Harry said awkwardly, “Just don’t go and do anything daft like name a kid after me, alright?”

Neville smiled weakly, “You don’t think Harry Longbottom has a ring to it?”

“Definitely not,” Harry said with a weak laugh, “Stick with Frank, it’s a good name for a little boy.”

“Yeah,” Neville sighed, “It is.”

Harry gave him a nod, “Well...I suppose that’s that.”

“I suppose so,” Neville said, his eyes still on Harry, “But for the record, I will tell my kids stories about their Uncle Harry who died for them to live in a safe world.”

Harry smiled sadly, “That’s why I’m doing this Nev.”

“I know,” Neville said, “And I admire you because of that.”

Harry cleared his throat, “Well I don’t want to be admired, just remembered.”

“They are one in the same, Harry,” Neville said, stepping forward and gripping Harry’s shoulder, “And if it helps any, I hope you know that you’re the bravest guy I’ve ever known.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“So he’s doing well?”

“Fantastic,” Ginny replied as she stepped into the drawing room with Harry, “He’s a perfect, healthy little guy.”

Harry smiled slightly, “Good.”

“You will make sure they don’t do anything stupid won’t you?” Ginny asked, lowering her voice slightly as they stood alone in the drawing room.

Harry nodded, “I’ve got it covered, trust me. Remus and Tonks will both be staying right here when that battle takes place. I won’t have them risking their lives when they have a baby to bring up. I don’t want another generation of Harry Potter’s and Neville Longbottom’s.”

“Good,” Ginny said, breathing a sigh of relief, “I don’t want the mistakes of the last war to be repeated.”

“No,” Harry agreed, “Ginny...has Neville told you about what will happen to me in the battle?”

“He hinted at the fact you would...not make it,” Ginny said quietly, “What did he mean?”

“He meant that I’m a horcrux,” Harry said, “And that for You-Know-Who to die, I have to die.”

Ginny’s eyes widened, “Harry-”

“There is no way around it and it will happen in 3 days,” Harry said before she could say anything else, “I’ve been saying my goodbyes, in case I don’t have time when the end comes.”

“Goodbyes?” Ginny asked weakly.

Harry nodded and said, “I know we weren’t close until recent years but you’ve always been like a sister to me Ginny and I’m so glad that you and Neville had found each other-”

“Don’t do this,” Ginny said tearfully, “Please.”

“No, I have to,” Harry said, grabbing her shoulder, “I have to make peace with everyone Ginny or I will never be able to do what I need to do.”

“What could you possibly have to say to me?” Ginny asked weakly, “I’m only Ron’s little sister.”

“No, you are one of my closest friends,” Harry said, “And I just wanted to tell you that I hope you and Neville are always happy together. And I hope your family will cope alright, with what’s going to happen.”

“Mum will be devastated, everyone will,” Ginny said, wiping her tears with the sleeve of her top.

“I’m sorry” Harry said, frowning at the ground, “But I don’t have a choice. If I don’t die everyone I love is in danger.”

“You always were noble,” Ginny said, a break in her voice, “This shouldn’t come as a surprise really.”

“Sorry,” Harry said, because it felt like the right thing to say.

Ginny shook her head and wrapped her arms around him, “I’m proud of you and angry with you, and...I hate the thought of losing you as a friend. But I understand Harry, I do,” she said, her tears dripping onto his jumper.

Harry hugged her tightly and pulled away, “Keep yourself safe.”

Ginny gave him a small nod, “Goodbye then, Harry.”

“Bye Ginny,” Harry said as the redheaded girl stepped tearfully into the mirror and vanished from sight.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The 30th of March. 2 days to go and still 6 goodbyes to make. Final plans were arranged with Bill that day, they agreed not to contact him again until the task had been completed on the 1st of April. Harry went to Hogwarts to inform the others of this news, but it was a subtle way of saying goodbye to the two people there that he needed to. 

“Can I have a word?”

“Of course,” Susan said as she finished bandaging up a 3rd year girls leg. She stepped into a quiet corner of the hospital wing and looked expectantly at the boy hero.

“I wanted to say goodbye,” Harry said, “You know that I’m going to die.”

Susan nodded, “There really is no way around it?”

“No,” Harry said quietly, “It has to happen, and it will sometime around the 1st of April.”

“Why on earth would you want to say goodbye to me after all I’ve done?” Susan asked, “We were never close, and after Neville and I...” she trailed off.

“You’re my friend Susan,” Harry said, “One of the few people who has known the truth about me and despite the way you reacted to Neville being bitten, you never judged me for having a piece of You-Know-Who’s soul inside of me. I wanted to thank you for that.”

“Well thank you,” Susan said quietly, “You taught me a thing or two about romance and self-respect.”

Harry smiled slightly and held out his hand to her. Susan looked at it and chuckled, stepping forward to hug him, “Goodbye Harry,” she murmured.

Harry pulled back and kissed her on the cheek, “Goodbye,” he said softly as he left the hospital wing to find the other girl who he really needed to say goodbye to.

She was with Ron at the top table, but he subtly slipped away when he saw Harry approaching. Ron had grown surprisingly perceptive after all, and he clearly realised why Harry was really there that day.

Daphne smiled at him and opened the door to the secret room to let him head back to Bones Manor.

“Could I have a word, before I head back?” Harry asked in an undertone.

Daphne frowned slightly, “Yeah, of course you can,” she said, stepping into the private room and shutting the door behind her, “Has something happened?”

“No,” Harry replied, “I just wanted to tell you that I think you and Ron are good for each other. Great even, I mean I really think it will work out when this is all over...if your Mother will accept him as a blood traitor obviously.”

“If she doesn’t then I’m disowned, who cares?” Daphne retorted.

Harry smiled slightly, “That’s why I have faith in you. That’s why I know you’ll make him happy...”

“You sound awfully sentimental,” Daphne said with a raised eyebrow, “Is this your goodbye speech?”

“Perceptive of you,” Harry noted with a sad smile.

“I can see the sadness in your eyes Harry, even when you do pretend to smile,” Daphne said quietly.

“Yeah well, I just wanted to let you know that I’ve really grown to like you over the last year,” Harry said honestly, “And I’m sorry about that awkward stuff between us and Lilly and all...but I really think it all happened for a reason now.”

“So do I,” Daphne said, “And I will miss you Harry, you know that right?”

“I know that,” Harry said, “Just keep my best friend happy and safe yeah?”

“Of course,” Daphne said, stepping forward and hugging the shorter boy, “And we definitely didn’t end up together for a reason. You and Lilly are just the right height for each other.”

Harry actually managed to laugh at that as he pulled back from the hug, “That was the other thing Daphne...when it’s all over, she’s going to need you more than ever.”

“I know, and I’ll be there for her,” Daphne assured Harry, “I’ll keep her safe for you, I promise.”

“Thank you,” Harry said, fighting back the tears and the painful emotions.

Daphne gave him a slight nod, “You should head back, you don’t have long now until it all kicks off.”

“No, I don’t,” Harry agreed, his eyes darkening, “And I still have far too many goodbyes to make.”

Daphne sighed sadly, “Good luck with it, I suppose.”

“Thanks,” Harry said, “Bye Daphne.”

She smiled mournfully at him, “Goodbye Harry,” she said softly as he stepped into the mirror.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The 31st of March. This was the last normal day of Harry’s life, the last day where there would not be a battle.

“Do you love Hermione?”

Draco frowned and lowered his wand, they had been practicing at the firing range together, “Why are you asking me that?”

“Just answer the question,” Harry said, “Do you love her?”

“Of course I love her,” Draco said irritably, “I love her more than anything else. You know that old philosophy bullshit they spouted at Hogwarts? That you couldn’t love anyone unless you loved yourself first? Well it’s a lot of shit because I’ve never loved myself but...I love Hermione so much that sometimes it’s enough for me to forget what hating myself feels like.”

Harry smiled slightly, “So you’ll always take care of her then? You’ll keep her safe and love her?”

Draco’s frown deepened, “Yeah, I will. Is this your noble way of saying goodbye to everyone before you die?”

“Yeah,” Harry answered sheepishly.

“Well if it makes you feel any better Harry, you are probably the bravest person I know,” Draco said, unable to meet Harry’s eye, “And I really am honoured to call you my friend.”

Harry raised an eyebrow at the blonde, “Wow, I really must be dying.”

Draco rolled his eyes, “Yeah well, I do care you know. But don’t tell anyone that I said that or I’ll kill you before You-Know-Who gets a chance.”

Harry chuckled weakly, “Don’t worry, I’ll never tell anyone about the best of you Draco.”

Draco smiled at him very slightly, and Harry added, “And just so you know...I know we never always saw eye to eye. Well I know that we almost never saw eye to eye in fact but we do agree on one thing...we both love Hermione and we both want the best for her. I never thought I would say this but you are the best for her, despite everything you did. She shouldn’t love you, but she does and you are nothing like the git I always thought you were so...I suppose I’m thanking you for everything you’ve done for her.”

Draco’s eyes had welled up very slightly, he gave Harry a nod and said, “Thank you, I appreciate that and I will always do everything in my power to keep her safe. That’s an easy promise to make. I am sorry that we never resolved our differences earlier...we could have had years of friendship.”

“These last few months have been good though,” Harry said as he held out his hand, “So I think this time I should offer you my hand.”

Draco smiled ruefully, “I shouldn’t take it, out of spite.”

Harry laughed and said, “Well that would serve me right, wouldn’t it?”

“It would,” Draco agreed as he accepted the boys hand and shook it, “But I ought to treat your death with the respect it deserves. It’s a noble thing, and I know I could never do it but then again I’m not Gryffindor’s golden boy.”

“Right now, I wish I wasn’t either,” Harry said, dropping the blonds hand, “I have to find it in me to say goodbye to Remus and Tonks today...and Lilly won’t even let me say goodbye. She refuses to listen every time I try.”

“She can’t believe it, not until it really happens,” Draco said with a frown, “Write her a letter, say your goodbye that way and give it to her before you leave in the battle to...you know...”

“Die,” Harry finished, a dark look passing across his face, “Yeah, I will...”

Draco sent him a sympathetic look, “Good luck with Remus and Tonks...”

“Thanks,” Harry sighed, “I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah, see you later,” Draco said with a meagre wave as Harry began to walk back across the garden towards Bones Manor.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Harry! Do you want to hold Teddy while I make a cup of tea?”

Harry took the gurning baby from his Mother and cradled him carefully in his arms. As usual his hair darkened when he looked up at his Godfather and despite what he was about to do Harry managed to smile a little. 

He sat down in an armchair and looked up at Remus and Tonks as they milled or sat around at the kitchen bar. Harry bit his lip and said, “I want to thank you both for everything you have done for me, this year especially but even before then. Remus, you came into my life at a time when I didn’t have a father figure at all, and then I found out about Sirius and it eclipsed you and in hindsight I’m so sorry about that-”

“Harry, you don’t have to do this-”

“Yes, I do Remus,” Harry said quietly, “I said this to Ginny and I’ll say the same to you both. I have to make my peace and say my goodbyes or I’ll never be able to do this and I need to. The thing I was going to say was that as I got older I realised that you were more of a father figure to me than Sirius ever was. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Sirius but he was always more of a cool older brother, and sometimes I think he forgot that I wasn’t my Dad...”

“He just missed him,” Remus said softly, “But you are right, sometimes he did forget.”

“But you have always treated me as my own person,” Harry said, “You’ve seen my Mum in me when all I ever saw was my Dad. You’ve been the solid, stabilising Father figure in my life and then when you two got married I felt like I got a real Mother figure for the first time. I mean Molly always tried, but sometimes she just clung too tight and fussed too much. But Tonks, you gave me strength at the hardest of times and you told me when I needed to get off my arse and stop feeling sorry for myself. And you’ve just been there for me so much, you both have. This year...for the first time ever I felt like I had a family...like I had parents and a little brother,” he looked down at Teddy who was looking up at him with wide eyes, like he understood everything that they were talking about.

Harry chanced a glance at Remus and Tonks and felt his heartstrings tugging when he saw tears streaming down both of their faces.

“I just want you to be happy, all three of you,” Harry finished softly, “I want you to give Teddy what I never had...a loving family, which is why my dying wish is for you to promise me that you will stay here. Promise me you won’t try and be heroes because dead or not I will not be able to forgive you if you make this boy an orphan. He is the most important thing in all of this...him not becoming like me is the most important thing.”

Tonks nodded, and swallowed hard. She regained the power of speech before Remus did and walked over to the armchair. She took Teddy back, and gently hugged Harry so as not to squash the baby, “I promise,” she said, kissing Harry on the cheek, “If it is truly what you want, then of course, I promise.”

Harry nodded, aware of his own wet face. He never bothered to wipe his tears as he got to his feet and walked to Remus.

“I promise too,” The old werewolf said in a choked sort of voice, “And I will miss you Harry, so much.”

Harry nodded and stepped forward, surprising Remus as he pulled him into a tight hug. Remus scrunched his face up, shutting his eyes tightly as he thought of losing Lily and James, of losing Sirius. He thought of how losing Harry was like going through all of it all over again.

“And Teddy will know,” Tonks said quietly, “We will tell him all about his big brother Harry, and how he saved the entire world.”

“He will know you died to make this world a safe one for him to live in,” Remus agreed, looking a little embarrassed as he wiped his tears.

Harry nodded sadly, “Do you have a message for my parents or Sirius?” he asked, “I’m going to be with them soon.”

Remus’s voice was lost in his throat, he let out a noise akin to a sob and said, “Tell them I miss them. Tell them all that I miss them every single day.”

“And tell my parents the same thing,” Tonks said tearfully, “Tell them that I wish they could meet their beautiful little Grandson and that I miss them.”

“I will,” Harry whispered weakly, his tears falling faster than ever, “I promise.”

Tonks stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Harry, keeping Teddy to one side. Remus hugged him from the other side and although he had shed many tears over all of these goodbyes he let out a genuine sob as he shared this final hug with the only family he had ever known.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The 1st of April dawned, and it was a vicious bright red sunrise that morning. Barely anyone had slept, and they all huddled together in the kitchen drinking coffee and praying for Bill’s welfare. They waited around all day, and they heard nothing. The hours dragged by, and the only solace was Teddy who was handed around to give the others a break and a chance to go for a brief nap.

When the clock ticked to 4pm Harry had decided that Bill was dead. It had been far too long, he had gone to work at 9am that day. He had had 7 hours to get in and destroy the cup, and if he hadn’t gotten out yet then he was dead. He had to be dead.

Harry was just grateful that Ron and Ginny weren’t here, he was grateful that Charlie wasn’t here. He was grateful that Bones Manor was a Weasley free zone because those who weren’t related to Bill were worried sick.

By 4.30pm Harry had begun to pace the living room. Partially this was due to the fact that he was worried sick, but it was also because he was holding Teddy who had begun to gurn and cry for his Mother.

“He needs fed,” Harry said, glancing at the clock.

“I’ll go up and wake Dora,” Remus said, getting to his feet, his eyes warily flicking to the clock.

“It might just have taken longer than we expected,” Lilly said, and Harry began to soothe Teddy as his gurning became full on screaming.

“It’s been over 7 hours Lilly,” Harry said quietly.

“He can feel your worry Harry,” Hermione said softly, taking the boy from Harry and rocking him gently in her arms. He quieted down right away and Harry wrung his hands as the clock ticked on. They fell into an uncomfortable silence, their eyes on the clock as it appeared to freeze. Tonks came back into the kitchen and took Teddy so that she could feed him, and the clock ticked on until it reached 5pm.

They had gotten so accustomed to their silence that they all jumped into the air when a loud bang sounded on the door. Remus ran to the door and informed the others to stay in the kitchen. They heeded his orders and moments later Remus re-entered the kitchen, supporting Bill as he did so.

“Bill!” Hermione gasped.

“Get Ginny or Susan here!” Harry snapped.

“No, I can heal this,” Tonks said firmly, handing her son to Remus, “Somebody go to Hogwarts and start the evacuation. He must know, mustn’t he Bill?”

Bill nodded, his hair was entirely gone and one side of his face was burned badly, “I ran into a dragon, sorry about the delay.”

“Does he know?” Draco asked sharply.

“I was nearly caught leaving, if he doesn’t know yet he will soon,” Bill said through gritted teeth as Tonks raided the potions cabinet and pushed the Weasley onto the sofa.

Harry’s panic set in then, and the world began to spin around him. His head began to pound and the lights began to flash. He fell to his knees on the kitchen floor and screamed in agony as his head felt like it was going to explode. There was a bright flash of light and then he felt intense anger, he heard an inhuman scream. He saw red eyes flashing angrily, he saw Voldemort kill a poor, innocent goblin, the bearer of bad news clearly. He felt Voldemort’s panic, saw the images flash through his brain...the shack, the cave, and Hogwarts. 

“Harry!” Lilly shouted, “What’s happening?”

Amongst the chaos Teddy was screaming holy murder. Harry gasped as he was thrown back into the real world with a painful jolt, “He knows,” he panted.

“Already?” Remus asked sharply.

“He just killed the goblin who told him,” Harry said, his eyes widening, “He’s checking on them, he’s making sure they are all safe. He’s going to go to Hogwarts last, that’s where it’s going to happen...he doesn’t have the wand yet but he knows it’s there. It’s all going to happen at Hogwarts.”

“Then we need to get to Hogwarts now and get the kids out!” Neville said, jumping to his feet, “But somebody has to stay in the drawing room to usher people in.”

“I’ll do it,” Draco said quickly, “But when I’m done I’m coming through and joining the battle.”

They knew that they couldn’t stop him, even Hermione knew that. So they only nodded and they all darted up the stairs at top speed until Harry was left alone in the kitchen with Remus, Tonks, Teddy and Bill. 

He merely nodded at Remus, and he was drawn in for a hug with Tonks. Harry briefly took the baby from Remus and kissed him on the forehead, he murmured a goodbye and handed him back to his Father. Then he left the kitchen and he did not look back for one second. He dashed upstairs and followed the others through to Hogwarts. He led the way into the mess hall and jumped onto a table to make the dreaded announcement.

“LISTEN TO ME!”

The room fell silently, deadly silent, right away. 

Harry’s breathing was still erratic as he spoke loudly, “The battle is going to begin soon. You-Know-Who is coming here, anyone who is of age and who is willing to fight can remain to do so. But we have got to get all of the younger students out of this room and out of this school to Bones Manor immediately before he gets here! Start with the sick and injured, and then the younger school.”

“What about the people in the dormitories?” Seamus called above the hustle and bustle.

“Ginny and Hannah!” Harry called, “Get the hospital wing emptied. Then oversee the evacuation of the students in this room! Ron, Neville and Seamus, evacuate Gryffindor tower. Daphne, I need you to do the same with the Slytherin common room, take as many trusted Slytherins with you as you can because you are going to be in Carrow territory. Susan and Ernie, the Hufflepuff common room is your responsibility. Lilly, Terry and Luna, evacuate Ravenclaw tower. This has got to be done quickly and effectively!”

He jumped down from the table and the room fell into disarray as people ran around, grouping together for the evacuation. They had planned for this, they had done test runs before. 

“What are you going to do?” Ron shouted over the noise.

“I’m going to warn McGonagall and tell her to call the order!” Harry shouted back, “Hermione?”

His best friend walked forward, “Am I coming with you?”

“If you don’t mind,” Harry said diplomatically. He turned back to Ron, “Use the coins, bring the old DA members back! They know to get here via Bones Manor don’t they?”

Ron nodded, “Daphne, call the DA back!”

The blonde girl nodded and pulled a coin from her pocket. She threw it into the fire, and it burned brightly. She glanced around the crowd and shouted, “Blaise, Sophie, Tracey!”

The three Slytherins hurried over to her, “You want us in on the dungeon mission?” Blaise asked.

“There are no Slytherins I trust more,” Daphne said honestly, “Where is Draco?”

“Overseeing the evacuation on the other side,” Harry called over the noise, “Come on, we have a limited amount of time here!”

“Harry, wait!” Lilly shouted amongst the chaos. 

He spun around and saw her standing there, frozen with fear, “Is this goodbye?” she whispered.

“This is my goodbye,” Harry said, pressing a letter into her hand and leaning forward, kissing her passionately and pouring every single emotion he had ever felt into that kiss. When he pulled back from the kiss he wiped away her tears and whispered, “Goodbye Lilly,” before grabbing Hermione’s hand and slipping back into the crowd.

He was met at the door by the others involved in the evacuation. They all stood there for a brief moment, wondering if they would all come back from this. All Harry could think of to say was, “Good luck.”

They were just about to embark when Ron, who had been looking at Daphne longingly, stepped in front of the door to stop anyone from pushing it open and said, “Fuck this.”

Daphne’s eyes flashed with surprise as he moved towards her and grabbed her face, pulling her in for a kiss that surprised her and made the rest of the room break out into applause. Harry hid a smile, but shook his head in exasperation too as Daphne stepped forward and deepened the kiss, throwing her arms around Ron’s neck.

Hermione was smiling by his side, and Harry squeezed her hand. He had almost forgotten that she was still holding it. They were on a rather tight timescale however so Harry had to bring the moment to a stop.

“Oi! There’s a war going on here!”

They broke apart, both flushed in the face.

“Right, sorry mate,” Ron said with a sheepish grin, “Just don’t get yourself killed Greengrass.”

“It’s not high on my priority list,” Daphne remarked sarcastically, “But don’t do anything too heroic Weasley.”

Harry shook his head at their antics. He opened the door and they all rushed out into the empty corridor, darting off in separate directions.

“Do you even know where McGonagall is, Harry?” Hermione asked breathlessly as he pulled her into an alcove on the 1st floor.

“Her office I suppose, but I’m about to check,” Harry said, pulling the Marauders map out and murmuring, “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.”

The map sprung to life, and Harry scanned it quickly. It was dinnertime in the castle, but McGonagall was not in the Great Hall nor was she in her office. She was in her classroom, alone. The classroom which was directly opposite the alcove that they were currently hiding in.

Harry stuffed the map back into his pocket and grabbed Hermione’s hand again, “Come on!” he said, pulling her across the corridor and into the classroom. 

McGonagall’s eyes widened when she saw them, “Potter!”

“Professor you have to call the order,” Harry said desperately, “He’s coming.”

“Voldemort is on his way here?”

Harry nodded, “I don’t know how long we have. A few hours I think, we’ve already started the evacuation.”

McGonagall’s eyes darkened and she sent two patronuses flying out of the window. One to call the order, and another to call the teachers to this classroom.

“Wait here Potter,” McGonagall said sharply, walking to the window and looking out at the grey sky anxiously.

“I’ve missed you too professor,” Harry joked, and he was surprised to see a small smile flicker across his old professors face. 

They waited in silence until the door flew open and the professors who were still loyal to Dumbledore stepped inside. That consisted of Professors Sprout, Flitwick, Slughorn, Sinistra, Vector, Trelawney and of course Hagrid who positively beamed when he saw Harry and Hermione.

“We have a crisis,” McGonagall said sharply, “Lord Voldemort is on his way to this school and he is looking for a battle. We will give him one, but first and foremost we must evacuate the school.”

“I already have people on it,” Harry cut in, “We’re taking them to the Room of Requirement on the 7th floor. There is a mirror in there connected to Bones Manor, two Order members are handling the evacuation on that side.”

McGonagall gave a stiff nod, “Pomona, assist with the Hufflepuffs. Filius, please go to Ravenclaw tower. Horace, I would appreciate it very much if you assisted in the dungeons. And if you see Alecto or Amycus, curse to kill. When it is done return to the main courtyard, we must protect the school.”

They all nodded and left the room silently. McGonagall turned to Harry, “I presume you have Weasley and Longbottom evacuating Gryffindor tower?”

“And Seamus Finnigan,” Harry said with a nod.

“Then I am certain they will be fine without my assistance,” McGonagall said, her lip curling into a slight smile, “Aurora, Septima and Rubeus. I will acquire you to assist me in protecting the school, come.”

They gave stiff nods, and followed McGonagall to the door. She turned and looked at Harry before leaving, “And what will you do Potter?”

“I’ll find Voldemort when he gets here and I’ll kill him,” Harry said calmly.

McGonagall seemed to be satisfied with this answer because she gave him another brief nod and said, “Good luck,” before leaving the room with the teachers following her example. 

When the room had emptied Harry let the anger that had slowly been seeping into him, fully enter his mind. He shut his eyes and groaned in pain, leaning against Hermione to stop himself from falling over as he saw an old shack with rotting floorboards and an empty box hidden beneath one of those floorboards. He heard Voldemort scream with rage, and he knew that they were running out of time.

“He knows the ring is gone,” Harry gasped, snapping back to reality, “He just has to check the cave now and then he’ll be here.”

“What do we do?” Hermione asked desperately, “What do we do when he gets here?”

“We kill that fucking snake!” Harry snapped, grabbing his best friends hand once more, “But until then we go to Gryffindor tower and help the others. It’s the only common room not protected by a teacher and it’s the first place the Death Eaters are going to look.”

Hermione nodded and they ran from the room, gripping each other’s hands tightly and fearing the worst which would soon come.

TBC :)


	62. Everybody Has Gone to War

“Is that the last of the kids?”

“All Hufflepuff’s accounted for,” Susan said as they stood in a far emptier Room of Requirement.

“All Ravenclaw’s accounted for,” Filius Flitwick squeaked.

“And that was the last of the Gryffindors,” Harry said as he glanced at the large mirror.

“Daphne isn’t back yet with the Slytherins,” Ron said, panic entering his voice, “She sent Zabini, Roper and Davis back but she isn’t back with the final students.”

“And Professor Slughorn hasn’t made an appearance either,” Hermione said, watching the door anxiously. It was currently being guarded by a few of the 7th year pupils, but they had run into very little resistance. They had needed to stun Filch and kick Mrs. Norris down some stairs, but none of them had run into the Carrows which meant that Daphne probably had.

“I’m going down there,” Ron said, and he took a step towards the door.

“No you aren’t,” Neville said, stepping in front of him, “This is why being involved and being in a war is a bad idea. She can handle herself, she’s probably just running behind schedule.”

“And if it was Ginny you wouldn’t go?” Ron asked angrily.

“I would have faith in her first!” Neville snapped.

He didn’t have anything to worry about yet because Ginny and Hannah were still at Bones Manor. Harry had asked them to stay there with the injured, but he didn’t expect that they would both stay. He imagined Ginny would sweet talk Hannah into staying and slip back for the battle.

Ron opened his mouth to shout some more when the sound of hurried footsteps along the corridor made them all turn around and grab their wands in the odd chance that the Death Eaters had arrived. But it was Daphne and Slughorn, and trailing behind them were what was left of the 5th year and up Slytherins, although there were remarkably few 7th years.

“Sorry about the delay,” Daphne breathed, she had a large gash across her face and her right sleeve had been ripped off, “Crabbe and Goyle are apparently Death Eaters now and Pansy’s a wannabee. We locked the ones that fought us in the dungeons, they can rot there for all I care,” she said, as Neville ushered the remaining Slytherins through the mirror.

“Oh and Alecto Carrow is dead,” Daphne added, “Not my doing, that was a very well-aimed piercing charm from Professor Slughorn. Amycus Carrow is also dead, he got crucio-ed really hard and thrown out of a window into the lake. That was my doing, you can thank me later Ron.”

Ron grinned almost proudly at her, “Thanks,” he said simply.

“Do you have things under control here, Potter?” Flitwick asked.

“Yes Professor,” Harry replied calmly.

At this news, he, Sprout and Slughorn left to aid McGonagall in her protection of the school. As they had been evacuating the students they had seen a large shield begin to accumulate around the school. It would not keep the Death Eaters out indefinitely, but it would be enough to hold them back for a little while, to buy them more time.

“What are we waiting for?” Seamus asked, looking around the room.

“Draco,” Harry said firmly, “We are not going anywhere without him.”

Nobody argued with Harry, not when he spoke so firmly. He fixed his eyes on the mirror and watched as it rippled and the blonde boy in question stepped out of it. Draco scanned the small crowd directly in front of the mirror.

“So everyone is still alive then,” He joked, but he was concerned and those closest to him knew that.

“For the moment,” Harry muttered, “Is everything okay on your end?”

“The younger students are scared,” Draco admitted, “But it was a good idea evacuating the house elves. They’re making soup and hot chocolate and keeping everyone calm.”

“And Teddy?”

“Wrapped up in a blanket with his Mother,” Draco said quietly, “Remus is handling things while she protects him. I must have put half a dozen locking charms on that room, it’s practically under a Fidelius Charm in itself. Dora said that she wasn’t going to fail you with your dying wish.”

Harry’s heart sank and his stomach jolted. But he was grateful that Tonks had taken his wish so seriously because it really had come from the heart. He gave a stiff nod.

“What now?” Daphne asked quietly.

Harry frowned, the burning pain was back. It seared and he nearly collapsed with the pressure that mounted in his head. Draco stepped forward and caught him just as the world blacked out. There was a clear basin, an empty basin that had no locket in it. There was a blood curdling scream and an anger so intense it made Harry himself scream. When it came to an end the only thing supporting him was Draco. He thought it was over, but then it flashed once more and he saw the lake and the boat moving swiftly and the cold dead hands reaching out of the water. Draco gripped him tightly and shook him.

“He’s coming,” Harry gasped, “He knows about the locket. He’s coming here now.”

“So what next?” Ron asked loudly.

“The great hall,” Harry said as he regained his balance and gripped Draco’s arm tightly, “We need to gather everyone together...the DA, the Order, the students. If we don’t get some sense of order it will be chaos.”

“The Death Eaters are already here,” Daphne said, looking out into the corridor, “He must have sent them ahead of him.”

“But they can’t get into the castle, can they?” Neville asked, “I mean look at that barrier, it’s not going to break easily.”

“No, but we have to get to the hall quickly,” Harry said, “Come on! Everyone to the great hall!”

He led the charge, and those closest to him followed. They left some DA members guarding the mirror and told them that it was very important that nobody got through it. And that if they were outnumbered they must smash the mirror immediately. However the remaining members of the DA followed Harry and the others out of the Room of Requirement. They walked through the eerily silent and empty school, the barrier outside shimmering in the darkness. Night had now fallen, the evacuation had taken longer than they had initially planned. But the main thing was that they had evacuated the entire school with the exception of those who were of age and who wanted to stay and fight. 

They did not encounter anybody as they walked into the school and followed the sound of talking and shouting into the great hall. When they entered they were greeted with a mixture of Professors, Order members and DA members. Harry scanned the hall, he saw plenty of familiar faces including all of the Weasley’s with the exception of Ginny and Bill. Even Percy was here and Molly was fussing over him and crying. He saw Oliver Wood, Angelina Johnstone, Katie Bell and Lee Jordan. He saw plenty of familiar Order members but thankfully not Remus or Tonks.

“Harry,” A familiar, deep booming voice said.

Harry glanced over and saw Kingsley, standing with Professor McGonagall. He looked between them rather awkwardly, because he could tell what they were all thinking. Who exactly was in charge here?

He opened his mouth to ask the question on all three of their minds but before he could he felt his scar burn and his knees buckle. Neville happened to be the person by his side, and he grabbed Harry as he shut his eyes tightly and saw a flash of bright light. This was the briefest of visions but it was enough. He saw the iron gates of Hogwarts, the lights of the great hall, a snake reaching out towards them and hissing.

“He’s here,” Harry gasped, prying his eyes open, “He’s at the gate.”

“You saw him?” McGonagall asked.

Harry nodded, “I’m certain of it, he’s here.”

“We have protected the castle,” Kingsley said, “But the Death Eaters are already attacking our defences and they will not last forever.”

“All of the under age students are safely evacuated,” Neville said as Harry caught his breath, “And they are in a safe house under the protection of Remus and Tonks.”

“Who exactly is in charge here?” Draco asked, looking between them all.

Harry had an answer already prepared, “I’ll take responsibility for the DA if you lead the teachers Professor, and you lead the Order Kingsley.”

Kingsley bowed his head, “A fantastic idea, Harry,” he said.

McGonagall opened her mouth to speak, but then a loud horrific voice filled the hall. It seemed to come from the walls themselves and echo around the half empty hall. 

“I know that you are preparing to fight. Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood. Give me Harry Potter. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded. You have until midnight.”

Harry glanced at the large clock on the wall. Midnight was exactly half an hour away. He looked around the hall, wondering if anyone would try and curse him. Wondering if anyone would betray him. At first it did not look like anyone would, but then Theodore Nott rose to his feet and exclaimed, “Are we really all going to die for him?”

Harry was ready to fight, to stun the idiot. But he did not need to because all at once everybody seemed to move. Lilly grabbed his right hand with determination burning in her eyes, and Hermione grabbed his left hand. Draco and Neville simultaneously walked to stand directly in front of him. Ron, Daphne and Susan drew their wands at the exact same moment and pointed them at the Slytherin boy. The Hufflepuffs and the Ravenclaws and the remainder of the Gryffindors all rose to protect Harry, and Theodore Nott was thrown into the dungeons with the other members of his house who had spoken up against Harry. 

Harry rushed towards the Weasley’s, with the others close by him. When he reached them their immediate question was, “Do you know where Bill is?”

“Yes,” Harry replied, looking between Molly and Fleur, “He’s at Bones Manor. He was burned, but Tonks was healing him, she knew what she was doing.”

“He’s alright then?” Charlie asked anxiously.

“He’s fine, he’s alive,” Harry said with a firm nod.

“And Ginny?” Arthur asked, surveying the room.

“She’s there too,” Ron replied, “Treating the wounded.”

This seemed to appease the Weasley’s, but even if they had wanted to say anymore they could not because Kingsley had appeared behind them, “We have half an hour until midnight so we need to act fast. A battle plan has been agreed by the professors and the Order of the Phoenix. Professors Flitwick, Sprout and McGonagall are all going to take groups of fighters up to the three highest towers - Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and the Astronomy Tower - where they will have a good overview. Meanwhile Arthur, Charlie and I will take groups into the grounds. We will need somebody to organise defence of the entrances of the passageways into the school-”

“- A job for us!” Fred said, pointing to himself and then to George.

Kingsley gave them a nod of approval, “All right! Leaders up here and we’ll divide up the troops!”

They all lined up, in their groups and Harry glanced around at his following. He had to be pragmatic here, he had to send people where they would be useful regardless of the danger he would be putting them in. 

Kingsley, Arthur and Charlie stood together. And in another huddle stood McGonagall, Sprout and Flitwick. Fred and George stood to one side. 

“We need people here too!” Harry piped up, “People who can heal and who can man this area. It’s going to have to become a hospital. Can I suggest leaving Molly in charge, with Madam Pomfrey?”

Kingsley gave another nod, “Molly, once I have divided the troops I will set aside some people to remain here.”

Molly nodded weakly and got to her feet, forming the final area where people would be grouped together. 

“First and foremost, the guarding of the passageways,” Kingsley said, “Any suggestions Harry?”

“There are 7, but one is caved in, right?” Harry asked Fred and George.

“Correct,” Fred replied, “But one is underneath the Whomping Willow so I doubt any Death Eaters-”

“Snape knows about it,” Harry said, “Which means somebody else will. I think Ron should guard it. You’re one of the few people who knows how to get in there Ron and you’ve been in there before.”

Ron nodded, “I’m fine with that.”

Daphne tore her eyes away from the redhead, and looked to Harry who had taken charge of the situation, “So you’ll need three more people, right?”

George nodded, “I think I’ll take the statue of Gregory the Smarmy and Fred can take the Humpbacked Witch which means we need-”

“Daphne can take the portrait of Bertie Bott in the dungeons,” Harry said, “She knows the area, you know where to hide if you need to.”

Daphne nodded, “Of course.”

“And it only makes sense for Hermione to take the secret bookcase at the back of the restricted section,” Harry added, looking to his best friend.

Hermione could only manage a nod.

“Which just leaves the secret stairs in the prefect’s bathroom,” Fred said calmly.

“Which Lilly should take,” Harry said, locking eyes with his girlfriend, “It’s close to the entrance to Ravenclaw tower and you were a prefect so you know the bathroom well. You know its hiding places.”

Lilly gave him a nod, but she knew what he was doing. He was shoving her on the 5th floor where he thought she would be out of danger.

“All right,” Fred said, “Then we have a team! Let’s move out!”

“Harry-” Lilly said, her eyes flashing with fear.

“Go Lilly,” Harry said, grabbing her hand briefly, “And read the letter, please.”

Her eyes filled with tears and she dashed forward, hugging him tightly, “I love you, I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” Harry murmured, “More than you’ll ever know.”

She drew back, her tears cascading down her face, “Goodbye Harry,” she said, her voice breaking as they both realised the magnitude of that goodbye. It wasn’t a goodbye, I’ll see you in a few hours. It was a last goodbye, it was a final statement of love.

Harry couldn’t bring himself to say it back. He just nodded stiffly at her and she was swept off with the rest of Fred and George’s team. He cleared his throat and turned stiffly back to the area where they were grouping people together. 

Lee Jordan, Angelina Johnson, Madam Hooch, Professor Slughorn and Parvati Patil had all been recruited for Professor McGonagall’s team which would be heading up to the Gryffindor tower. 

“I’ll go too,” Neville said, stepping forward. As he walked past Harry and handed him a bag, he muttered “I have the sword of Gryffindor in there. You’ll need it to kill the snake.”

Harry gave his friend a nod as a way of saying thank you and acknowledging what he had meant. With a full team, McGonagall moved out and Harry realised that he probably wouldn’t see Neville again now. 

He swallowed and turned to Professor Flitwick who had recruited Professor Trelawney, Cho Chang, Fleur, Michael Corner, Terry Boot and Luna who really should have left because she was under-age. He watched them move out to Ravenclaw tower and cast his eyes towards the final team heading to a tower, Professor Sprout’s team. It consisted of Professor Vector, Professor Sinistra, Blaise Zabini, Zacharias Smith and Ernie MacMillan, a real mix of people. They headed up to the Astronomy Tower which left three teams, the three teams that would be embarking outwards, to the grounds.

The first team was Kingsley’s and it currently consisted of Aberforth Dumbledore, Viktor Krum, Augusta Longbottom (who Neville had briefly had the pleasure of hugging, and he had been told that she was incredibly proud of him and that he was his parents son), and Professor Grubbly-Plank.

“We’re still one man down,” Kingsley said as he looked around the hall.

Draco took a step forward, “I’ll go. I’m a good fighter, and I know almost all of their weaknesses.”

“Good man,” Kingsley said, patting the boy on the shoulder, “Let’s move out.”

Draco caught Harry’s eye and the boys exchanged brief nods. It was their own, minor way of saying goodbye and good luck. The hall was emptying by the minute, and Harry wondered what he would do when all of these teams had disappeared from the hall...

The second team heading outwards was being led by Arthur Weasley. He had recruited Percy, Anthony Corner, Katie Bell and Alicia Spinnet by the time Susan kissed Harry on the cheek, murmured good luck and stepped forward. His heart sank as he watched them leave because he could not help but wonder how many of them would come back...

The final team to leave the hall was that which was being led by Charlie. He had gathered together a group, mostly of younger people. Seamus, Lavender and Dean were all standing by his side. As were Oliver Wood and Madam Rosmerta. Towering above them all and looking more solemn than ever was Hagrid holding a humongous axe. They left, and the hall was left scarily empty.

Those who remained were the healers, and the protectors of the great hall which Harry feared would become both a hospital and a morgue very soon. These people, led by Molly and Pomfrey, consisted of Xenophilius Lovegood, Leanne Fox (Katie Bell’s best friend), Padma Patil, Tracey Davis, Sophie Roper and Lisa Turpin.

“What will you do Harry?” Molly asked weakly. She had just watched each of her children walk into the danger zone.

Harry honestly didn’t know the answer to that question. He felt glee and a horrible cackle in his ears. He shut his eyes tightly and saw Voldemort holding the Elder Wand, a terrible grin on his face. It was all coming together, but what could he do? He had to die, but when? Should he walk to his death right now? Should he fight first?

“I’m going to find Voldemort and kill him,” Harry said, determination burning in his eyes, “And I’m going to take down as many Death Eaters as I can with me.”

“Harry,” Molly cried, “That’s a suicide mission!”

“That’s the plan,” Harry muttered darkly, gripping his wand tightly and stalking from the hall into the darkened grounds. There was an army of Death Eaters stationed somewhere in the distance, he could tell from the endless spells that were battering the barrier. He did not know how long it would last, but when it broke down Voldemort would edge closer. He had already gotten to Dumbledore’s tomb because the barrier did not extend that far into the grounds. In fact the boundary seemed to be at the old wooden bridge that led to the owlery and the Quidditch pitch. He saw the three teams stationed at various parts of the boundary, and he saw Ron, lying low by the Whomping Willow, ready to attack any Death Eaters who dared to enter via the old, dangerous tree.

He frowned and squinted into the darkness, and confirmed what he thought he was seeing by the wooden bridge. Seamus, and a couple of other darkened figures seemed to be rigging the bridge with explosive charms, ready to blow it up the second the Death Eaters broke through the barrier and began to run across it. Just as the thought struck his mind there was a deafening crack like the loudest rumble of thunder he had ever heard. The barrier shattered and sparks rained down across the grounds. The Death Eaters ran across the bridge because it was the only way they could get in from the Forbidden Forest. But there would be more, stationed in various different parts of the grounds and they would find their way to the castle soon enough. The castle where Lilly was...

Harry was torn between running back into the castle, and running into the fight. The Death Eaters charged the bridge and it blew with a stupendous bang and a huge flash of light. There were screams and shouts and shrieks and the old wooden bridge collapsed into the deep gorge, taking plenty of Death Eaters with it.

Harry had to act quickly, he had to find the snake and kill it. He had to make sure he didn’t get killed by anyone other than Voldemort either though so he reached into the bag and pulled his invisibility cloak on. He pressed himself tightly against a wall and closed his eyes, trying to look into Voldemort’s mind. He did so easily, and he found Voldemort’s hiding place. He was in the Shrieking Shack... he had Nagini in a protective bubble of some sort and he was watching the battle through the only un-boarded window in the old building. He sent Rodolphus Lestrange to find Snape, and Harry imagined that he wanted him so that he could kill him. So that he could become the Master of the Elder Wand, or so he thought anyway.

When he opened his eyes he realised that chaos was reigning and he threw off the cloak because it was the only way that he would be able to help. Giant spiders swarmed in from the forest and Grawp stormed through the grounds, attempting to crush as many as he could. But those who were fighting against the Death Eaters were at risk of being crushed too. They were coming from every direction. Death Eaters were duelling people everywhere...Kingsley and Yaxley, Ron and Rabastan Lestrange, Draco and the werewolf that had turned Neville. Harry ran forward, stunning as many Death Eaters as he could, sending Sectumsempra flying at those he particularly hated. He darted past Draco just in time to see him shout, “Sectumsempra!” and slit the werewolf’s throat. Harry heard the Slytherin scream “THAT WAS FOR NEVILLE!” as Draco turned around and joined Ron in his fight against Rabastan. 

Harry saw crystal balls flying from Ravenclaw tower, striking Death Eaters and knocking them unconscious. He was running flat out, with the cloak tucked under his arm towards the passageway under the Whomping Willow which Ron had abandoned because the Death Eaters had come in from all directions. He had no idea what he would do when he got to the shack, but he had to get there. He had the sword of Gryffindor in his bag and he needed to kill that goddamn snake. 

He was vaguely aware of another giant joining the fight and launching itself at Grawp. Between them the giants were destroying the upper floors of the school and Harry felt   
sick as he thought of Lilly on the 5th floor. He calmed his mind slightly with the thought that the higher up she was the safer she was. But by now the mirror had surely been broken and there would be no safe way back to Bones Manor for any of them. Harry felt his heart freeze then, and a cold chill enveloped him. But it had nothing to do with Lilly and everything to do with the dementors that were soaring towards the castle. He had to get through them, but as strong as his patronus was it could not handle a swarm that big, not alone.

All the same, he had to try. He raised his wand, thought of his happiest memory with Lilly and shouted, “EXPECTO PATRONUM!”

Somebody else had roared the incantation from behind him, and together a stag and a goat charged the dementors and pushed them back. Harry glanced back very briefly at Aberforth Dumbledore and used the gap to dart as fast as he could towards the Whomping Willow. It had been battered by spells and giants so it was flailing madly which made Harry’s dance through the branches more difficult than normal. He was slapped in the face at least twice, but he ignored the sting and the blood that was dripping down into his mouth. 

He slipped effortlessly into the passageway, but it was far tighter than it had been when he had entered it in 3rd year. He crawled onwards, using his wand to light the way but ensuring that it was very dimly lit. When he neared the end of the tunnel he pulled the cloak over himself, which was difficult in the tight space. He murmured, “Nox” and held his breath as he reached the end of the passageway where a crate had blocked the exit. He glanced through the smallest of cracks and saw Nagini in the bubble that was protecting her. 

He heard Snape speak and realised that the Professor was inches away from his hiding place. He listened intently as Snape told Voldemort that the resistance was crumbling and offered to find him. He had to wonder what game Snape was playing here, and his loyalties were once more thrown into the air. He could step out right now and let Voldemort kill him, but no...he had to kill the snake first because if he died here with the sword hidden in this passageway nobody else would know where it was. Nobody else could kill the snake, it wasn’t a locket that they could bathe in Basilisk venom. It had to be killed with the sword.

Harry held his breath as Voldemort asked Snape why the wand didn’t work. He knew what was coming, Snape was going to die. He watched and listened to the conversation in horror, if Snape really was on their side he should do something to help him. His Mother would want that, wouldn’t she? But no, Harry couldn’t risk his own life for Snape’s when he didn’t even know if he was on their side. Not yet, not until the snake was dead or he had given somebody else the sword. He held his breath as Voldemort encaged Snape inside Nagini’s protective bubble and told her to kill, in Parseltongue. 

Snape screamed and Harry’s eyes widened in horror, he was helpless to save him. He watched as Snape’s face was drained of colour. He saw the snake bite him, he saw him fall to his knees on the old, dirty floor. Voldemort used his wand to lift the bubble off of Snape and he left, the bubble and the snake within it following him from the room. Harry could have screamed with frustration, but he remained deathly still for a moment until he was sure Voldemort was gone.

He levitated the crate aside and slipped into the room, kneeling by Snape’s body and trying to stop the blood flowing from his neck. But there was too much of it, and it was too fast. No spell would stop it, and dittany certainly would not. He felt sick as he looked at the man he had always despised, the man who had loved his Mother. The man who he finally understood. 

Snape grabbed Harry’s robes weakly and choked out, “Look...at...me.”

Harry frowned at first, but looked at the potions master anyway. He understood as the man’s black eyes found Harry’s green eyes. The green eyes that his Mother had given him. Seconds later his grasp on Harry loosened and the life was entirely drained from him. He fell back, and Harry knew without having to check for a pulse that the man was dead.

He let out a shaky breath, what did he do now? Voldemort and the snake were gone, and he didn’t know where they had gone to. The battle was still raging on back at Hogwarts, and he had to do something. He had to find someone he trusted and give them the sword, someone like Draco or Ron or Neville. He had to give them the sword and then he had to hand himself over. That was his only choice, but the Marauders map would be no use now. Not with all of those people fighting out in the grounds...

He got to his feet shakily and decided that he would have to go back through the tunnel, he would have to find one of his trusted companions and give them the sword. He jumped out of his skin as Voldemort’s loud, high voice filled the room. For a moment he thought that Voldemort had heard him and had come back into the room. But he quickly realised that Voldemort’s voice was filling the air once more, as it had earlier.

“You have fought valiantly. Lord Voldemort knows how to value bravery. Yet you have sustained heavy losses. If you continue to resist me, you will all die, one by one. I do not wish this to happen. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a loss and a waste. Lord Voldemort is merciful. I command my forces to retreat, immediately. You have one hour. Dispose of your dead with dignity. Treat your injured. 

I speak now, Harry Potter, directly to you. You have permitted your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself. I shall wait for one hour in the Forbidden Forest. If, at the end of that hour, you have not come to me, have not given yourself up, then battle recommences. This time, I shall enter the fray myself, Harry Potter, and I shall find you, and I shall punish every last man, woman and child who has tried to conceal you from me. One hour.”

Harry swallowed hard and nodded, to himself more than anybody else really. The time had come. He would hand over the sword, beg someone to kill the snake and he would walk to his death. He would do so with dignity. He tucked the cloak under his arm once more and scurried through the passageway as quickly as he could. When he came out of the willow he pressed the notch at its base so that he could dart through the branches without fear of injury. He surveyed the ground, the sick feeling in his stomach growing as he wondered who had died, as he wondered what had become of Ron and Draco, fighting Rabastan side by side. And Lilly...

The grounds were abandoned, and bore the signs of battle. Harry’s feeling of dread grew as he walked up the steps into the entrance hall, the tiles stained with blood. The silence bore down on him as he stepped into the great hall, fearing the things he would see there. The hall was empty of all furniture, and the room was crowded. The survivors stood in groups, whispering and embracing each other. The injured were being treated on a raised platform by Pomfrey and those who had been appointed as her helpers earlier. 

The dead lay in a row in the middle of the hall. He scanned them, terrified that he would see Lilly’s beautiful face there, her blue unseeing eyes staring up at him. He choked when he saw the face of a redhead with deep green eyes, and a blonde girl sobbing over her body.

“Susan,” Harry choked.

Daphne looked up, her tearstained face bearing the signs of battle, “Dolohov,” she managed to choke out.

Harry felt tears sting his own eyes as he placed a hand on the girls shoulder and tried to walk on, his legs shaking beneath him. He saw more and more familiar faces staring at the roof with dead eyes. Kingsley Shacklebolt, Zacharias Smith, Lavender Brown, Aberforth Dumbledore, Augusta Longbottom with her Grandson crouched in front of her, tears openly pouring down his face. Harry couldn’t bear to face Neville, because he had done this. He walked on past his friend and continued to scan the faces of the dead fearfully. Amongst them lay Lee Jordan and Michael Corner. He panicked because he could not see Lilly, Hermione, Ron or Draco. They were not among the dead and he couldn’t see them amongst the huddles of survivors either. But then his eyes locked onto the raised platform and he saw a huddle of Weasley’s, and amongst them were those he sought. 

He flew up the platform and pushed through them to see who had been hurt and his eyes locked onto Ron. He could have been sick at the sight, he was unconscious but alive, a bloody gash practically tearing his face in two.

“He’s lost an eye,” Molly sobbed, “But he’s going to live.”

Lilly grabbed Harry’s arm tightly, she was covered in cuts and grazes but she was largely unharmed. 

“It was Lestrange,” Draco said angrily, “I killed the bastard for it.”

“Somebody had to,” Hermione hissed, blood seeping from a gash on her head.

“Fred,” Harry said with wide eyes when he saw the older Weasley brother on a stretcher, the bottom half of which was soaked with blood, “What happened to you?”

“Well let’s just say I’m a little legless,” Fred joked with an easy smile.

“What an inappropriate time to be drinking!” George added with a weak smile.

“You’ve lost your legs?” Harry asked, horrified at the very thought.

“It’s just the one leg actually,” Fred remarked.

George added, “Between us we almost make a whole person, I mean I’m missing an ear, Ron’s missing and eye and he’s missing a leg.”

“Hey, collectively we’re Mad-Eye Moody!” Fred cut in, and Molly laughed tearfully.

Harry didn’t smile, he just looked between Fred and Ron at the damage he had done and he was flooded with guilt, “Snape is dead. Voldemort thinks he’s truly the master now.”

Those in his close following understood him, as did Bill who stood by his wife. His face was raw and pink, but bore no more burns. He still had no hair however, which made him almost unrecognisable. 

“The snake?” Draco asked.

“Still alive,” Harry said darkly. He reached into his bag and pulled out the sword of Gryffindor amidst gasps from the others nearby. He held it out to Draco.

The Slytherin frowned, “Me?”

“Ron can’t,” Harry murmured, “And Neville has just lost his Grandmother. It has to be you, Draco.”

Draco took the sword, his hands shaking slightly.

“Kill the snake,” Harry whispered, “Kill the snake and then it’s just him. Once the snake it dead, kill him. I don’t care how, a killing curse, a severing charm, cut his fucking head off for all I care but whatever it is make sure it kills him.”

Draco, Hermione and Lilly nodded. They were the only ones left who could sensibly do it.

“Kill the snake,” Draco said, blowing out a breath and looking down at the sword in his hands, “How exactly do I do that?”

“I don’t know,” Harry said, “But you have to.”

“You can’t seriously be thinking about handing yourself over to him,” Charlie said angrily.

“I have to,” Harry said, “I won’t have anyone else die for me. Do you still have that letter Lilly?”

She pulled the letter from her pocket, one edge was bloodstained.

“Read it,” Harry whispered as he turned on his heel.

“Harry!” Molly called after him, it was a desperate plea but Harry ignored it. He walked from that hall as fast as he could, his heart pumping hard in his chest as he had to look upon the faces of the dead once more. 

He was stopped by Neville who grabbed his leg and looked him directly in the eye, “We’re all going to keep fighting Harry you know that?”

“Yeah,” Harry said simply in a small, quiet voice. He walked on, past Daphne who was still sobbing over her best friend’s lifeless body. He walked silently and slowly through the grounds, past Hagrid’s hut and into the Forbidden Forest. The trees around him rustled softly in the wind and he felt almost peaceful as he entered the boundary and began the long walk towards his death.

At the first clearing Harry came to he pulled the snitch from his pocket and drew it to his lips, murmuring that he was going to die. It slid open instantly and a small black stone fell out onto Harry’s hand. He breathed in disbelief, the resurrection stone...it was true. All of it, all three of the Hallows existed and he had two, and was the master of the other. He shut his eyes, squashed the fleeting feeling hope down and turned the stone over in his hand three times. When he willed himself to open his eyes his breath caught in his throat at the figures standing before him, figures that he never thought he would see. They weren’t ghosts, but at the same time they were ghostly figures of those who had once lived. He drank them in, his Mother, his Father and Sirius. But there were three other figures who he vaguely recognised. One of them stood by Sirius’s side and held his hand, she was Marlene McKinnon...she was Lilly’s Mother. She had the same eyes, the big blue eyes that Harry knew so well...

The other two looked different, more like ghosts. They were faint, like they weren’t quite there and after a moment Harry realised that they were Frank and Alice Longbottom, as they had been in life rather than in the state they had been encased in for the past 16 years.

“You have been so brave, Harry,” His Mother said softly.

“And we have to thank you,” Marlene said, a sad smile on her face, “For looking after our daughter.”

“And for telling her about us,” Sirius said, an easy smile on his face, “I wish I had known her. But you have, and that’s enough.”

“I love her,” Harry said, his eyes burning with tears, “I wish I didn’t have to die.”

“I know son,” James said, “But we are so proud of you.”

Harry swallowed and scanned the ghostly figures, “How are you here if you aren’t dead?”

“We are dead,” Alice said with a sad smile, “We have been dead for 16 years.”

“Our bodies are shells,” Frank said, “We have not lived in them since that fateful night.”

Harry shook his head in horror, all of those years that Neville had visited them...and they had never been there. He would have been just as well visiting a grave stone, it was sickening. 

He swallowed and looked to his parents and his Godfather once more, “Does it hurt...dying?”

“Not at all,” Sirius said calmly, “Quicker and easier than falling into a deep sleep.”

“And he will want it to be quick,” Frank said, “He wants to end this.”

Harry swallowed hard once more and looked directly at his Mother, gripping the stone so tightly that it cut into the palm of his hand, “You’ll stay with me?”

“Until the very end,” James said softly.

“He won’t be able to see you?”

“We’re a part of you,” Sirius said, “Invisible to anyone else.”

“Stay close to me,” Harry whispered, walking onwards into the darkened forest. Even it was free of all creatures, there were no spiders, and no centaurs...it was empty of life. He could feel the chilly sensation that meant that dementors were nearby, but the ghostly figures acted as Patronuses and he felt nothing. He clutched the cloak around himself, and he continued to walk on for what felt like a very long time into the darkness. 

Eventually he came across Yaxley and another Death Eater. He paused and they stared right at him and his ghosts, but saw nothing. He walked softly behind them, knowing they would lead him to Voldemort, aware his hour was almost over. He followed them into the clearing where Aragog and his family had once lived, a clearing that was now filled with Death Eaters surrounding a flickering fire. He saw some Death Eaters he recognised, like Rowle and...Narcissa Malfoy, her face sunken and bruised as if she had been abused. He thought of her son back at the castle and the impossible mission Harry had given Draco. Guilt flooded him once more. 

His eyes found Voldemort in the centre of the clearing waiting...and Nagini above his head, still in her protected bubble. 

“I thought he would come,” Voldemort said quietly, “I was, it seems...mistaken.”

“You weren’t,” Harry said with all of the courage that he could muster. He slipped the stone into his pocket and the ghosts that had surrounded him disappeared. He pulled off the cloak and stuffed it beneath his robes with his wand so that he was not tempted to defend himself. He stepped forward into the firelight and looked Voldemort directly in the eye. 

There was chaos, the giants roared, the Death Eaters cheered and Narcissa Malfoy looked sick as she watched on. Harry moved closer to Voldemort, ignoring the chaos surrounding them. He ignored Hagrid’s shouts as the half-giant, who was tied up to a tree nearby, desperately shouted at him to stop until he was silenced by Rowle. 

Voldemort smiled a wicked, joyless smile, “Harry Potter...the boy who lived...” he raised his wand. 

Harry looked into his red eyes and thought of Lilly. He thought of her blue eyes and her laugh, and the way that her nose wrinkled when she was happy. He thought of Draco and Hermione teasing each other and arguing about the difference between Disney and Beedle the Bard. He thought about Ron and Daphne and their blazing love, and that kiss in the Room of Requirement. He thought about Neville and Ginny’s happiness, and the firing range, and the outhouse, and the drunken game of extreme dares. It all flashed in front of his eyes, the happy memories, the happiest memories of his life, all made in these last two years. His final thought however as Voldemort’s mouth began to move, began to say the fatal words was of Teddy. He thought of that perfect little boy, and his laughing Mother and his grinning Father. He thought of his family. 

The flash of green light came, and the world went blank. Everything was gone. 

He was dead.

TBC :(


	63. Don't Put Dirt on My Grave Just Yet

“Daphne? Ron is...”

Daphne frowned up at Neville, “Is he alive?” she asked.

Neville nodded and crouched down, “Yes, but he’s injured...badly.”

Daphne’s eyes widened, and Neville took her hands, gently pulling her to her feet and trying not to look at the cold, pale body of his ex-girlfriend.

“How badly?” Daphne whispered, her face puffy, and her eyes bloodshot. 

“It was Sectumsempra,” Neville said, lacing his fingers through hers and leading her towards the raised platform, “And he was hit in the face.”

She swallowed and allowed Neville to continue, “His nose was broken, but they think they will be able to regrow the flesh there...but he...he lost an eye.”

She gasped and shrunk back slightly, afraid to step up onto the platform, “How?” she breathed.

Neville gently pulled her up and said, “Just look, it’s not so bad now that’s it’s all cleaned up.”

Daphne edged forward, her hand flying to her mouth when she saw the redheaded boy. She gripped Neville for support and stared at him...his long hair was matted with blood and a long gash extended from his forehead diagonally across his right eye and through his nose, ending at the top of his left cheek. Whoever had treated him had placed an eyepatch over his right eye, the eye that was clearly missing.

It never crossed her mind that he would be less attractive, she just found the extent of the injury sickening. She was not even aware of every single Weasley watching her as Daphne dropped down on her knees next to the stretcher he was lying on.

“Does it hurt? Is he in pain?” She choked out.

“No, we sedated him,” Madam Pomfrey said, “Until the wound can heal itself he will remain in a magical sleep so that he doesn’t feel any pain.”

Daphne nodded and let her tears spill out as she gripped his hand, “Who did this?” she asked through gritted teeth.

“Rabastan Lestrange,” Ginny said, “But if you want revenge you won’t find it.”

“He’s already dead,” Draco said, his eyes flashing dangerously.

“How?” Daphne asked, her eyes flashing angrily.

“Do you really want to know?” Draco asked.

Daphne pushed herself to her feet and subsequently to her full height, “Yes, I want to know! Because whatever you did better have been punishment enough for what he did to my boyfriend!”

Draco grimaced slightly, “Fine. I got angry when I saw what he did to Ron so my claws came out and I-”

“You what?” Daphne snapped.

“He disembowelled him, alive,” Neville said, grimacing as he spoke the words.

“Good,” Daphne said, her eyes finding Ron once more, “He deserved it, the sick fucking bastard.”

Molly cleared her throat, and Daphne felt her face flush as she remembered that Ron’s entire family were standing around his bedside.

Charlie just grinned and said, “So he did have a girlfriend, I knew it! I said he did, didn’t I Bill?”

Bill laughed weakly, “Yeah you did. You must be the Daphne Greengrass I’ve heard so much about.”

“That would be me,” Daphne said, her cheeks a bright pink.

“Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you Daphne,” Molly said with an easy smile.

“And you,” Daphne said politely, “Ron always spoke so highly of all of you. Well almost all of you, there were some horror stories surrounding Fred and George...” she scanned the group of redheads.

Fred and George shared identical grins and said, “Fantastic,” simultaneously.

Ginny smiled slightly and glanced over at the blonde girl, “Welcome to the family,” she joked with a wink, stepping around her brother and taking Neville’s hand.

Neville looked at her in surprise, and Ginny turned to her family, “Since we’re in the middle of a battle and we’re revealing all of our secrets, Neville and I are dating,” she said.

“Well that was obvious,” Charlie said, and Bill nodded his agreement.

“Obvious to you two maybe,” Fred said, “What exactly have you been doing for Harry during the war?”

“Apart from getting cursed by ancient dark lords and half killed by dragons?” Bill asked matter of factly.

“That’s how you got burned?” Charlie asked in disbelief, “Haven’t you learned anything from me?”

“Apparently not,” Bill said, gesturing at his bald head, “But you haven’t learned anything from me either. If you had you wouldn’t have gotten cursed at Nurmengard.”

“Nurmengard?” Arthur asked in stunned disbelief, “What were you doing at Nurmengard?”

Bill looked pointedly at his brother, and Charlie admitted sheepishly, “Uh, killing Gellert Grindelwald?”

“What?” Molly barked, “That was you! Charles Gideon bloody Weasley...”

Daphne took the opportunity to take a step away as the Weasley’s all began to argue, albeit in good nature. She glanced around and frowned, “Where’s Harry?”

“Gone,” Lilly whispered, her voice barely a whisper.

“Gone?” Daphne asked weakly.

Neville nodded, “He went to the forest to...do it...”

“What about the snake?” Daphne asked when she got over the shock of this news, “Is it dead?”

Lilly shook her head, she had not looked up from the letter that she was holding in her trembling hands, “He gave the sword to Draco and told him to kill it.”

Daphne glanced over and saw that Draco was leaning on the sword of Gryffindor. She slipped away for a quiet word with her fellow Slytherin and Neville took a step towards Lilly. He took her right hand to steady her and said, “You need to read it.”

“I can’t,” Lilly sobbed, “I can’t Neville.”

“Do you want me to read it to you?” Neville asked gently.

Lilly’s voice was stuck in her throat with the emotions running through her, and the pain. She could only manage a nod, so Neville eased her back into a rickety chair and pried the letter from her hands. She stared down at the ground, at her shaking hands, coated with dry blood. 

Neville knelt down in front of her and opened the letter. He unfolded it and read to her quietly, and she shut her eyes tightly as she tried to imagine Harry standing before her saying these words for real.

“Lilly,

I am sorry that I had to say goodbye like this. I did try, I tried so many times but every time I tried you shut me out. I couldn’t leave without saying goodbye to you because my goodbye to you is the most important one I’ll ever make.

I have to thank you. I have so much to thank you for, this last year or so with you has changed my entire life. You have made me happier than I have ever been. I love you so much, and I’m sorry I won’t be able to fulfil that promise we made at Bones Manor. I wish I could have married you, I wish I could have spent the rest of my life with you.

I am so sorry for not being able to give you what you deserve. But please, oh Merlin please promise me that you will let yourself be happy. Find a decent guy, fall in love, get married and become the fantastic Mother I know you will be. Don’t distance yourself from our friends just in case they remind you of me. Please be there for Teddy, be the cool Aunt who takes him out for ice cream and who buys him the most amazing presents. Give him all of the love that I can’t.

But please don’t put your life on hold, please live life to the full. I never could, and I wish I had been able to. There are so many things I wish I could have done, but mostly I wish I could have known you for longer. I wish I could have felt your love for longer. I wish our time together didn’t have to be over so soon.

Thank you, thank you for giving me happiness and pure joy at a time when I didn’t think happiness even existed. Thank you for opening my eyes, for teaching me new things, for changing my perception of the world and everything in it. Thank you for making me laugh and smile when things seemed like they would never get better. Thank you for loving me when I didn’t deserve love.

I promise that I will always be with you, in your heart and in your memories.

All of my love,  
Harry.”

By the end of the letter Lilly’s tears had really become sobs. Neville pulled her into a hug, and sighed sadly, glancing at Draco, Daphne, Hermione and Ginny who were watching nearby with tears in their own eyes. 

“He’s gone,” Lilly managed to choke out through her sobs, “He’s really gone.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Harry opened his eyes and frowned. Was this Heaven? He had never really thought about what came after death, but he didn’t think that it was a train station. He became aware that he was naked and that he was not wearing any glasses, nor was he covered in any of the cuts or bruises he knew he had received in the battle. He heard a strange noise and wished he had clothes on, in case anyone appeared out of the strange mist surrounding the station. As he considered this a pair of robes appeared nearby, and he came to the conclusion that he was certainly dead and this must be Heaven.

He pulled the robes on, and walked tentatively towards the sound. It did not take long for him to reach it. He recoiled when he saw it, because it looked like a small, ugly naked child with raw, rough skin. 

“You cannot help.”

Harry jumped and looked up, stunned to see Albus Dumbledore walking towards him, looking younger than he had ever known the man to be and wearing robes of midnight blue.

“Harry you wonderful boy, you brave man!” Dumbledore said, “Let us walk.”

Harry frowned, but walked after the man, away from the strange creature. He followed his old Headmaster to two seats some distance away and they sat down. All Harry could think of to say was, “You’re dead.”

Dumbledore simply nodded.

“So I’m dead too then,” Harry said, a note of disappointment in his voice. 

“Ah,” Dumbledore said with a smile, “That is the question isn’t it? I do not believe so.”

“No?” Harry said stupidly.

“No,” Dumbledore repeated, that cryptic bloody smile on his face.

“But I did what you wanted, I let him kill me!” Harry exclaimed, “Are you telling me that it didn’t work? That I did it for nothing!”

“It worked,” Dumbledore said calmly, “That figure was the piece of Voldemort’s soul residing within you. I am aware that you let Voldemort kill you, and that, I think, will have made all the difference.”

Harry rolled his eyes, “Can you please just explain? You never explained anything to me in life! I don’t know anything about you! All that stuff about your sister could be right for all I know!”

Dumbledore smiled sadly, “Ariana was not a squib...quite the contrary in fact. She was doing magic as a child, accidentally. None of us can control it at that age of course...three muggles saw her and attacked her. Poor Ariana was terrified so she refused to use magic again, she caged it in and when she lost her temper it escaped. My Father hunted down the muggles who did it and he went to Azkaban for his crime...”

Harry’s eyes widened, “Is that how your Mother...”

Dumbledore just bowed his head, “Yes. It is also how Ariana died. Myself, Gellert and Aberforth were fighting and she got upset and lost control. A spell ricocheted and Ariana was gone.”

“I’m sorry sir,” Harry said quietly.

Dumbledore gave his head a small shake, “I am with her now, as I am with Aberforth and Gellert once more. But I did owe you the truth Harry, you are correct.”

“What did you mean about me not being dead?” Harry asked with a frown.

“You already know,” Dumbledore said infuriatingly.

“I let him kill me,” Harry said.

Dumbledore nodded.

“So the part of his soul inside me died,” Harry continued, “And that was what that thing was down there...but if Voldemort used the killing curse and nobody died for me this time how can I still be alive?”

“I think you know,” Dumbledore said, a sparkle in his eye, “Think back to what he did out of ignorance...in greed and cruelty.”

Harry frowned, what could the cryptic old man be referring to? He wasn’t entirely sure where the answer came from, but he must have known subconsciously because the words left his mouth with ease, “He took my blood.”

“Yes,” Dumbledore agreed, “He took your blood to rebuild his living body. Your blood is in his veins Harry, Lily’s protection is within both of you. He tethered you to life while he lives.”

Harry frowned, “I thought it was the other way around...I thought I had to die for him to be mortal.”

“Oh yes, you did,” Dumbledore said with some grim excitement, “Such is the genius of the prophecy. You were the 7th horcrux Harry, the one he never meant to make. He had rendered his soul so unstable that it broke apart-”

“- That night in Godric’s Hollow and it attached itself to me, I know,” Harry said with a nod.

“He took your blood thinking it would strengthen him Harry,” Dumbledore continued, “He took into his body a tiny piece of the enchantment your Mother laid upon you when she died for you. His body keeps her sacrifice alive, and while that enchantment survives, so do you and so does Voldemort’s one last hope for himself.”

“And you knew this all along?” Harry asked, anger slipping into his voice, “And you never said anything? You allowed me to say my goodbyes to all of the people I love? I lived in fear this whole year, it broke Lilly’s heart, it just broke her!”

“I guessed,” Dumbledore said, “I never knew, never. I did not want to give you false hope, that was never my intention.”

Harry sighed and looked away from the man to their surroundings, “Are we in Kings Cross Station?”

“Ah I was going to ask you that,” Dumbledore said, “This is your party, Harry.”

Harry shook his head irritably, Dumbledore was really irritating him. But there were still things he wanted to know. Things that only Dumbledore could tell him, “Why didn’t you tell me about the Deathly Hallows?”

A fleeting look of guilt passed through Dumbledore’s eyes, “I feared you would fail, as I did. I dreaded that you would make the same mistakes I did, but I do apologise for thinking so lowly of you. After all, you are a far better man than I.”

Harry frowned, “What do you mean?”

“I sought to be the Master of Death,” Dumbledore said, “Am I any better than Voldemort?”

Harry blanched, “Of course you were. You wanted the Hallows, you didn’t make horcruxes...maybe you wanted a way to cheat death but it’s not the same...”

Dumbledore smiled slightly, “You always did have a forgiving nature, like your Mother...” he mused.

“So it’s all true?”

“Not necessarily all of it. The Peverell brothers did indeed have the Hallows,” Dumbledore replied, “But I find it a more likely story that they were very gifted wizards who created these objects. I doubt very much that they were Deaths own Hallows...the cloak of course was passed down from father to son, mother to daughter until it reached Ignotus’s last descendant.”

“Me?” Harry said slowly, “I was right about that?”

“Perfectly correct,” Dumbledore said calmly.

“How do I go back?” Harry asked, thinking of everyone that he loved.

“You do have a choice,” Dumbledore said thoughtfully, “If you so wished you could board a train.”

“And where would it take me?”

“On,” Dumbledore replied.

Harry shook his head, “No, I have too much to live for. I have Lilly and Ron and Hermione, Neville...Ginny...Daphne...Remus...Tonks...and my Godson Teddy. I even like Draco Malfoy now.”

Dumbledore smiled slightly, “Just remember Harry that you should not pity the dead. Pity the living, and above all, those who live without love. By returning you will ensure that fewer souls are maimed, fewer families torn apart.”

Harry nodded and stood up. Dumbledore did the same and Harry caught his eye briefly, “Is this real?” he asked as the thought struck him, “Or is this all happening in my head?”

Dumbledore smiled once more, his eyes sparkling, “Of course it is happening inside your head Harry. But why on earth should that mean it is not real?”

Harry frowned at the thought, and the world began to darken. He was being pulled backwards down a dark tunnel, and the light from Kings Cross Station began to fade until darkness reigned once more.

Harry’s eyes were shut, and he kept them that way. He was lying on the forest floor, face down. He could feel the cold ground, his glasses cutting into his face. He could feel the place where the killing curse had hit him, like a bruise from an incredibly painful punch, throbbing painfully. He remained exactly where he fell, terrified of being found out. 

He heard scuffling, he heard Rowle murmuring “My lord”, he heard footsteps and Voldemort saying “That will do.”

He opened his eye by the smallest fraction of an inch for barely a second, and in that time he saw Voldemort getting to his feet. He had collapsed when he hit Harry with the curse, had he finally felt one of his horcruxes dying?

“Is he dead?” Voldemort asked coolly, “You!”

There was a bang and a shriek of pain, “Examine him! Tell me whether he is dead.”

Harry’s heart thumped as the person who had been asked to examine him edged forward. Soft hands touched Harry’s face, pulled back an eyelid, crept beneath his shirt to feel his heart. He heard the woman breathing quickly and he knew that it was Narcissa Malfoy. 

She leant in closer, pretending to listen for a breath, “Is Draco alive?” she whispered, her voice so quiet it was lost in the wind.

Narcissa shielded him then so that nobody would see his mouth move and Harry whispered as softly as he could, “Yes.”

She stood up, “He is dead!” she exclaimed, and Harry could have breathed a sigh of relief if it wasn’t for the fact that it would have given him away. 

There was much shouting, and yelling, and general sounds of triumph then. Harry was waiting for the inevitable humiliation that would come. He knew that Voldemort would not allow him a gracious death. 

Voldemort shouted triumphantly and said, “Crucio!”

It took every ounce of Harry’s strength and determination to pretend that he was dead while the curse was being used on him. He had to think of Lilly and happy memories, he had to try and remain limp and it was harder than ever. When it ended he held in the sigh of relief that he wanted to let out. He felt sick as Voldemort talked of parading him up to the castle and forced Hagrid to carry him there. He felt Hagrid left him up, shaking as he did so. His glasses were forced back on, and Hagrid stumbled through the forest, branches catching Harry’s hair and robes as they went. 

“Harry Potter is dead. He was killed as he ran away, trying to save himself while you lay down your lives for him. We bring you his body as proof that your hero is gone!” Voldemort said and Harry’s blood ran cold because that couldn’t have been any further from the truth.

“The battle is won. You have lost half of your fighters. My Death Eaters outnumber you and the Boy Who Lived is finished. There must be no more war. Anyone who continues to resist, man, woman or child, will be slaughtered, as will every member of their family. Come out of the castle, now, kneel before me, and you shall be spared. Your parents and children, your brothers and sisters will live, and be forgiven, and you will join me in the new world we shall build together.”

Silence fell and Harry’s heart beat faster than before. He was terrified that it would give him away. Voldemort told Hagrid to come forward, and they were on the move once more. Harry risked opening his eyes a little and saw Voldemort walking in front of him with Nagini on his shoulders, free of her magical bubble. His heart leapt, he could not kill her but one of the others could and he had faith in them, in all of them. 

They came to a halt in front of the doors of the school, and the Death Eaters spread out to form a defensive line so that nobody would be able to run away. 

“NO!”

Harry’s heart froze as he realised that the scream had come from McGonagall’s mouth, he squinted for a split second and saw people begin to fill the doorway. Lilly would be there soon, she would see him, she would assume he was dead...

“No!” Came an anguished cry from Hermione.

Amongst the shouts and cries he recognised Ginny’s voice, and Neville’s as he shouted abuse at the Death Eaters, and there was Daphne’s voice in the mix too. He had heard them all, all but Ron, Draco and...

“No! No! HARRY!”

Lilly. Harry remained silent, the sound of her choked screams filling his ears. 

“SILENCE!” Voldemort roared and there was a bang, and a flash of bright light, “It is over! Set him down Hagrid, at my feet where he belongs.”

Hagrid, clearly under an Imperius curse, did so. 

“You see?” Voldemort said, “Harry Potter is dead! Do you understand now, deluded ones? He was nothing ever, but a boy who relied on others to sacrifice themselves for him!”

There was a scuffle and the sound of heavy footsteps. Voldemort laughed, a joyless sound.

“And I see that you have decided to demonstrate what happens to those who fight on when the battle has been lost, Draco,” Voldemort said in his high, cold voice.

“Draco, no!” Hermione shouted, and Harry cracked open his eye to see Neville and Daphne holding her back.

Draco stood in front of Voldemort, the sword of Gryffindor cunningly tucked behind him.

“Draco!” Another voice called, a desperate voice. The voice of Narcissa Malfoy, his Mother.

“I am forgiving Draco, I will welcome you back. You will make a valuable Death Eater, I am sure,” Voldemort said calmly.

“I will never join you!” Draco said coolly.

“Ah but you already did, Draco.”

“Under threat of death, and chained to a chair,” Draco spat, “I have free will now, and I will never join you.”

There was more scuffling and Harry opened his eye to see Neville walk forward and place his hand on Draco’s right shoulder. Hermione stared defiantly at Voldemort and stepped forward, taking Draco’s left hand. 

Voldemort laughed, “Ah, love! Love has changed your opinion? I wonder what your Father would think of this.”

“I couldn’t care less, since I killed him!” Draco said defiantly. 

There was a collective gasp amongst the Death Eaters because clearly this had not been common knowledge. 

There was a sigh, “Then let this be a lesson to all. Avada Ked-”

“SECTUMSEMPRA!”

Harry had moved so quickly that everyone was left stunned, Voldemort included. He had aimed the spell at the dark lord’s hand and all of that practice at the firing range had paid off. Voldemort screamed as his wand hand was sliced clean off.

Everything became chaotic as the Death Eaters screamed and Nagini screeched and slithered away from her master’s shoulders. Draco raised the sword above his head, Harry pointed his wand at Voldemort, and the Death Eaters drew back fearfully.

“KILL THE SNAKE!” Harry roared.

The sword of Gryffindor flew through the air and Nagini’s head was sliced off. The snake erupted into a puff of black smoke, and Voldemort let out a horrible scream. The smoke enveloped them all and amidst the choking and the coughing Harry shouted, “Avada Kedavra!”

The smoke cleared, and for a long moment silence reigned. Voldemort’s crumpled body lay on the ground, and the Death Eaters stared wide-eyed. Then all at once everyone reacted. The Death Eaters recoiled and ran, and the students and teachers for the most part let them. They cheered and grinned and all of a sudden something small was running at Harry. The something small collided with him and jumped into his arms, and amongst the chaos and the cheering Harry was kissing Lilly like it was the first time he ever had.

“You’re alive,” She breathed, breaking the kiss and beaming radiantly at him, “You’re alive.”

“And it’s over,” Hermione said, her eyes still on Voldemort’s crumpled form. Certain Order members and Aurors had run after the Death Eaters. But everyone else was cheering and moving in towards Harry and all he wanted to do was escape back to Bones Manor, to hug Remus and Tonks and hold Teddy and go to sleep, curled up in bed with Lilly.

“Come on,” Draco muttered, nudging his head towards the Whomping Willow, he understood exactly how Harry was feeling. 

“I’ll distract them,” Daphne said, “And I’ll check in with you guys later.”

Harry nodded gratefully at her.

“Oh my God, is that a dragon?” Daphne shouted, pointing up at the school.

Everyone spun around and Harry, Lilly, Draco, Hermione and Neville used the brief moment to dart into the darkness towards the Whomping Willow. Daphne and Ginny stayed, in Daphne’s case it was to be with Ron and in Ginny’s case it was for her family. The others made it to the edge of the tree and Hermione drew in a breath.

“Wingardium Leviosa!”

She levitated a twig and used it to press the notch. The tree instantly stopped moving and they all dragged themselves through the tunnel, emerging in the room where Severus Snape’s body still lay cold and dead. His blood pooling around him. 

“What should we do about him?” Hermione asked, gripping Draco’s hand tightly.

Draco sighed and knelt down, murmuring some words and placing a small object on the man’s body. With a flash of light he disappeared, leaving only the pool of blood. 

“What did you do?” Harry asked.

“Sent him to the castle, with the rest of the dead,” Draco said quietly, “Where are we?”

“The Shrieking Shack,” Harry said, walking down a set of stairs and prying open the front door. They stepped out into the darkened high point of Hogsmeade and walked numbly onwards until they reached the fence. 

“We can apparate to Bones Manor directly now,” Harry said, “It’s over.”

They all nodded and spun collectively on their heels. When they emerged in front of Bones Manor the place looked more like a sanctuary than ever. But there was a sadness too, because Susan was dead...she would never see her home again.

They walked onwards, around the house to the back garden which was littered with tents and huddles of students keeping warm with magical fires contained in jars. Harry walked ahead of the others and climbed a set of stairs so that he was raised in front of the house.

“IT IS OVER!” He shouted.

There was a stunned silence, and amongst the crowd he saw Remus. His eyes wide, a smile slowly forming on his face.

“VOLDEMORT IS DEAD!”

The students rose up collectively and cheered, and hugged, and hit each other on the backs.

Harry didn’t care much for the glory they were surely attributing him with. All he cared about as he stepped down from the platform was the people that he loved and the fact they had survived this horror story.

“Harry,” Remus breathed, stopping in front of him and grabbing his shoulder, “You’re alive.”

Harry positively beamed as he nodded, and he was drawn in for a hug by the werewolf. Remus held on a little tight, for a little too long. But Harry understood and he simply smiled as he pulled back and asked, “Where are Tonks and Teddy?”

“Upstairs,” Remus said, hugging each of them individually, “She will be thrilled to see you, come on!”

He was giddy, like a child as he stepped into the house and walked with a skip in his step to the bedroom he and Tonks shared on the 3rd floor. He unclicked the locking charms, and Draco had been right about one thing, that room was like Fort Knox. When Remus had eventually finished he pushed the door open and let Harry walk in first.

Tonks stared at him in disbelief, “Harry?”

Harry nodded, “I didn’t die, well I did die but I came back,” he said cheerfully.

“You’re alive,” Tonks breathed, rushing across the room to draw him into her arms.

Harry hugged her back, closing his eyes and savouring every second of the moment. When she finally released him he walked over to the cot and looked at the newborn inside of it. He smiled wider than ever and reached inside, Teddy sleepily grabbed his finger and squeezed it.

“Guess I will be buying you that broomstick and taking you to Quidditch games,” Harry murmured with a smile, gently prying his finger from the sleeping boys grasp.

He turned around and looked at them all. He stepped forward and hugged Neville, and then Draco who was left a little stunned by this show of emotions. Harry pulled Hermione towards him and hugged her tighter than the others, kissing her on the forehead.

Then Harry finally turned his gaze to the most important person in the room, Lilly. She was grinning, her face still wearing the signs of the battle and he thought she was the most beautiful thing in the world in that moment. He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him.

“I hope you weren’t joking about marrying me when this was over,” Harry said, his eyes drinking her in.

Lilly’s grin widened, “No, I wasn’t. But last time I checked you didn’t have a ring.”

Harry smiled and pulled from his pocket a golden ring with a diamond at its centre, “Now that is where you would be wrong.”

Lilly’s eyes widened, and so did Remus’s because he recognised the ring. 

“So,” Harry said, “What do you say?”

“Yes, you bloody idiot!” Lilly said a little loudly, waking Teddy up, “Bloody hell, yes!”

Harry beamed and slipped the ring onto her finger, pulling her in for a kiss and then holding her body tightly to his.

“That was your Mother’s,” Remus said softly as Harry looked at him over Lilly’s shoulder, “She was wearing it when she died...how did you...?”

“It appeared in my pocket,” Harry said honestly, “After I had used the resurrection stone to speak to my parents and Sirius... I died and then I came back, and it was in my pocket when I woke up.”

Remus smiled a little tearfully and whispered, “I guess that means they approve.”

Harry returned his smile and closed his eyes tightly, he imagined he would value every little thing for the rest of his life because he knew how precious life was, how fragile it was. He knew now how easy it was to take away, and yet all he could think about was how happy he was that it was finally over.

The war was finally over.

TBC :)


	64. The War is Over

“Daphne, you need to go home and sleep.”

Daphne shook her head and rubbed her eyes, “No, I want to be here when he wakes up,” she said, sitting by Ron’s bedside in a brightly lit private room in St. Mungo’s.

“You heard the Healers,” Ginny said softly, “He won’t wake up for at least two days. You haven’t changed...you’re covered in blood.”

It was sometime in the afternoon on the 2nd of April. The battle had come to a close in the early hours of that morning and the seriously injured had been transported to St. Mungo’s. Ginny had cleaned up and changed, she was covered in small cuts and bruises but she was relatively unharmed. She sat down on the edge of her brother’s bed and looked at the blonde girl.

“How are things at Hogwarts and Bones Manor?”

Ginny knew that Daphne wanted to take her mind off of Ron’s condition so she obligingly answered, “As well as they can be, all things considered. The mirror broke so Harry put his own mirror in the great hall and enlarged it so that the kids could get back early this morning.”

“And the school?”

“It’s shutting early, all exams have been postponed,” Ginny replied, “They sent everyone away on the Hogwarts Express early this morning.”

Daphne sighed and leant back against the wall, “How is Fred?”

“Currently telling Mum that at least she will always be able to tell him and George apart now,” Ginny said with a slight smile, “In other words, he’s fine.”

Daphne didn’t smile, “The Healer came by after you left. He said Ron is going to need a big operation after he wakes up, so that they can fit him with a false eye.”

“Like Mad-Eyes?” Ginny asked, immediately regretting her choice of words.

Daphne’s eyes darkened, “Moody got that eye nearly 20 years ago. Medical magic has advanced since then you know? He showed me it, and it looks real. I doubt it will be very obvious...but it will have to wait for a week so that the wound can heal properly.”

“Well that’s good then, isn’t it?”

Daphne nodded.

“Daphne, you are exhausted. Go home, or if home is too scary, go to Bones Manor,” Ginny said softly.

“Home is not somewhere I want to be right now,” Daphne said, rubbing her eyes once more, “I’m glad that I got Astoria home, but I need to be here. I need to be here for him when he wakes up.”

“He won’t wake up of his own accord, I promise,” Ginny said, gripping the girls hand, “Please go back to Bones Manor and clean up, you can come back straight away but you can’t sit here covered in blood.”

Daphne got to her feet shakily and nodded, she left the room without another word, and Ginny watched her leave anxiously.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

By the time everyone had emerged for ‘breakfast’ in the kitchen of Bones Manor it was well after midday. Harry rubbed his eyes and dragged Lilly into the kitchen after him.

He realised very quickly that all bloodshot, sleepy eyes were on him.

“What?” He asked defensively.

“Well,” Neville said, “You’re alive.”

“And we’re delighted,” Hermione said honestly.

“But how?” Draco asked, “You went there knowing you had to die, and Voldemort did die so how are you alive?”

“Well I did die,” Harry said, leaning against the bar, “I had this whole chat with Dumbledore and everything. I think I was in limbo, there was a bright light and Kings Cross Station...Dumbledore explained to me why I wasn’t dead.”

“And why was that?” Remus asked curiously.

“Well it was thanks to my Mum, again,” Harry said honestly, “Her sacrifice and her love, all of the stuff Dumbledore went on about...do you remember that Voldemort took my blood in 4th year when that portkey transported me to the graveyard?” he aimed this at the only people in the room who did know, Remus, Tonks and Hermione.

They all nodded, and Harry continued, “Because of that he had some of my blood in his veins which meant that my Mums sacrifice was still alive in him. So I couldn’t die while he was alive.”

“So you had to die for him to be mortal,” Draco realised.

“But you couldn’t die while he was alive,” Lilly whispered, “The prophecy had it right.”

“It’s a catch 22 if ever I heard one,” Neville said with a shake of his head, “No wonder it took Dumbledore so long to work it out.”

“Even he guessed,” Harry admitted, “That’s why he didn’t tell me that I might live. He didn’t want to give me hope in case he was wrong, like I wondered about after we saw those memories.”

“So you came back, from the dead?” Tonks asked.

Harry nodded, “It wasn’t a very pleasant experience...and pretending to be dead while Voldemort used the cruciatus curse on my ‘corpse’ was also pretty hard.”

Remus’s eyes flashed angrily, “Did you see anyone apart from Dumbledore?”

Harry opened his mouth and contemplated telling the entire truth, “Sort of. Bits of it are hazy.”

“I can’t believe I hugged you,” Draco said with a shake of his head, “And now you’ll never let me live it down.”

“No, that you can live down,” Harry said with an amused look his way, “But I won’t let you live down the fact that you beheaded Voldemort’s snake with the sword of Gryffindor.”

Neville smirked at the blonde, “If we were ever in doubt of your loyalties we certainly are not anymore.”

“And I think Dumbledore might have been right when he said that they sort too early at Hogwarts,” Harry said, his eyes flashing with amusement.

Draco rolled his eyes and pushed himself to his feet.

“You might as well tell them the truth,” Daphne said, leaning in the doorway in her clothes from the night before.

“And what truth would that be?” Draco drawled.

“The truth about what the hat said to you in 1st year,” Daphne said calmly.

“What did it say?” Harry asked curiously.

Draco glared at his friend, “Don’t you dare.”

Daphne actually smiled slightly, “Well Draco ‘I’m a pure-blood aristocratic smug git’ Malfoy was told that he would have done well in Gryffindor. In fact he begged the hat to put him in Slytherin so that his Father would not disown him. Mind if I borrow the use of a bathroom Tonks?”

Tonks smiled slightly at the blonde girl, “By all means use mine. Take whatever clothes you want from my room as well Daphne.”

She disappeared up the stairs and Harry gaped at Draco, “I swear, you could be my twin brother. Our life is just a whole series of parallels, I begged the hat not to put me in Slytherin because I didn’t want to be in the same house as you.”

“The irony,” Draco said, a slight smile slipping onto his face.

“Where are you going?” Hermione asked as he walked towards the back door.

“To find my Mother,” Draco said with a sigh, “I have a lot of amends to make...”

He left without another word, and Hermione glanced down with a frown, “I don’t know what to do about my parents...I don’t think I can get their memories back.”

“Did you put in a failsafe?” Remus asked.

“No,” Hermione said, biting down on her lip hard, “I didn’t obliviate them. I modified their memories, but I’m not sure I can undo it on my own.”

“Bring them back here and I will undo the damage,” Remus promised, “I am rather good with minds.”

“I wish you could fix my parents,” Neville said glumly, and Harry’s heart sank as he realised he would have to tell his friend that nothing could fix his parents.

Hermione sent him a sympathetic look and said, “I suppose I should broach the subject of Australia with Draco...sooner rather than later, I do need to find my parents.”

“I am certain he will go with you as soon as his business with his Mother is straightened out,” Tonks said softly as she rocked Teddy in her arms.

Remus smiled down at the boy and let him hook his finger in his tight little fist, “Now that all of this is over...do you think Teddy would like a brother or sister?” he mused.

Tonks looked at her husband in disbelief, “I’m sure he would but I am not going through that again anytime soon. Ask me again when I’m getting a decent amount of sleep every night.”

Remus smiled sheepishly, “Sorry love,” he murmured, kissing her cheek and staring down at his son.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Mother.”

Narcissa Malfoy jumped and spun around. She had been standing in the smallest living room in Malfoy Manor, looking out into the bright afternoon sunshine. Her face was gaunt, and bruised. Her eyes were dark with bags beneath them, but they lit up when she saw her son standing across from her.

“Draco,” She breathed.

“What did he do to you, Mother?” Draco asked, his hands balled into fists.

“He used the imperius curse on me,” Narcissa replied quietly, “He forced me to become a slave.”

Draco’s eyes flashed red, “What did he make them do to you?”

Narcissa shook her head, “They humiliated me, and they beat me. But nothing worse than that my darling, I promise.”

Draco remained in the doorway, afraid to walk any closer, “Do you know what I did?”

Narcissa bowed her head, “I know.”

“And can you forgive me?” Draco asked, his voice breaking as he tore his eyes away from hers.

Narcissa sighed softly, “Draco, there is nothing to forgive. Your Father was a cruel man, a man who pushed you too far too many times. He thrived on pain, whether that was inflicting it physically or mentally. I feel free for the first time in several years, because of you.”

“But I’m a monster, Mother,” Draco said, his grey eyes swimming with tears as he looked up once more.

Narcissa shook her head, tears swimming in her own eyes, “No,” she said firmly as she crossed the room in one swift movement and pulled her son into her arms, “You are no monster, Draco. I understand that it is going to be difficult for you to come to terms with what you did to your Father and I will do anything that I can to help you come to terms with that. But I will not allow it to define you.”

Draco frowned as she let go of him. He looked down, unsure what to say. He was unsure of how much more there was to say. 

“I am so proud of you, Draco,” Narcissa whispered, and these words forced Draco to look at her.

“Proud of me?” He asked in disbelief.

“You overcame a horrible thing,” Narcissa said, her tears freely falling down her bruised cheeks, “Becoming a werewolf could have broken a person, but it made you stronger. Hermione Granger has made you stronger. I never thought I would see my son stand up side by side with Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom to face the dark lord. I always feared you would be standing behind that dark lord, just like your Father. You have no idea how proud it made me, Draco.”

Draco smiled a little tearfully at her, “I’m proud of myself too. I...I finally feel like maybe I do deserve Hermione’s love.”

“Of course you do,” Narcissa said, clutching his hands in her own, “You deserve all of the love in the world. All of the love that your Father could never give you.”

Draco swallowed hard, and took a shaky breath, “I’m just so glad that it’s finally over, Mother.”

“So am I, Draco,” Narcissa said, drawing her son in for a hug once more. She held him tightly and shut her eyes, thanking any god who would listen for the fact that her son had been spared, “So am I.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Neville...can I have a word?”

Neville looked up, “Yeah,” he said, letting his wand drop to his side, “What’s up?”

He and Harry had begun the clean-up of Bones Manor after it had been used to hold several hundred students. The grass was a mess, and there was junk lying around everywhere. They did not know what would happen with the place now that Susan was dead, but until they were kicked out they would stay.

“Come with me,” Harry said, walking into the woods that comprised a large part of the estate, far enough away from the house and outbuildings for some real privacy. Neville followed Harry, looking utterly bemused.

“What’s going on, Harry?”

“I have bad news about your parents,” Harry said as he pulled the small black stone from his pocket, “I used this when I thought I was about to die. It’s the Resurrection Stone...from the stories.”

“It works?” Neville asked in surprise.

Harry nodded, “The thing is, I didn’t just see my parents and my Godfather. I saw your parents too.”

“My parents aren’t dead, Harry,” Neville said slowly.

“That’s the thing Neville,” Harry said, meeting his fellow Gryffindor’s eyes, “They are. They told me that those bodies are just shells, and that they have been dead for the last 16 years.”

Neville took a step back, he wasn’t recoiling from Harry. He was recoiling in shock.

“But you can see them,” Harry said as he took Neville’s hand and turned the stone over three times before placing it down in the palm of his hand.

Neville looked up and his eyes instantly filled with tears as he saw his parents, and his Grandmother standing close to him. His parents were more ghostly, and translucent than his Grandmother but they were all there.

“We are so proud of you son,” Frank said with a lopsided smile similar to Neville’s.

“You were so brave in the battle,” Alice agreed, “Braver than any Auror that I ever knew.”

“I wasn’t good enough,” Neville said, “Or you wouldn’t have died Gran.”

“That wasn’t your fault,” Augusta said, giving him a rare smile, “And I was old, it was my time. My heart was giving up Neville, you are young.”

“You have your entire life ahead of you,” Frank agreed.

“And we do like Ginny ever so much,” Alice said with a smile, “She reminds me of Lily when she was young,” she added for Harry’s benefit.

Harry smiled weakly, but remained silent because this was Neville’s moment. It was his family.

“Please don’t feel guilty for any of this my sweetheart,” Alice said, “None of this is your fault.”

“And werewolf or not, you are brave son,” Frank said, “Had I been alive and you told me that you were worried that I would be embarrassed by you because of the fact you had been bitten, I would have laughed in your face, so you know.”

Neville smiled weakly, “So you don’t care?”

“Care?” Augusta laughed, “It’s about time Remus had some company around the full moon. He always was a grumpy pain in the arse.”

“Mum,” Frank chuckled, “This is about Neville, not Remus.”

Neville smiled at them, “I love you all, I just wanted to say that because I never got to say it to you Mum and Dad. And I didn’t say it to you enough Gran.”

“We love you too son,” Frank said, “But we don’t want to see you again for a long while.”

Neville nodded, a weak smile still on his face, “I understand. Bye Mum...bye Dad...”

“Goodbye sweetheart.”

“Goodbye son.”

“Bye Gran,” Neville said, looking at the woman who had raised him. 

Augusta just gave him a nod, a hint of a smile on her face. Neville shut his eyes and dropped the black stone into Harry’s hand. When he opened them again his parents and his Grandmother were gone.

“Are you alright?” Harry asked, gripping the taller boy’s shoulders.

Neville smiled genuinely at Harry, “I’m great. Thank you for that Harry.”

Harry smiled at him, “Well everyone should be able to speak to their parents,” he said as they walked back from the treeline towards the house together in the bright afternoon sunshine.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“How are you doing?”

“Fine.”

“Really? Cause it sounded like you were throwing up,” Tonks said with a raised eyebrow.

“Fine, I’m not fine,” Daphne said, sitting down heavily, “I feel sick to my stomach all of the time! I want Ron to wake up, I want to know that he’s okay!”

“Worrying yourself sick about him is not the way to go Daphne,” Tonks said, sitting down next to the girl and grabbing her brush from the bedside table.

“I can’t help it,” Daphne said, shutting her eyes as Tonks brushed her hair out and performed a drying charm on it at the same time with her wand, “I fell for him so hard in this war and now...”

“Now he’s in a magical sleep so his wounds can heal,” Tonks said calmly, “It’s controlled by the healers. He will wake up.”

“And when he does?” Daphne asked, “What’s he going to do? Fred might be limping around joking about being legless but do you really think Ron is going to be okay with having one eye? With being maimed for life?”

“Well it could be far worse,” Tonks said calmly, “He could have been bitten. Being a werewolf is far more difficult to deal with than losing an eye and sadly two of your friends suffered that fate this year.”

“I know,” Daphne sighed, “But I’m scared about the way he’s going to react Tonks. His family and Ginny are all looking on the bright side and all, but I don’t think Ron will be doing much of that when he wakes up.”

“Honestly Daphne, I think he will be really down for the first little while,” Tonks said calmly, “It’s a big change in his life and that will be really tough. He will need you, more than ever I expect. But he will get used to it, and they’re going to give him the updated version of what Moody had aren’t they?”

Daphne nodded glumly, “But more human and less...obvious.”

“Well if he still wants to be an Auror that will be a huge advantage,” Tonks said encouragingly, “There is a bright side here and eventually he will see it. When he gets over the shock of looking different I’m sure he’ll find an eye that can see through everything very cool.”

Daphne laughed weakly, “Yeah, he will.”

“So you need to stop worrying so much my love,” Tonks said as she finished drying the younger girl’s hair, “I set up the downstairs bedroom for you and if you don’t promise me that you’ll go to sleep there tonight I will force a sleeping draught down you.”

“I will sleep there,” Daphne promised, “I just... I don’t want to go home but everything here reminds me of Susan and...” she stopped, her eyes filling with tears.

“You miss her, I know,” Tonks said, gripping Daphne’s hand, “Why can’t you go home?”

“Astoria is home now,” Daphne said, “Which means she will have told my Mother about Ron and I and...well she won’t approve and I don’t need any more stress right now.”

“No, that much is definitely true,” Tonks agreed, “Go downstairs and get some sleep. I can guarantee that everything will seem better in the morning.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“It’s my fault she’s dead.”

Draco frowned. He looked around his bedroom, there was nobody else here. It was the dead of the night and Hermione was lying next to him, fast asleep. 

“I’m talking in your head, you idiot.”

“Oh,” Draco thought, “Sorry, I forgot I was a werewolf amongst everything else going on...guess you can’t sleep either then Neville?”

“Well if I was asleep would I be having this conversation with you?”

“No, I suppose not. No need to be sassy about it though.”

“I did learn from the best.”

Draco rolled his eyes, “What are you talking about anyway?”

“Susan. It’s my fault that she died. I broke her heart, if I hadn’t broken up with her she might have never gone into the-”

“Neville, it is not your fault for the love of Merlin. She was always going to fight, it wouldn’t have mattered if she was dating you or not. If I’m being entirely and brutally honest, the reason she is dead is because she was up against Dolohov and as good as Susan was, Dolohov was better. He killed Gideon and Fabian Prewett for heaven’s sake, and they were Aurors.”

“I know, but I feel responsible somehow...”

“It’s unreasonable guilt. I know you loved her, and I know a part of you still does a little, but she’s gone and you have to accept that.”

“I know.”

“Just be grateful that Ginny is still here.”

“I am, Merlin trust me, I am.”

“You know you could have just pinged me a thought along the lines of, ‘I can’t sleep let’s go out to the outhouse and get smashed’, and we could have had this conversation in a far more exciting way.”

“No,” Remus’s voice said as it entered the conversation loudly, “Because the last time you two got smashed as you so nicely put it Draco, the outhouse got smashed to bits and Harry nearly died.”

“Well he does seem impossible to kill, maybe we should try harder next time.”

“Draco!”

“You can’t shout at me in my own head Neville!”

“I just did smart arse.”

Draco snorted irritably, and Hermione stirred next to him, “Who are you talking to?” she mumbled.

“No one,” Draco murmured, “Go back to sleep love.”

He glared at a blank wall as Hermione settled back down next to him, “And now you woke my girlfriend up, nice job guys.”

A scream sounded from below and an exasperated thought filtered in from Remus, “A girlfriend is easier to get back to sleep than a baby. Do not go out to the outhouse and get drunk.”

“Yes wolf-dad,” Neville’s voice said sarcastically.

Draco smiled slightly in amusement, “Night Neville. Please don’t accidentally send me any wet dreams tonight, I’m still having nightmares from the last time.”

“Fuck off Malfoy.”

“Sweet dreams Fatbottom.”

“Go to sleep you two! You’re keeping Teddy up!”

“What do you mean?”

“He seems to have a little bit of werewolf in him. He knows we’re talking about something, it’s what woke him up.”

“Oops,” Neville thought, “You can’t talk about wet dreams in front of a baby, Draco.”

“He’s not even a month old yet, he can’t understand that!”

“Go to sleep!” Remus thought as loudly as possible at them, and then silence reigned in Draco’s head and he smiled slightly despite himself.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“When are they going to wake him up?” Daphne asked as she rushed into Ron’s hospital room, “I just got the patronus!”

Molly smiled slightly, “Don’t worry dear, we were waiting for you. The Healer is checking in every so often, he’s waking Ron up when he next stops by.”

Daphne was honoured by the fact that the Weasley’s had saved her a seat next to the bed. There only were two, one of his right side which was occupied by Molly, and the empty seat on Ron’s left side which Daphne sank into, reaching out and grabbing his hand which was warmer than it had been before.

The other Weasley’s stood around the bedside (with the exception of Fred who was in a wheelchair for obvious reasons). Daphne’s bottom had barely touched the seat when the door swung open and the healer who had been assigned to Ron stepped in with an easy smile.

“All right, are we ready to wake him up?”

They nodded that they were, and the healer stepped forward. He mumbled an incantation and waved his wand in a complicated manner and Ron slowly opened his one working eye. He frowned slightly as his vision blurred for a moment or two until he could finally make out the faces around his bed.

“Why can’t I see anything on my right side?” Ron asked groggily.

“I am afraid Mr. Weasley that you took a dark cutting curse to the face,” The Healer said calmly, “And we were able to repair the damage done to your nose which leaves you with only a faint scar. However, the damage to your right eye was irreparable unfortunately.”

Ron paled, “Are you saying I only have one eye?”

“It’s not so bad Ron,” Daphne said, gripping his hand tightly, “There is some good news too.”

“Okay,” Ron said weakly, “What is it?”

“Thanks to an extremely generous anonymous donation, we are able to offer you the latest in replacement optical magic,” The Healer told Ron.

“Like Mad-Eye Moody’s fake eye?” Ron asked, his face showing how he felt about that, “Because they called him Mad-Eye for a reason!”

“Medical magic has moved on significantly since Mr. Moody received his false eye,” The Healer said pragmatically, “And he was given a basic eye, funded by the Ministry. This is the top of the range, the best money can buy so to speak. You will notice barely any difference, the shade may be slightly lighter than your natural eye colour but your vision will be the same. There are advantages with this sort of magic as well Mr. Weasley, including x-ray vision as the young tend to call it, and the ability to literally have an eye in the back of your head. I have been told by previous patients that it is invaluable when trying to look out for children, and Aurors of course find it helps them significantly.”

“An anonymous donation?” Ron asked, his lips quirking into a smile.

“Indeed,” The Healer said.

Ron actually laughed a little, “Is he here?”

The door snapped open, and because of the fact it was on the opposite side of the room from his working eye Ron didn’t see who entered. 

“Sorry I’m late,” Harry’s voice said, he was a little breathless, “I swear to god every time I was seconds away from leaving Remus or Tonks handed me Teddy. Ron, you’re awake!”

He walked around to the edge of the bed and his face came into view, he beamed at his best friend.

Ron’s smile widened, “Harry, why bother making an anonymous donation you bloody arse? You could have just told me.”

“It was for the sake of the books alright?” Harry grinned, “It looks a bit suspicious if I make a big donation and my best mate gets a brand new eye, doesn’t it? I mean if everybody knew I was doing that, they’d all want it. And I’d be kind of skint, which isn’t ideal since I kind of having a wedding to pay for,” he pulled Lilly into view and lifted up her left hand where the engagement ring sparkled.

The comment sparked chaos as both Harry and Lilly were drawn in for hugs by every member of the family. Molly hugged them both at least twice, if not three times and the Weasley boys patted Harry on the back in congratulations.

When it died down Ron grinned at his best friend, “Congratulations mate. When’s the big day?”

“Oh a while yet,” Harry said offhandedly, “We have a school to rebuild, and jobs to find, and a house to gut out. Jesus Lil, how are we ever going to make Grimmauld Place liveable?”

“With the help of Dobby and Kreacher,” Lilly laughed, linking her arm through his, “And with a feminine touch of course.”

Molly positively beamed at them both, and Ron amongst all of it looked at Daphne. She smiled down at him and tightened her grip on his hand, but they didn’t say anything to each other.

“Stop giving your girlfriend the googly eyes, oops I mean eye,” Fred grinned.

“Why are you in a wheelchair?” Ron asked, only just noticing this.

“Well let’s just say if you ask me to hop it I’ll be able to do that,” Fred said in amusement, “But I’m really glad Voldemort is dead because running away is really not my thing right now.”

“You lost a leg?” Ron asked in disbelief, “Merlin’s sake, have the rest of you all got all of your body - holy shit Bill! Where is your hair?”

“It’s not really the same as losing a leg, an eye or an ear, Ron,” Bill said in amusement.

“Yeah but you’ve always had long hair,” Ron said, “It’s practically a body part, I mean you’re bald.”

“Unlike your eye and Fred’s leg and George’s ear though, my hair will grow back,” Bill laughed, “And I reckon I needed to cut it anyway...I’m getting too old for the whole rebel without a cause thing.”

“Yeah you’re taking over in that department Ron,” Charlie agreed, “But while we’re all here and since we’re all alive I have something to say. Now that this war is finally over I’m moving back to Britain, I’m sick of hiding out in Romania and the reason I’ve been hiding over there has nothing to do with liking dragons. Well I mean I do like dragons as much as the next guy, but I’ve been hiding because I’m gay.”

The room was silent for a moment and then laughter erupted from almost every person in it. Daphne looked vaguely bemused and Harry grinned knowingly but every single Weasley in the room laughed loudly and heartily.

Charlie looked around at them all in disbelief, he had no idea why his announcement had caused that reaction.

“Was that supposed to be a secret, Charlie?” Molly asked as she wiped away tears of mirth.

“Well yes!” Charlie exclaimed, “I mean I know that Ginny knew, and Fred and George, and Bill obviously. But Mum, you knew?”

“We all knew!” Ron exclaimed, “Honestly Charlie, do you really think I could be best friends with Harry Potter, manage to uncover Voldemort’s evil schemes every year and not figure out that you were gay? Really?”

“Even Percy knew,” Arthur said with an amused smile.

“Dad!”

“Well you aren’t the most perceptive of us, son,” Arthur said.

“I am highly perceptive!”

“Apart from when it comes to people,” Fred grinned, “I mean Penelope Clearwater only had a crush on you for two years before you noticed it Perce.”

Percy floundered like a fish and then closed his mouth, almost huffily.

“And your first boss only had to be out of the office for like half a year before you realised that he was under the imperius curse,” George smirked.

“Oh shut up,” Percy said irritably, crossing his arms indignantly.

“So you all knew? All along?” Charlie asked in disbelief, “And you’re all okay with it?”

Molly smiled slightly and rolled her eyes in jest, “It seems I’m destined to have more sons than daughters. The rest of you better hurry up and get married, I’m severely outnumbered at the moment.”

Charlie laughed in disbelief, he had expected disapproval, not this.

“Honestly woman, you’ll be pushing for grandkids next!” George joked, and all eyes turned to Bill and Fleur. 

“Well if Harry stops sending my husband off to capture German wand makers and kill dragons then we may actually have a chance to start trying,” Fleur said matter of factly, and a roar of laughter echoed around the room as Harry cringed sheepishly into a corner.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Why have you dragged me all the way out to the werewolf sanctuary?” Lilly asked Harry in amusement one sunny afternoon a few days after the final battle.

“Because I have something to show you,” Harry said honestly, “And I needed to do it somewhere we wouldn’t be overheard.”

Lilly raised an eyebrow, “We do have a bedroom in this house you know?”

“I know,” Harry said with a slight smile, “It’s not that. Give me your hand.”

Lilly frowned but held out her hand anyway. Harry took it gently in his own and pulled the Resurrection Stone from his pocket. He turned it over three times and dropped it in Lilly’s hand, closing her fingers around it.

“Look behind you,” Harry said softly as she looked bemused.

Lilly turned around slowly and nearly dropped the stone in disbelief as she saw her parents standing before her. Sirius was as he had been when Harry had seen him a few nights before. He was younger, and the marks that Azkaban had left on him were gone.

“What is this?” Lilly asked, her voice small.

“It’s the Resurrection Stone,” Harry said as he stood by her side, holding her hand, “It is real and I wanted to make sure that you got to meet your parents at least once Lilly.”

“You have your Mother’s eyes,” Sirius said with a soft smile as he looked upon his daughter’s face, “Doesn’t she Marls? She has your eyes.”

“But your hair Sirius,” Marlene said, her eyes not leaving Lilly, “And your nose, she definitely has your nose.”

“Well it’s a good thing she didn’t get your crooked snout,” Sirius remarked.

Marlene glared at the man, “You are as much of an arse in death as you were in life Sirius.”

Lilly couldn’t help herself as she watched them, she giggled.

“Honestly Sirius, behave yourself. You are being giggled at by your own daughter,” Another voice said and Lily Potter materialised next to Marlene.

“Well come on Lily, I really don’t blame her for laughing at Sirius,” James Potter’s voice said as he appeared next to his wife, “I mean look at that face.”

Harry joined in with Lilly’s laughter and his Mother rolled her eyes, “James you are not helping.”

Lilly tightened her grip on Harry’s hand and said, “Is it just me or are you seeing Draco and Hermione and Ron and Daphne here?”

“Yeah, there are some similarities,” Harry laughed as the four adults turned back to the two teenagers.

“In all seriousness Lillian-”

“- She’s not Sirius love, I am.”

Marlene smacked Sirius on the arm, and he cursed, “Ouch! I didn’t know ghosts could hit each other!”

“Shut up you arse,” Marlene muttered, “Honestly Harry, I don’t know how you put up with him.”

Harry laughed a little, “Yeah I don’t know how I did either.”

“Hey, I heard what you said about me,” Sirius said, “I’m the cool older brother while Remus is the father figure?”

“Well you did have a motorbike, and a tendency to push me towards getting into trouble,” Harry said pointedly, “And Remus...well he shouts at me and grounds me for getting drunk and playing extreme dares.”

“Which he should do, that was very dangerous!” Lily exclaimed.

“But it also looked like great fun,” James said in an undertone, and Sirius nodded next to his best friend. Both men were punched in the arms by their respective other halves and Harry and Lilly laughed even louder.

“I am actually trying to say something serious though Lillian,” Marlene said, her eyes finding Lilly’s almost identical ones, “As much of an idiot as he acts, your Dad and I are so proud of you for everything you have overcome in your life. And we’re so sorry that we couldn’t raise you properly, we’re sorry about everything that you went through.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Lilly said honestly, “You didn’t mean to get killed by Voldemort. I just...I wish you had told my Dad about me so that I could have had a couple of years with him.”

“I know, and I am so sorry for that,” Marlene said seriously, “I didn’t tell your Dad because I was worried about how he would take the news. He was the secret keeper for Lily and James and that was hard enough. I never wanted to give him more to worry about, I thought if he knew he might do something stupid and heroic and get himself killed.”

“Instead you did the stupid heroic thing and got killed,” Sirius pointed out.

“Oh and trying to kill Peter wasn’t stupid and heroic? If you hadn’t blown off the handle you wouldn’t have spent 12 years in Azkaban,” Marlene said calmly.

Sirius sighed, “Well I did spent 12 years in Azkaban, and I am truly sorry that I never got to meet you Lilly.”

Lilly shook her head as if to say that it was okay. 

“I did leave a letter,” Marlene promised Lilly, “When I left you in the secret room of our house I left a letter explaining everything to you. The Death Eaters destroyed the house as they left and the muggles found you amongst the wreckage. They didn’t take the letter, and you never got a chance to read it.”

Lilly felt a surge of anger towards the muggles who had raised her but she nodded, “It’s okay...Mum, I understand.”

Marlene smiled slightly and Sirius grabbed her hand in a motion of support, “We really are so proud of you.”

“And happy for you,” Lily added with a smile, “Congratulations are in order.”

Harry glanced at his Mother’s own left hand where her engagement ring no longer sat, “How did you give me the ring?”

“Now Harry, if we told you that we would have to kill you,” James winked.

“No thanks, I’ve had enough of that for one year,” Harry joked.

Marlene smiled slightly, “Although I must say I can’t quite believe that the children of James Potter and Sirius Black are getting married.”

Lilly smiled sheepishly, “It gets even more ironic.”

“Does it?” Sirius asked.

“Yeah,” Lilly replied, “Because Remus is going to give me away.”

Sirius smiled sadly, “I’ll be watching.”

“We will all be watching,” Lilly said, smiling sympathetically at Sirius.

“I think it’s time to say goodbye now though Lil,” Harry said as Lilly stared at her parents longingly. 

Lilly nodded.

“We love you Lilly,” Marlene said softly, “Always remember that.”

Sirius gave a small nod, “Always,” he agreed.

“I will,” Lilly promised as she shut her eyes tightly and held out her hand to Harry, “Take it Harry, please.”

Harry took the stone from her hand and slipped it into his pocket once more. The figures vanished and when Lilly opened her eyes tears were gleaming there. Harry pulled her tight to him and hugged her as she cried into his shoulder.

TBC :)


	65. Missing You

Ron sat up in his hospital bed, reading a book about the basics of Auror training that Tonks had given him. He was finding it extremely difficult considering he only had one working eye. Getting through the book was a lot slower and he had to physically turn his head when he wanted to switch from the left page to the right page. 

He was grateful for the welcome distraction of a visitor when the door opened. But his smile disappeared when Daphne walked into the room.

“Hey,” Ron said weakly.

“Hi,” Daphne said, dropping down next to him, “I just came back from the Ministry...I was making funeral arrangements for Susan.”

Ron frowned, “When is it happening?”

“A week today,” Daphne sighed, “At Hogwarts...I think she would like to be buried in the war graveyard there that McGonagall and the others have been building...”

“Are you honestly okay?” Ron asked, his one eye scanning her.

“No,” Daphne said, frowning and looking down, “But I’ll keep going anyway, it’s what I do.”

“You aren’t well Daph,” Ron said, reaching up and pushing her hair out of her face, “You’re pale and you look exhausted. Gin says you’ve been throwing up.”

“It’s just the stress,” Daphne said with a wave of her hand, “I’ll be fine I just...I’m not looking forward to putting my best friend in the ground, okay?”

“I understand,” Ron said, grabbing her hand, “I don’t know how I would feel if I’d lost any of my brothers, even Perce. You know I’ll be there for you, right?”

“No,” Daphne said, “You’re getting your operation on Friday, you won’t be going anywhere on Sunday!”

“Daphne, my eye will be bandaged up, that doesn’t mean I have to stay in hospital all day,” Ron said firmly, “I’ll be there for you, no question about it.”

Daphne’s frown deepened, “So we are together then? I mean we’ve never really discussed it, I kind of called you my boyfriend in my rant about what Rabastan did to you, but are you? My boyfriend I mean?”

Ron grinned.

“What?” Daphne asked self-consciously.

“You’re babbling,” Ron said, laughing at the girl in front of him, “It’s not something you do very often but it’s quite cute.”

“Cute?” Daphne scoffed, “I am not cute Weasley.”

Ron just chuckled and Daphne asked, “Are you coping all right? With this whole fake eye thing?”

Ron shrugged and said, “It is what it is.”

She wasn’t stupid, she knew when he was shutting her down and she would be damned if she was going to let him. She pulled a miniature chess set from her bag and placed it on the table, and his eye lit up ever so slightly. Daphne had really listened to what Tonks had said, she was going to help Ron get through this. They were going to do it together.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Hey Daph, you got a minute?”

“Sure,” Daphne frowned, “What do you need?”

“Where is Susan’s old room?” Harry asked.

Daphne’s eyes darkened, “Why?”

“Just trust me,” Harry said, his eyes meeting hers.

Daphne sighed and dropped her bag, she had literally just gotten in from St. Mungo’s, “It’s on the 3rd floor.”

“Come up with me,” Harry said, grabbing her hand and half-dragging her up to the 3rd floor. When they reached the bedroom Harry pushed the door open and gestured inside.

“What kind of sick game is this Harry?” Daphne asked in a low, dangerous tone of voice.

“Daphne trust me, it’s not a game,” Harry said.

She must have seen something in his eyes that convinced her because Daphne stepped into the room and Harry followed her. He shut the door gently behind him and flicked on the light. Daphne looked around the room, her face pale as if seeing the room was like seeing a ghost. It was warmly decorated with a large king-size four-poster at its centre that had purple velvet curtains. There was a little desk with a mirror that had magical photographs stuck all around its edges, and several drawers that were half-open as if Susan had just rushed from the room. There were Hufflepuff banners stuck to the walls, and posters of wizarding celebrities, and even some Holyhead Harpies memorabilia.

Daphne walked to the mirror and looked at the photographs. She was in most of them...the earliest was from Susan’s 5th birthday party. She and Daphne had their arms around each other and were alternating between smiling sweetly at the camera and making faces at each other. They carried on in a similar vein...and the latest picture was from a party that had been thrown in the Hufflepuff common room. It was of Susan, Daphne, Lilly and Hermione, all smiling radiantly at the camera.

“What is your game here Harry?” Daphne asked darkly, wiping tears from her face.

Harry sighed sadly and took her hand, he had the stone in his hand already and he turned it over three times before dropping it onto Daphne’s hand. 

The blonde girl was perceptive, as soon as Harry had taken the stone out she had worked out that it was the Resurrection Stone. Daphne’s breath caught in her throat as she looked at a spot behind Harry. The Gryffindor turned and saw Susan standing before them, her face and body was free of all blemishes and she had a small smile on her face. Standing next to her and holding her hand was a young boy, smiling brightly.

“Susan,” Daphne said as tears pricked at her eyes, “Sal...”

“Hey Daphne,” Salvatore said cheerfully, he was of course her little brother.

“Sal,” Daphne breathed dropping to her knees in front of him, “I am so sorry for not protecting you.”

“It wasn’t your job to protect me Daph,” Salvatore said, “You were at Hogwarts with Tori. But I really like Ron.”

Daphne laughed tearfully, “I really like Ron too,” she said.

“Grandad says he’s a blood traitor, but Grandma says it’s okay because Grandads brother was a squib and he still loved him, but that’s supposed to be a secret,” Salvatore whispered the last part.

“Well that’s good,” Daphne said with a smile, “Are you happy Sal? Are you okay?”

“I’m great Daph!” Salvatore said, glancing behind him and seeing something that they couldn’t, “But my pet dragon is hungry, I have to go!”

He turned and ran and he vanished from sight. Daphne was practically choking on her tears as she got to her feet and looked at Susan.

“Don’t worry, I’m taking good care of him and his pet dragon,” Susan said softly.

“I miss you so much Suse,” Daphne said, her tears spilling down her face.

“I miss you too Daph,” Susan said with a slight smile, “But I never really had anything to come back to. I lost Neville with my own stupidity and I always felt on the edge of this friend circle. Maybe it’s better this way.”

“It’s not better this way,” Daphne sobbed, “Because I miss you every day. It hurts so much.”

Susan sighed, “I know, but you can’t just stop eating Daph. You have to take care of yourself, now more than ever.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Daphne asked, wiping her tears shamelessly.

“Oh come on Daphne, I’m your best friend and I’m also a healer,” Susan said with a vibrant smile, “You’re pregnant.”

Daphne frowned, “What? No, I’m not! Ron is sick and my Mother hates me, and I’m planning your funeral. I’m stressed, that’s all!”

Susan smiled at her knowingly, “Of course that’s all. See a healer Daph, before you hurt yourself even more.”

Daphne’s frown deepened, “Is that it? Is this our goodbye?”

“It can’t be anymore,” Susan said softly, “I don’t want to give you something to hold onto. I’m gone and when you give that stone back to Harry you won’t see me again.”

“I know,” Daphne said, clenching her hand tighter around the stone.

Susan smiled, “I love you Daph.”

“I love you too Suse, I’m sorry you had to die,” Daphne said, her tears pouring down her face.

“What’s meant for you won’t pass you by,” Susan said, echoing Daphne’s own words, “Maybe I’ll fall in love with Merlin or Godric Gryffindor in heaven.”

Daphne laughed weakly, and Susan said, “Oh and one last thing. Susan makes a pretty good girls name.”

The redhead winked and said, “Drop the stone now Daph.”

Daphne shut her eyes and let the stone drop from her hand onto the soft carpeted floor. She fell to her own knees there as Harry picked it up and slipped it back into his pocket.

“Pregnant?” He asked.

“She’s wrong,” Daphne said, wiping her tears as she sat on the floor of Susan’s room, “Of course I’m not pregnant.”

Harry gave the Slytherin girl a hand up, and she shakily walked to the door, “I have to go, I need to get back to St. Mungo’s,” she said, leaving the room as swiftly as she could.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Is Ginny around, Molly?” Daphne asked with a false smile.

“Of course Daphne, come in,” Molly said, opening the kitchen door and leading Daphne inside.

“Fred got home today,” Molly said cheerfully, “So Ginny and I were baking cupcakes. She just nipped out to the store in the village over the hill to get some flour. Do you want a cup of tea?”

“I’d kill for one,” Daphne admitted as she slipped into a comfortable seat at the kitchen table.

Molly busied herself with the tea and poured Daphne a steaming cup, “How do you take it?”

“Milk and two,” Daphne said, pulling her hair back and conjuring up an elastic band. She threw it into a messy bun at the back of her head and sighed gratefully as Molly placed the steaming cup in front of her.

“Knut for your thoughts?” Molly asked as she sat down opposite the teenager.

“Trust me, you really don’t want to know,” Daphne said with a shake of her head as she held the teacup in both hands and sipped from it gratefully.

“I have 6 sons Daphne,” Molly said with a smile, “Two of which are Fred and George. I don’t think anything you say could phase me.”

“I’m pretty sure this would phase you,” Daphne said quietly, staring into the depths of her tea.

“Daphne, you seem like a very put together young woman,” Molly said softly, “And if something is bothering you this much, you clearly need to talk about it.”

“It’s fine,” Daphne said, “I’ll talk to Ron about it when he’s...a bit better.”

“He’s not in any state to be supportive at the moment, as much as he clearly cares for you,” Molly said, resting her hand on top of Daphne’s, “You can talk to me.”

“I don’t want to add to your problems,” Daphne said guiltily.

“Daphne,” Molly sighed, “Throughout the course of this war my sons have been poisoned, burnt and cursed. They have lost ears, and eyes and legs and I have not been able to do a single thing to help them. Please let me help you.”

Daphne looked down and frowned at her tea, “It’s complicated, Molly.”

“I have more than enough time,” Molly said genuinely.

Daphne blew out a breath, “I just...I don’t want you to think badly of me but I...well Ron and I were working together inside Hogwarts for months and we grew to care for each other very quickly. We loved each other in fact, but neither of us would admit it because we were scared that if anything happened between us the rebellion would break down...like they would...”

“Lose respect for you,” Molly said with an encouraging nod.

Daphne drew in a shaky breath, “So there were all of these feelings and we just kept pushing them away and caging them in. Then we got two days off...two days when we were just Ron and Daphne, not the kids leading the rebellion and...” she couldn’t bring herself to go on.

“I think I understand,” Molly said with a knowing smile, “Like I said, I raised 6 boys.”

Daphne nodded stiffly, her cheeks pink, “But you have to understand, it was out of love not desire or lust. We were so scared that we would lose each other...that the war was going to take everything from us and we couldn’t hide anymore, we couldn’t pretend. It was one night, just one night and now....well I...I think maybe...”

“Daphne,” Molly said, gently squeezing her hand, “I think I know where you’re going with this and I know the spell to check, if that’s what you want?”

Daphne nodded, swallowing hard and feeling sick with nerves. Molly stood up and walked around the table. Daphne stood up to, and Molly pointed her wand at the blonde girl. She murmured the spell so quickly that Daphne couldn’t hear, and then slipped her wand back into her pocket.

“It takes around 30 seconds,” Molly explained.

The half a minute it took for the spell to work was the longest of Daphne’s life. She shuffled from foot to foot nervously. Eventually something happened, Daphne’s stomach glowed a faint pink.

“Does that mean what I think it means?” Daphne asked weakly.

Molly nodded, “Yes,” she said, watching the Slytherin carefully, “Are you alright?”

Daphne blew out a breath, “I’m fine...”

“Are you sure?” Molly asked calmly.

“No,” Daphne said with a shake of her head, “Oh sweet Salazar, I am so not okay! How am I going to tell Ron? How am I going to tell my Mother? Oh Merlin my Mother! I’ll be disowned for sure! And my Father, oh holy Helga, he’s going to murder Ron!”

“Daphne, calm down. There is a bright side here,” Molly began.

“A bright side?” Daphne asked in a panicked tone, “I’m 17! I’m not married! My parents are going to disown me! My Dad is going to kill your son! And Ron is a mess right now! He’ll never be able to take this! My life is over!”

The door swung open and Ginny stepped in with a bag of flour, “What happened to you?” she asked as she took in Daphne’s panicked state.

“Your bloody brother!” Daphne exclaimed vehemently.

“What did my brother do this time?” Ginny asked.

“Apart from impregnated me, you mean?”

Ginny dropped the bag of flour on the floor, “What? I’m way too young to be an Aunt!”

“I’m too young to be a Mother!”

“Then why the hell didn’t you use the protection charm?” Ginny asked in disbelief, “I mean even I know it and I skipped N.E.W.T level classes because of a war.”

“You should not be engaging in such activities anyway Ginny!” Molly remarked, “You are far too young, that is what got Daphne in this situation in the first place!”

“Mum, I am dating Neville bloody Longbottom. He’s one of the noblest guys we know, with the most ridiculous amount of respect for women. I am engaging in nothing of the sort, but there is a perfectly good protection charm!” Ginny pointed out.

“I know, okay?” Daphne said weakly, “But it was the middle of a war and we were too concerned about dying to even think that way! We got tortured all year, we never thought we would survive it and end up in this situation!”

“Which is understandable,” Molly said calmly, “There were baby booms the first time too. Look at Harry, Neville and Lilly for example. Their parents were all very young too.”

“Not quite this young though,” Daphne muttered, sinking into a chair, “How am I going to tell Ron?” she despaired.

“Don’t try and hide it from him,” Ginny said, “Just tell him the truth, he’ll deal with it in his own way.”

Molly nodded and smiled encouragingly at her, “I think he may surprise you.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Hey Remus, keep a hold of Teddy and give me your hand.”

Remus frowned, “What?”

“Give me your hand,” Harry said again. He stood in the back garden with Remus who had Teddy on one arm. He had been rocking the boy to sleep by walking around the garden with him and Harry had decided to keep him company since it was after midnight. 

Remus held out his hand and Harry took it. He turned the small stone in his hand three times and dropped it into the older man’s hand. Remus sucked in a breath as he found himself face to face with James, Lily, Sirius and Marlene.

“Sorry to shock you,” Harry said, “I just thought you might want to say goodbye and introduce your son.”

Remus stared at them in disbelief, “Padfoot...Prongs.”

“It’s us Moony,” James said with a bright smile, “And that’s one handsome little cub you have there.”

Remus’s face broke out into a smile, “He’s called Teddy. Well he’s actually called Edward, but we call him Teddy.”

“How many names did Dora give him?” Sirius asked, “The traditional 5?”

“Yeah, do we have another case of Nymphadora Dora Andromeda Callidora Tonks?” Marlene asked with a grin.

“Or Sirius Orion Phineas Nigellus Black?” James smirked.

Remus laughed, “We got pretty close. He doesn’t have five names, he has four. His full name is Edward Sirius Harry Lupin.”

“Good to know you miss me too Moony,” James said with a mock shake of his head.

Sirius on the other hand stared at Remus, “You named him after me?”

Remus smiled sadly at him, “You were my best friend Padfoot, and James, I figured it was only fair to leave your name for Harry, in case he ever wanted it as a middle name.”

“You know Moony, I can’t believe you married my kid cousin,” Sirius said, his moment of seriousness (pun entirely intended) over.

Remus cringed, “I know, I’m sorry.”

“She was a baby when you were in 3rd year Moony, it’s wrong!” Sirius teased.

“Hey love knows no age limits Sirius,” James said, putting his arm around his wife, “Right Lily-flower?”

“I hate it when you call me that James,” Lily said irritably, and Remus laughed as he watched them all with amazement.

“We’ve got to thank you Remy,” Marlene said with a soft smile, “For everything you have done for our Lilly.”

“Our Lilly, not that Lily,” Sirius joked, pointing at Harry’s Mother.

“Dora and I have kind of adopted the whole lot of them,” Remus admitted with a slight smile, “Especially the orphans.”

“You’ve got a whole brood of them, that’s for sure,” James said with a grin.

“But we always knew you were the homemaker Moony!” Sirius said cheerfully.

Remus laughed, “Yes because I couldn’t work because of my-”

“- furry little problem!” The four ghosts echoed.

“But you’ve got two furry little junior cubs now,” Sirius said happily, “You aren’t alone on the moons.”

“And you have a loving wife,” Lily smiled, “You are never alone.”

“I still miss you,” Remus said as he drank them in, “All of you.”

“We miss you too old pal,” James said, “But you aren’t joining us for a good while yet.”

“Oh yeah,” Sirius agreed, “You’ve got a long life ahead of you.”

“And a couple more sprogs,” James winked.

“You can’t know that, you don’t see the future do you?” Remus asked, narrowing his eyes at them.

“Nah of course we don’t,” Marlene laughed, “We just see the world go by and that makes us very perceptive.”

“Give Dora a few months and she’ll be broody for a little brother or sister for that one,” Lily said with a knowing smile as she looked at the sleeping baby in Remus’s arms.

“You have to go now, don’t you?” Remus asked, watching them more longingly than Harry had seen anyone watch their loved ones via the stone.

“You have to let us go Remy,” Marlene said.

“We love you to bits,” Sirius agreed, “But we’re your past.”

“Remember us in happy memories, but don’t hold onto us,” Lily agreed.

“Your future is that little guy and the rest of your adopted brood,” James said with a smile, “You’re the only Godfather our kids have left Moony.”

Remus smiled sadly but nodded, “Then I suppose this is goodbye,” he said.

“Nah it’s not,” Sirius said with a smile, “It’s a see ya later mate.”

“A lot later,” Lily said with a smile.

“Let us go Moony,” James said, beaming at the werewolf.

Remus shut his eyes and clenched that stone tightly. He opened them and looked between the ghosts and his own living son. He looked at Harry, his other living son.

“Let them go Remus,” Harry said, holding out his hand.

Remus let out a heavy sigh and dropped the stone into Harry’s hand. The younger boy quickly put it away, and looked at Remus a little warily.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realise how hard that would be. I should have spoken to you about it first before I-”

Remus interrupted Harry’s awkward apology by drawing him in and hugging him as tightly as he could without dropping or squashing Teddy. Harry could feel Remus’s hot tears on his cheek, but he also whispered the most heartfelt thank you Harry had ever heard in his life before walking off into the grounds, craving a moment of solitude.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Why are you pacing in front of my bed?” Ron asked, raising an eyebrow at Daphne.

She halted and glanced at him awkwardly, “Sorry, I didn’t realise you were awake.”

“I wasn’t,” Ron said, “But you pacing in front of my bed kind of woke me up. Are you alright?”

“No,” Daphne blurted out.

“What’s wrong then?” Ron asked, “Is this still about Susan’s funeral? Can I help with any of the arrangements?”

“No, it’s under control,” Daphne said with a wave of her hand.

“Then it’s about me, isn’t it?” Ron asked, dread in his eyes, “I knew this was coming. I’ve been expecting it all week. I’ve got a horrible scar and a slightly fucked nose and I’m going to have some crazy mad eye tomorrow. I’m not at all attractive anymore and you’ve only stuck around out of sympathy-”

“Ron-”

“- so now you’re going to break up with me. I mean of course you are, you are this stunning bloody angel and I’m a loser with a fucked up face-”

“Ron-”

“- I mean what reason could you possibly have for wanting to stay with me? I’ve been so bloody naïve expecting that you would, who would want to stay with this? I’m like a beast or a monster-”

“RON!” Daphne snapped, “This is not about you, you bloody idiot! I think you’re very handsome, distinguished even and I’m with you because I love you! For the love of Merlin, I’m freaking out because I’m pregnant, you bloody arse!”

Ron’s jaw dropped open, and his one working eye widened. The sight was almost comical with the eye patch and the scar. If it hadn’t been for the seriousness of the situation Daphne might have laughed.

“Pregnant? Like with a baby?” Ron asked stupidly.

“No,” Daphne retorted sarcastically, “With a fucking turtle! Of course with a baby!”

“But...how?”

Daphne glared at him, “The one and only time we ever slept together perhaps?”

“But I thought you did the charm,” Ron said, gaining the power of speech once more.

“I thought you did the charm,” Daphne said irritably.

“Well clearly neither of us did,” Ron said thoughtfully.

“Really?” Daphne remarked sarcastically, “What on earth gives you that impression?”

“Do you know, I’ve missed bickering with you but this is kind of serious,” Ron said, catching her eye with his one eye.

“What am I going to do Ron?” Daphne asked, desperation shining in her eyes.

“Well we’re going to work this out,” Ron said, pushing himself up slightly in the hospital bed, “I mean the timing is not ideal-”

“Not ideal? We’re 17!”

“I’m 18 actually, my birthday was in March,” Ron pointed out.

“Yes I know,” Daphne said with a pointed look, “Considering this baby was conceived on your birthday.”

Ron bit his lip, “Right, sorry. Look I want to do right by you Daphne. I mean I was always going to do this, but this sort of speeds everything along-”

“You are so not marrying me because of this baby,” Daphne said with a raised eyebrow, “We barely even dated-”

“Oh come on, we dated for 6 months without the sex,” Ron said with a slight smile.

“Yeah and look how much good the sex did us!” Daphne remarked.

Ron frowned slightly, “But it wasn’t a hurried one night stand...it was...”

“Perfect,” Daphne said at the same time as him.

“See,” Ron said with a slight smile, “And you are the one who says that everything happens for a reason. Do you really not want this?”

“I do want it,” Daphne said honestly, “I just didn’t necessarily want it right now.”

“What’s meant for you won’t pass you by,” Ron reminded her, “That’s what you always say.”

“Goddamn it Ron, stop using all of my own phrases against me,” Daphne said weakly, sitting down on the edge of his bed for the first time.

Ron reached out and grabbed her hand, “Hey, look on the bright side. When I get my new eye you won’t need to go to St. Mungo’s for scans, I can just use my eye and look.”

Daphne smiled very slightly as she said, “Ron, are you a qualified healer?”

“No,” Ron said with a sheepish grin.

“So shut up,” Daphne said, her smile widening.

Ron just continued to smile and he gave her a tug, pulling her closer to him so that he could kiss her gently on the lips, “Have you finished being bitter and angry now?”

“I think so,” Daphne murmured, kissing him back.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Tonks...can I show you something?”

“What do you want to show me?” Tonks asked as she bounced Teddy on her knee.

Harry sat down across from her in the empty kitchen, “Your parents,” he said.

Tonks looked up in disbelief, “Harry, that’s not funny-”

“It’s not a joke,” Harry said, holding out the small black stone, “This is real Tonks, the Resurrection Stone. I’m showing the people I love their loved ones, and then I’m going to hide it somewhere where nobody will ever find it.”

Tonks stared at the stone.

“If you give me your hand you can see them briefly,” Harry said, “To say goodbye and introduce them to Teddy.”

Tonks held out her hand and it shook a little. Harry took it in his own hand and turned the stone over three times, placing it onto the palm of her hand. She paled significantly as her parents materialised in front of her and Teddy looked at them with an intense interest.

“Mum, Dad,” Tonks breathed as she stared at them.

“Hello Nymphadora,” Andromeda said with a soft smile.

Tonks shed a few tears and stared at them, “Dad...”

“You did a great thing with my comic books Dora,” Ted said with a smile, “Spreading hope to those kids. You’ve taken them all under your wing.”

“Well I love them all as much as I love this little guy,” Tonks said honestly, looking down at little, innocent, sweet Teddy. 

“You named him Edward,” Ted said with a slight smile, “You didn’t have to go and do that.”

“Well I wasn’t giving him a ridiculous name like Cygnus or Phineas,” Tonks said with a pointed look at her Mother.

Andromeda rolled her eyes, “Still rebelling against your family I see?”

“Of course not,” Tonks said softly, “I have more family now than ever. Metaphorically speaking, and with Draco and Lilly here...there are a fair few Blacks.”

“She jests but she’s proud of you,” Ted said, nudging his head in Andromeda’s direction, “You know your Mum, she never actually says it.”

Andromeda sent Ted an exasperated look, “I am proud of you Dora, and I know I disapproved originally but Remus is a wonderful husband and a doting Father. I am sorry I had my doubts.”

“I’m just sorry you couldn’t be here to meet this little guy,” Tonks said, gently stroking the thin hair on the top of Teddy’s head.

“Better we weren’t here than you or his Father weren’t,” Ted said with a smile, “He needs his parents that one.”

“He’s going to grow up to be a wonderful young man,” Andromeda said knowingly, “With such good influences around him.”

Tonks shed a few more tears and made a noise somewhere between a sob and a cry, “Thank you Mum,” she choked out, “That means a lot, coming from you.”

Andromeda smiled slightly, “Be good to each other, and be good to yourselves. Remember that Nymphadora.”

“I will,” Tonks said, her voice very strained.

“And remember, live long and prosper!” Ted said, winking at his daughter.

Tonks laughed a watery laugh as more tears fell from her eyes onto her son who was growing very irritated with this impromptu bath. He began to gurn and Tonks took her eyes away from her parents as she let the stone drop onto the table.

Harry put it back in his pocket immediately, and looked at Tonks. She blew out a breath, “Could you take Teddy so I can compose myself?”

“Of course,” Harry said, bundling the little boy into his arms and gently rocking him.

Tonks blew her nose and wiped her tears away. She took a deep breath and sipped some water, “Thank you Harry,” she said, without turning to look at him.

“I just think everyone deserves to say goodbye to their parents,” Harry whispered. 

Tonks cleared her throat, “It’s a very sweet thing of you to do,” she said, walking back around the kitchen to stand in front of him, “You would have made a good Hufflepuff you know.”

Harry smiled at her, “I’ll take that as a compliment. Some of the bravest, kindest people I know were Hufflepuffs after all.”

Tonks smiled at him, a genuine bright smile that lit up her entire face, “Thank you,” she said softly.

Harry just kept smiling as he looked down at Teddy, “You’re lucky Tonks, to have Remus and Teddy.”

“And all of you, never forget that,” Tonks said as she took her son back into her arms, “I am as lucky to have all of you as I am to have Remus and Teddy.”

Harry looked thoughtful as he leant against the kitchen bar and stared out of the window, “I don’t know if I should destroy this stone or hide it...it could drive someone insane with longing.”

“But it could give someone closure that could change their life,” Tonks said softly, “Hide it somewhere very safe and no matter how bad things get do not be tempted to go back and use it for your own use.”

Harry smiled to himself, he was rather beginning to feel like Dumbledore. Balancing everybody’s happiness himself, it wasn’t a bad feeling but already he didn’t like the power that came with it. He came to the decision that he would hide the Resurrection Stone far away where nobody but himself would ever be tempted to go looking for it.

TBC :)


	66. Epilogue: Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue: Four Weddings and a Funeral
> 
> Part 1: The Funeral  
> Sunday the 12th of April, 1998

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for following this story this far! The epilogue is going to be in five parts, because there are four weddings and a funeral! So the next 5 chapters will be set over the course of a few years and I hope you will enjoy them!

Daphne had always hated black. She thought it was the most depressing colour in the world. But she was dressed head to toe in it today as she stood in the grounds of Hogwarts. The ruin of the castle smouldered behind her. It had been left largely untouched in the past week or so since the battle that had brought it to its knees.

There were plans to fix it of course, before the new school year began in September. But the most pressing issue after the children had all been sent home safely was that of the funerals. Work had begun almost immediately on a graveyard, the centre of which was formed by Dumbledore’s tomb. It was a pretty little thing, if a graveyard could be called that, it was on a small island on the Black Lake. As the lake was tidal, there were only certain points during the day when you could walk to it, which meant that the funerals had been staggered over the course of several days.

Susan’s was the last, but to the small amount of people who stood huddled around her plot, it was by no means the least. Some of the dead had been taken home, to be buried in family plots or graveyards with significance. Augusta Longbottom had been buried two days earlier in a plot close to the Potters in the small graveyard in Godric’s Hollow. The bodies of Lavender Brown, Zacharias Smith, Lee Jordan and Michael Corner had been taken home by their parents so that they were buried in the place where they had been born.

Those who remained in this small graveyard were those who had nowhere else. There had been some debate over whether to bury Aberforth Dumbledore with his brother or with his sister in Godric’s Hollow. Harry couldn’t tell McGonagall why he was pushing so hard for Aberforth to be buried in Godric’s Hollow, but he knew it was what the man would have wanted.

And he had won that argument. Three people had been buried here, each with a big plot and a large, grand gravestone. Those people had been Kingsley Shacklebolt, Severus Snape and Susan. Standing tall behind the gravestones and the tomb was a large structure with the words, “Their Name Liveth For Evermore” and the names of every man, woman and child who had died in the battle were etched onto the stone. 

Daphne pulled her eyes away from the monument and looked back to the gravestone. It was simple, but it still broke her heart to look at.

“In Loving Memory of  
Susan Amelia Bones  
1st of June 1980 - 1st of April, 1998  
Beloved daughter, sister, and friend.

Just, loyal, true and unafraid of toil.”

She felt a lurch in her stomach and Ron gripped her hand. He was leaning on a walking stick because he had found it difficult to balance himself with one eye bandaged up. But he squeezed her free hand tightly in his and murmured, “Deep breaths.”

Daphne shut her eyes and drew in a deep breath, exhaling slowly. She felt the nausea begin to ebb and she shot him a grateful look as the small wizard conducting the funeral continued to drone on and on. She kept her eyes locked firmly on the headstone and the others behind her shuffled or cried. There were very few of them here, just those who had been close friends with Susan. 

This of course included Harry, Lilly, Draco, Hermione, Neville and Ginny. But there were others too, Hannah who was sobbing dreadfully behind Daphne, Ernie and Justin who stood stoically. This was hard on the Hufflepuff’s too, they had already attended Zacharias’s funeral that week. Forming the rear of the group were McGonagall, Pomona Sprout, Remus, Tonks and Teddy who was rather respectfully silent as she rocked him.

The little wizard had finally stopped speaking. Daphne let her hand slip out of Ron’s as she took a step forward and threw a handful of dirt into the grave. She drew back almost immediately and took his hand once more. The tears that had been running down her cheeks all morning flowing faster than ever.

The others stepped forward and threw dirt in, Neville, Harry, Hannah...it continued and Daphne just wanted to shut her eyes and block it all out. She just wanted to go home and curl up into a ball and cry herself to sleep.

Eventually the grave was filled, and they all lay down their flowers and traipsed silently over the silt path that led back to the shore of the lake. At this point the teachers headed solemnly for the castle and the Hufflepuff’s disappeared. 

Harry sighed, “Is it too early to hit the Three Broomsticks for a drink?”

“Probably,” Remus said with a frown, “But there are times when drinking before 12 o’clock is acceptable.”

“And this is one of those times,” Neville said miserably.

“Well,” Ron said, glancing anxiously at Daphne, “I don’t think we will.”

“I need to get Ron back to the hospital,” Daphne lied.

“One drink?” Lilly asked and her sad look broke down Daphne’s defences.

Daphne bit her lip, “Alright, one drink but then I really need to get Ron back. He did just undergo major surgery two days ago.”

“So you keep reminding me,” Ron said with a slight smile as he discarded his stick and leant on Harry for support.

“How many pain potions are you on right now?” Ginny asked as they began to walk to the school gates, she turned around to face him and narrowed her eyes.

“None,” Ron lied.

“He’s lying, they gave him about four different types this morning,” Daphne said as she walked in step with Lilly and Hermione, “So he won’t be drinking.”

Ron shot her a cheeky grin, “Well it was worth a shot,” he said.

Hermione shook her head in amusement, “Drinking on pain potions is never a good idea, let alone at 11.30 in the morning.”

“Drinking at 11.30 in the morning is never a good idea,” Daphne combatted, “Which is why I won’t be.”

“Oh trust me there are some mornings when drinking is a good idea,” Tonks said with a slight smile, “But I will be joining you in sobriety Daphne, I’m breast-feeding Teddy and I don’t really want to alcoholise his food source...”

Draco snorted in amusement at the idea of a drunk baby, and Hermione smacked him around the head.

“Some things never bleeding change,” Draco muttered, his eyes inadvertently going to the old oak tree they had stood under when they left Hogwarts.

The others followed his line of sight and stopped in their tracks. Remus and Tonks shared a glance and a nod.

“We’ll meet you in the Three Broomsticks,” Tonks said.

“Take a minute to say your goodbyes without us,” Remus agreed, putting his hand on the small of Tonks’s back and leading her towards the gates with their son.

“They tried to destroy it,” Harry said quietly.

“But they didn’t manage,” Neville said, striding ahead of them towards the old, broken tree. Its branches had been burned, and knocked off but it was still alive and it would regrow the broken parts. He sat down beneath the tree which creaked affectionately. The others had followed him over and sat down on the grass, still damp with morning dew. 

“The last time we were here we were all together,” Daphne said, her voice quiet.

“And Harry said that it might be the last time we were all together...happy and whole,” Lilly added.

“Most of us are together,” Harry said, “And we aren’t entirely unhappy either.”

“We aren’t all whole either though,” Ron said, sitting down heavily, “I’ve lost an eye.”

“I’m a werewolf,” Neville added.

“We have these,” Draco said, pulling up his sleeve and looking at Hermione who did the same, the white scars shouting to anyone who looked at them what they were.

“If this is a scar battle, I have this,” Harry said, pulling his shirt up to show them the large circular scar on his chest, it looked like a bad burn.

Lilly of course had already seen it, but the others gasped in surprise.

“How did that happen?” Ginny asked.

“It’s to match the one on your forehead, isn’t it?” Hermione asked knowingly, “It’s where the second killing curse you survived hit you.”

Harry nodded, “Yeah it is.”

They fell silent as they looked up at the school in the distance. The top floors had all but vanished, and the towers had taken a battering too. The grounds were burned out, the trees looked like they were weeping, bent over at odd angles. The greenhouses were smashed, the plants within had clearly tried to escape too...

“It’s depressing,” Neville said, his eyes more specifically on the greenhouses rather than the school, “The state of this place.”

“McGonagall was talking about recruiting a task force of volunteers,” Ginny said, “To get this place up to scratch before the term starts. 4 and a half months really isn’t long when you consider quite how much rebuilding there is to do...”

“I’ll stick around and help,” Harry said, his eyes flickering from the island where the dead were buried to the wreck of the Astronomy tower where Dumbledore had fallen to his death.

“I will too,” Neville said, his eyes leaving the depressing state of the greenhouses to take in quite how much damage had been done to the grounds.

Ginny gave a sad nod, “I already volunteered,” she admitted.

“I think I’ll do my bit as well,” Lilly said, her hand in Harry’s and her eyes on the only home she had ever really known before she met him.

“I can’t,” Hermione said sadly, “I have to go to Australia and find my parents...Then I have to try and restore their memories somehow and explain what happened this year.”

“And there’s no way I’m letting her go to Australia on her own,” Draco said, putting his arm around Hermione’s shoulder, “But we might be back sooner than we think and if we are, we’ll help.”

Hermione only nodded in agreement, wondering how long it would take to find her parents or if she ever would. 

“What about you two?” Harry asked, looking to Ron and Daphne.

Ron shook his head, “I wish I could, but did you hear the news? They lost so many Aurors in the war that they got rid of the passing grades. If you fought in the battle you can enter Auror training.”

“So you’re going ahead with it?” Ginny asked eagerly, “Daphne said you hadn’t completed the paperwork yet.”

“That was because he could barely read it,” Daphne said in amusement, “He tried to do it yesterday, the day after his operation.”

Ron shrugged, “But I am doing it, and I’m getting started as soon as I can get this bandage off.”

“Tonks was talking about that actually, Auror training,” Lilly said thoughtfully, “She’s on maternity leave for the next little while but she doesn’t think she’ll go back into the field.”

“That makes sense, she is a Mother now,” Hermione said.

Lilly nodded, “She’s thinking of becoming a trainer instead at the Auror centre.”

“Merlin knows what the rest of us will do,” Daphne sighed, “None of us have N.E.W.T’s.”

“We can always take them at the Ministry,” Hermione said, “We only missed one year out of two. Given a little bit of self-study we will pass.”

“And I think a lot of people will employ us on merit,” Lilly pointed out, “We did kind of help Harry win a war.”

“That’s true,” Draco said with a slight smile, “But two of us are werewolves, finding jobs won’t be easy...”

“Hey they haven’t appointed a new Minister for Magic yet,” Hermione said with an encouraging smile, “You never know, it could be someone who does a lot for werewolves.”

“Anything is possible, I suppose,” Draco said, looking back to the castle once more.

“I suppose we should go and join Remus and Tonks for that drink,” Harry said after a long moment of silence.

“Hey look on the bright side,” Draco said as he pulled Hermione to her feet, “By the time we get there now we will be drinking after 12 o’clock.”

“That only makes it slightly more passable,” Hermione said with a slight smile, slipping her hand into his as they all headed out of the school grounds.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

There was no wake, well the wake had been the Three Broomsticks really. They had all had a few drinks and then decided that they should head home. Home for almost all of them at the moment was Bones Manor.

Daphne insisted that she really should get Ron back to St. Mungo’s, but Remus pointed out in an undertone that she might need him at Bones Manor for the reading of the will. Daphne had frozen at those words because amongst everything else she had almost forgotten that there would be a will. But of course there would be, Susan was the Head of the Bones family, and the last heir. Of course she had a will.

Ron hadn’t minded a single bit, but he couldn’t apparate yet after his operation and because of the amount of pain potions he was drugged up on. So as they left for the Manor Ron went side-along with Remus. They trudged their way up to the house in the warm afternoon sunshine and Tonks set them all up with tea in the drawing room as they awaited the goblin from Gringott’s arrival. Nobody voiced their opinions, but they were all thinking the same thing. Where on earth would they all go when they were thrown out of this house?

The goblin arrived and he ignored them all. He cleared his throat a few times and unrolled a lengthy roll of parchment. He stood on a box and cleared his throat again. If it hadn’t been for the pain they were feeling, they would have all gotten irritated with the senseless, emotionless creature. After much more clearing of his throat the goblin finally began to read.

“Last Will and Testament of Baroness Susan Amelia Bones

I, Susan Amelia Bones, of Bones Manor, Perthshire, declare that this is my Last Will and Testament.

Article 1  
Preliminary Declarations

I revoke all prior wills.

I am not now married to any person.

I have no children.

Article 2  
Specific Bequests and Devises 

I give my entire interest in the property of Bones Manor, together with any insurance on such property, to Remus John Lupin and Nymphadora Narcissa Dorea Callidora Lupin (nee Tonks).

I give my entire interest in any personal jewellery, clothing and tangible articles of a personal nature not otherwise disposed of in this Will by specific bequest, to Daphne Lareina Greengrass and Lillian Allison McKinnon-Black.

Article 3  
Distribution of Residue of the Estate

I give, devise and bequeath all of the residue and remainder of my Estate, to Remus John Lupin and Nymphadora Narcissa Dorea Callidora Lupin (Nee Tonks).

With the noted exceptions:  
\- The outhouse is to be maintained for the use of Neville Frank Longbottom for as long as he may need it.  
\- The gamekeeper’s cottage is to be left entirely to Daphne Lareina Greengrass and Ronald Bilius Weasley for their domestic and personal use.”

The legal jargon continued, but this was what they had been waiting for. What they had been scared to hear in fact. Remus and Tonks looked stunned at the fact that Susan had left the estate to them. They had all assumed it would fall into the Ministry’s hands and be commandeered as a summer house for the Minister for Magic, or something equally as ridiculous.

Neville had tears in his eyes as Ginny held his hand tightly. The fact Susan had left him the outhouse in her will did a lot to take away the guilt he was feeling over her death. She had been his first love, and he suspected that a little piece of his heart had died with her. But there was still more than enough love for Ginny and the others in this room. He swallowed a lump in his throat and gave a nod, to himself more than to anybody else.

Ron and Daphne were looking at each other in disbelief, and Daphne’s tears were falling once more. Her face was red and puffy, and her eyes stung. Surely she had no tears left now, all she had done all day from the moment she had woken up was cry. Her eyes felt as if they had been leaking, even at times when she wasn’t feeling particularly sad.

“Do you think she knew?” Ron asked as the goblin droned on in a monotone.

Daphne gave a small nod, “She knew,” she said, her hand resting subconsciously on her stomach, “I don’t know how she knew before I did but she knew.”

“And that’s why she left us the cottage?” Ron asked.

“That and the memories it holds I think,” Daphne said, because they had made some very good memories in that cottage. Even if those memories had led to this situation they found themselves in at the moment.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“She left you the outhouse.”

Neville nodded as he pushed his food around his plate. He and Ginny had gone to the Burrow for Sunday dinner after the reading of the will but as neither of them had felt up to eating they were now attempting to force down re-heated beef and lumpy gravy in the empty, silent kitchen.

“That means she forgave you, doesn’t it?” Ginny asked softly.

“I don’t know what it means,” Neville said, letting his fork drop onto the table because he really wasn’t in the mood to eat anything, “Maybe it means she was sorry for the way things ended...maybe it means she forgives me for starting to see you so soon after the break up...”

“Neville,” Ginny said, gripping his hand, “It wasn’t your fault and there was nothing that you could have done. She was killed in the grounds in a duel with Dolohov while you were on the top of Gryffindor tower. I know you’re upset and you have so much reason to be, but please stop beating yourself up about what happened.”

Neville glanced over at Ginny, she was staring at him resolutely with her big hazel eyes. Those eyes that just emanated kindness. She could be so tough, so fiery and so frustrating when she was angry. Neville had the patience of a saint but when she riled him up he was torn between shouting back at her and kissing her. But there was a certain kindness that encompassed her too, she was compassionate and caring and often she was selfless too.

“I don’t deserve you,” Neville said, surprising her with the change of topic.

“What are you talking about?” Ginny scoffed, “It’s me who doesn’t deserve you-”

“No, Gin, I don’t deserve you,” Neville said again, “You’re so forgiving when it comes to the people you love and so tolerant. Most people wouldn’t have stuck around to go to their boyfriend’s ex-girlfriends funeral.”

“Most people didn’t just go through a war,” Ginny said, “And it has nothing to do with me being better than you Neville. I knew Susan too, and although we didn’t always see eye to eye, she was a fantastic healer and we worked well together. Of course I wanted to support you today, but I went out of respect for Susan.”

Neville smiled sadly, “You could have been a Hufflepuff you know...”

“I know,” Ginny said honestly, “And you could have been too, quite easily.”

“What made us become Gryffindors instead Ginny?” Neville asked, the question had often pressed down in his mind because he had never felt good enough to belong in Gryffindor.

“I don’t know,” Ginny replied, “What sets us apart really? We are both loyal, we both fight for what we believe in... I suppose the Hufflepuffs fought because they were loyal to Harry or to Dumbledore...and we fought to defend the innocent.”

“We fought for glory,” Neville said darkly, looking down at the table, “With chivalry and nerve and all of that shit. But the Hufflepuff’s fought because of their loyalty, because it was the right thing to do and they won’t be remembered. People won’t care that Susan died or that she and Hannah were right beside you healing those kids. All they will remember is the brave, gallant bloody Gryffindors! And we don’t get to be the ones who get all of the honour because we don’t deserve it!”

Ginny smiled very slightly, “No, we don’t. But the question is, what are you going to do about it?”

Neville looked up at her, “I’m going to make sure people remember them. I don’t know how, but I’ll find a way...”

“Just like you will find a way to get equality for werewolves,” Ginny said with a knowing smile, “Because you do things because they’re the right thing to do and because of those you are loyal to.”

“And you?” Neville asked, his eyes meeting hers, “You said you would fight for equality too. What’s your reason?”

“Love,” Ginny said simply as she got to her feet, “And that is your difference. Hufflepuffs care a lot about everyone, but does anyone love as passionately as a Gryffindor?”

Neville smiled very slightly at her, “No.”

“Exactly,” Ginny said, her eyes flickering towards the door, “I’m going to head to bed.”

Neville got to his feet and walked around the table to face her, “Did you just admit that you love me?”

Ginny smiled up at him, “I’m pretty sure I did, yeah.”

Neville chuckled and kissed her gently, “I love you too,” he murmured against her lips.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“The entire estate?”

Remus nodded numbly as he climbed into bed with his wife, Teddy was fast asleep in his cradle next to their bed.

“The entire house...the grounds...the barn...the animals...”

“All of it,” Remus said.

“Why would she do that?” Tonks asked as sadness flickered in her eyes, “I never felt we were as close to her as the others and now I feel guilty...”

“Don’t feel guilty,” Remus said softly as he drew her close to him, “She did it because she cared about us. I think we gave her a sense of family when she felt alone.”

“So she didn’t just leave it to us because we had been living here?” Tonks asked, biting her lip anxiously.

“No,” Remus said, “She left it to us because she knew we would appreciate it but I think there’s more to it than that...this place became a sanctuary for all of us in the war, you and I more than anyone.”

“You think she wanted to make sure we didn’t lose that safe place after the war ended,” Tonks said with a nod, “She wanted all of us to have somewhere we could feel safe.”

Remus nodded, “Not just you and I or Teddy. Maybe she said in her will that she was leaving it exclusively to us but we’re a family Dora and you and I are just the head of that family. She left it to all of us, and we can’t feel guilty about that. We just have to make sure she knows we’re grateful.”

Tonks sighed and rested her head on Remus’s chest, “We are,” she said as she shut her eyes, “We are so grateful Susan.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Your room is all ready for you back home, it’s going to be fabulous to have you back-”

Ron pushed himself into a sitting position and swung his feet out of his hospital bed. He looked at his Mother guiltily with both eyes. His new eye had been unveiled and it was barely noticeable. As the healer had said it was a little lighter than his real eye, but it didn’t spin around madly or get stuck as Mad-Eye’s had done. It still hurt a little and he had been told not to over-use it which meant he couldn’t do much reading just yet.

“I’m not going back home, Mum,” Ron said guiltily.

Molly blanched, “But then where will you go?”

Daphne looked guilty too as she said, “We thought we should live in the cottage Susan left to us on the Bones’ estate.”

Ron added, “We have a lot of things we need to work out, and I think we need to do that alone.”

Arthur gave a nod and smiled at his son, “You’re going to be a Father soon son, you need to have your own space.”

“Of course you do,” Molly said, but she still looked upset by the news.

“We’ll still visit all of the time Molly,” Daphne promised, “Every weekend, and the floo is always open.”

Molly smiled slightly, “That’s very sweet of you Daphne.”

“You need to take care of yourselves at the moment,” Arthur smiled, “Can you get back to the cottage on your own?”

“I can apparate again now,” Ron said, grabbing his wand and transfiguring his hospital robes into clothes, “I’ll be fine.”

“And I’ll make sure he doesn’t do any of the things he shouldn’t on that list from the Healer,” Daphne added as she hugged Ron’s parents.

“You take good care of him,” Molly said, hugging her son.

Ron smiled sheepishly at Daphne as several more hugs were exchanged. They walked out of the hospital together and said goodbye once more. Daphne gripped Ron’s hand as they slipped into an alleyway. They apparated to the gates of Bones Manor where they both breathed a sigh of relief at the fact they could finally be alone together.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Hey mate, Lil said you wanted to ask me something?”

“Well I need your advice on something actually,” Ron admitted as he sat in the early morning sunshine on a bench in the rose garden.

Harry sat down next to his best friend, “Well if it’s confidential I suggest a muffliato bubble because wolf ears tend to listen.”

Ron chuckled and performed the new spell Harry had taught him. It was the muffliato charm but it created a bubble of static around them so that nobody could hear their conversation.

“So what’s up?” Harry asked, leaning back against the bench and enjoying the lukewarm sunshine.

“Daphne’s pregnant,” Ron said.

Harry’s eyes widened, “Pregnant?” He had completely forgotten about the weird conversation he had overheard between Daphne and Susan. Harry didn’t really know about what had happened between Ron and Daphne while he, Draco and Neville had temporarily taken over at the school. When Daphne had said Susan’s words were nonsense he had believed her and the entire thing had flown from his mind.

Ron nodded, “Yeah, pregnant. But it’s not a bad thing, we don’t mind.”

“You’re pretty young,” Harry pointed out, thinking back to his conversation with Lilly before the final battle.

“I know the timing isn’t great,” Ron admitted, “But we love each other and I think it would have always happened. I would have just liked to marry her first rather than the other way around.”

“So you’re engaged now as well?” Harry asked as he tried to get his head around this.

“Not exactly,” Ron said, “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I want to marry her...and it is for the right reasons. I would always have asked, it’s just speeded things up...”

“And you need my advice how?”

“Well do you think I should? Marry her, I mean?”

“You love her,” Harry said, “That’s obvious, and she loves you. Do you want to spend your life with her?”

“Yeah,” Ron said immediately.

“Then marry her,” Harry said, “Or ask her to marry you at least. She might say no.”

“Don’t joke about that,” Ron said darkly, “I wouldn’t put it past her. She’d say no just to see the look on my face.”

Harry laughed, “Do you have a ring?”

“Nah,” Ron sighed, “Do you really think I have enough money for a ring? Or a wedding for that matter.”

“Well a wedding is easily done cheaply,” Harry said, “You could have it here...we could get the elves to make the food and I’m sure someone can make a cake. So really there’s only dress robes and a dress to sort out...”

“Harry,” Ron said in amusement, “Are you done?”

“Yeah,” Harry said sheepishly, “But as far as money goes I actually wanted to talk to you about something.”

“I’m not accepting your money if that’s what you are going to suggest,” Ron said, “You already paid a ridiculous amount for my eye.”

“Which looks awesome by the way,” Harry said, “You can barely notice the difference, and it comes with a lifetime guarantee.”

Ron shook his head in amusement, “Yeah it is great, and I appreciate it but I can’t accept any more help from you.”

“Well it’s not help, that’s the thing,” Harry said slowly, “I wrote my will before I went into the battle because I thought I was going to die obviously.”

“Why didn’t you?” Ron asked, “I assume you explained that to the others while I was eyeless in St. Mungo’s.”

“I did, yeah,” Harry said, “Basically when Voldemort took my blood in 4th year he ended up with some of my Mothers sacrifice inside him. Since that sacrifice was what was keeping me alive I couldn’t die while it lived inside Voldemort.”

Ron frowned, “I’m not even going to try and get my head around that right now.”

“Yeah, it takes a while,” Harry agreed, “But as I was saying, I wrote my will and I left you everything in my Gringotts Vault.”

Ron’s eyes widened, “Are you mad?”

“Well you would appreciate it more than anyone else and you wouldn’t just spend it all on stupid things,” Harry said pragmatically, “But since I didn’t die and therefore cheated you out of a fortune, I want to help you. Take whatever you need to buy her a nice ring.”

“No way,” Ron said firmly.

“Ron,” Harry said in a more serious tone, “I like Daphne a lot. She’s a great friend, and you and her are fantastic together. You’re right, she does deserve to be done right by and if I can help with that, then I will. She’ll never need to know.”

“I’ll think about it,” Ron said.

But Harry grinned because he knew he would talk his best friend around.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Daphne was always more peaceful asleep than she was awake. But Ron had rarely gotten the opportunity to watch her sleep. He had always been on watch so she could sleep or vice-versa. He loved to wake up earlier than her in the mornings and watch her as she sleepily opened her eyes and stretched out. This morning was like every other since they had returned to life as normal, in the little cottage that was fast becoming their home. As she looked at him through those sleepy blue eyes of hers, Ron accidentally said the thing that was on his mind.

“Do you want to marry me?”

Daphne frowned, “Didn’t we have this discussion in St. Mungo’s?”

Ron smiled slightly, “We had the conversation, but I never officially asked and you never officially said yes. Nor was there officially a ring.”

“Go on, see if you can say officially one more time,” Daphne said, amusement sparkling in her eyes.

Ron’s smile became a grin as he reached to the side and pulled a box from the drawer in his bedside table. Daphne’s eyes widened when she saw it, because he was talking about marriage and holding a small black box.

He clicked it open and a beautiful gold and diamond ring sparkled inside it, “So do you want to marry me?”

“You have such an elegant way of asking,” Daphne said, her lips quirking into a smile.

Ron grinned, “Oh I’m sorry. I forgot that I was of an entirely different class from you darling. Let me try that again in the correct language, Daphne Lareina Greengrass, would you do me the utmost honour of taking my hand in lawful, entirely shotgun marriage?” he asked in a falsely posh voice.

Daphne jokingly smacked him, but she was laughing so hard that she couldn’t actually answer him for a moment. When she had wiped her tears of laughter away enough to actually see him she smiled broadly, “Yes, I will. As long as you promise that you are doing this for the right reasons.”

“I’m doing this because I love you,” Ron said, slipping the ring onto her finger and pulling her closer to him, “And because I want to spend my life with you. Is that a good enough reason?”

“Yeah,” Daphne whispered, kissing him gently.

“Good morning by the way,” Ron added.

“Good morning,” Daphne laughed as she tried to wriggle away from him.

“Oi, where do you think you’re going?” Ron asked, holding her tighter.

“Oh do you want to miss Hermione and Draco’s send off?” Daphne asked with a raised eyebrow, “Because I certainly don’t.”

“Oh shit,” Ron muttered as he scrambled to his feet and looked at the time, “I forgot that was today.”

“Do you think we should tell them?” Daphne mused as she slipped a dress on and fixed her hair in the mirror.

“About the baby?” Ron asked, pulling his socks on.

“Yes about the baby,” Daphne said with an amused glance at the boy, “And the engagement.”

“I don’t know, that’s up to you,” Ron said, shoving his feet into his trainers.

“I think we should,” Daphne said as she slipped her shoes on and applied her glamour charms, “Before Hermione and Draco go to Australia, while we’re all still together in the one country...”

Ron smiled at her and grabbed her hand as they descended the stairs, “Then we tell them,” he said calmly.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“I can’t believe you’re leaving,” Lilly said as she finally released Hermione.

“I know, but we have to find them,” Hermione said, slinging her backpack onto her shoulder and taking Draco’s hand.

“Things just won’t feel the same around here without you,” Harry admitted as he kissed Hermione on the cheek and shook Draco’s hand.

“What are you going to do if you have to spend a full moon over there?” Remus asked. 

They were all standing in the kitchen waiting to see Hermione and Draco off. All of them but Daphne and Ron that was.

“I’ll find him a cave and chain him up,” Hermione said with a wave of her hand, “Don’t worry about that.”

“Do you reckon our unreliable best friend is going to show up?” Harry asked as the others chuckled at Hermione’s comment.

“I’m sure he’s just busy,” Hermione said, glancing at the back door as it swung open.

“Sorry,” Ron said a little breathlessly, “Sorry we’re late. We were just a little busy.”

“Getting engaged,” Daphne said, holding up her hand.

The others cheered and hugged them, and the next 5 minutes were chaotic until it died down. Remus and Tonks were the last to hug them, and they both murmured their congratulations.

“Well that was sudden,” Lilly remarked with a smile, “But that’s not a bad thing.”

“There is a reason for it,” Daphne admitted as her eyes went to Ginny who was smiling proudly, “I’m pregnant.”

There was another round of applause, and yet more hugs. Daphne smiled sheepishly as all of their friends said congratulations again.

“But we’re getting married because we love each other,” Ron said as he put his arm around the Slytherin girl, “Not out of obligation.”

“Does your Mother know about any of this?” Draco asked Daphne.

“No,” Daphne admitted sheepishly, “But I suppose I’ll have to tell her now.”

“And you have a wedding to plan,” Hermione said with a smile, “I hope we won’t miss it.”

“We were thinking late May...” Daphne mused, “So hopefully you can make it back for then.”

“If all goes to plan we should barely be gone a week,” Draco said, “And I wouldn’t miss your wedding for the world Daph.”

“Take care of yourselves in Australia,” Daphne said, stepping forward to hug Draco and then Hermione.

“And let us know the minute you know anything about your parents,” Ron whispered as he hugged Hermione.

“I will, I promise,” Hermione whispered back as she drew back from the hug and took Draco’s hand once more.

“You two better get going then,” Tonks said with a smile, “Before you miss your appointment at the International Apparition Centre.”

Hermione nodded and she and Draco waved goodbye as they stepped out of the backdoor and walked away down the garden path towards the back gate. 

End of Part 1 :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of the mammoth update of today!! The next four chapters are all very very long, so they will take a bit longer to edit and get up here. (Also I graduate from university the day after tomorrow, so that’s gonna be a busy day!)


	67. Epilogue: Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue - Four Weddings and a Funeral
> 
> Part 2: The Wedding of Daphne Lareina Greengrass and Ronald Bilius Weasley  
> Saturday the 30th of May, 1998

Daphne had always hated Greengrass House. She had grown up going to her friend’s birthday parties in places such as Malfoy Manor with its creepy, but unique gothic exterior, and Bones Manor with its warm, homely feel and huge, beautiful gardens. Even Nott House was better than this, smaller yes, but it was actually old unlike this farce she had grown up in. The Greengrass family had only really risen to prominence (and therefore to their fortune) in the 1950’s, the post Grindelwald era. The Greengrass’s had emigrated to France way back in the 1300’s and stayed there until Grindelwald had driven them to the safety of the British shores. The family had instantly gotten involved with banking but during the goblin revolution of 1962 they had decided they needed a more stable family business and thus shipping had been born.

That was what Daphne was expected to do, marry well so that her husband could take over when her Father died. But she highly doubted that Ron was the kind of man who wanted to ship wands to Japan and scotch to Canada. She could certainly not imagine him sitting behind a desk balancing the books, or sneaking migrants onto boats, or trafficking illegal potions ingredients. But as much as he pretended that he was a straight up businessman, that was Cygnus Greengrass’s job and being the manipulative, ambitious Slytherin that he was, he excelled in such illegal activities.

Lareina on the other hand, was a stay at home ‘Mother’ if you could call it that. Daphne loved her Mother, but she had practically been raised by house elves, something she and Draco had initially bonded over. She felt sick to her stomach as she stood in front of the home she had always wanted to escape from, and she knew it had nothing to do with her pregnancy. In fact she doubted it even had anything to do with how much this house (and it’s owners) were desperately trying to prove that they could be an old, aristocratic family too. It was big enough in its own right (not compared to Bones Manor with its 8 bedrooms, and 4 bathrooms or 9 if ensuites were included). It stood there, three stories high with its bloody tower. The tower her Grandfather had been so proud of because it looked so ‘authentic’. If by ‘authentic’ he had meant the fact it was the only exposed stone part of the mock Tudor house then she supposed he had been right, or delusional. The white exterior with its black beams, and its thatched roof made her roll her eyes every time she looked at the bloody house. It was so obviously not a Tudor house.

She shook her head and stepped into the lobby. As it wasn’t a Manor it didn’t have an entrance hall. She knew where she would find her Father at this time of day, but she had no idea where her Mother would be. In her pride and joy she expected, the living room at the base of the ‘tower’ with its horrific tapestries and garish design. Daphne hung up her coat, walked to the end of the hallway and rapped her knuckles on the door of the library.

“Come in!” Her Father’s voice called from within.

It took every ounce of courage that she had to open the door and step inside. Her Father looked up in surprise from the desk he was sitting behind, “Daphne! We had wondered where you had gotten to. Astoria said you had business to attend to.”

“Business?” Daphne laughed, “Come now Father, I expect she told you the truth.”

Cygnus’s eyes darkened, “Well she may have mentioned a Weasley boy-”

“She did,” Lareina’s high voice said from the doorway.

Daphne resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she turned around, “Mother,” she said politely.

“The Weasley boy, Daphne?” Lareina asked, crossing her arms over her chest, “Would you like to elaborate?”

“Not particularly,” Daphne said.

“Your Mother was not asking, Daphne,” Cygnus said firmly.

“Really? Because she phrased it as a question Father,” Daphne said matter of factly, she sat down on the sofa in the room and crossed her legs.

“Daphne, do not be difficult about this,” Cygnus said, his eyes flashing, “We have just been through a war, business has been-”

“We?” Daphne laughed, “Father, what did you do in this war exactly? You ran from Voldemort and you signed up to help the order but did nothing! It was all for your own protection!”

“It was to avoid you and your sister meeting the same fate as your brother,” Cygnus said in a quiet, dangerous voice.

“Was it?” Daphne asked angrily, “Because the last time I checked it was me who protected myself and Astoria! Me and that Weasley boy as you referred to him. He saved me, and he saved her more times than I can count. So you might want to think about thanking him!”

“I am sure he fought well Daphne,” Lareina said, “But that does not mean we feel obliged to welcome him into our family.”

“He did fight well, and I did too,” Daphne said firmly, “I was on the front lines of this war, I fought in the final battle while you hid in the shadows like the cowards you are! And as for Ron, well if you won’t welcome him into the family you will have to cast me out of it because he asked me to marry him, and I said yes!”

Her words rang in the large room, and they caused a chain reaction of events that Daphne would have found hilarious under other circumstances. Her Father’s face lost its colour and her Mother clutched her chest dramatically and had to sit down in an armchair to ‘recover’. 

“Marriage?” Lareina asked in a cold voice, “Honestly Daphne! You cannot marry someone so below you-”

“Below me?” Daphne shouted, “Below me? Can you read Mother? Did you see The Prophet?”

“Daphne-”

“Do any of us have an Order of Merlin: 2nd Class? Do we?” Daphne snapped.

“We are not questioning his bravery,” Cygnus said pragmatically, “Merely his blood status.”

“He’s a pure-blood,” Daphne argued.

“And a blood traitor,” Cygnus said without remorse.

“Well if he’s a blood traitor so am I!” Daphne snapped, “Some of my best friends are muggle-born!”

“Befriending them and breeding with them are very different things,” Lareina said coolly.

“Well I don’t care!” Daphne said, pushing herself to her feet, “I don’t care about his blood status! I care about the fact that he saved my life, I care about the fact that I love him! I care about the fact he’s the Father of my child!”

If her parents’ reaction to her engagement to Ron had been extreme, then this was a whole other level of dramatic. Her Mother actually screamed and clutched her heart as if she was about to die. Daphne rolled her eyes and looked to her Father who was as pale as a sheet.

“You’re pregnant?” He asked numbly.

Daphne gave a small nod, “And I don’t care, because I’m happy! Isn’t that enough?”

“You are 17 years old Daphne!” Lareina shrieked, “You are being ridiculous! You can’t keep this baby!”

“Oh, can’t I?” Daphne asked angrily, “I was under the impression that I was my own person and therefore that I could do whatever I wanted. I was also under the impression that you and Father got married in late 1979 when you were 18 and that I was born around 6 months later!”

Lareina’s face paled, “How did you-”

“We have a library full of records Mother, I know how to use it,” Daphne said, a smirk coming to her face, “Like Mother like daughter they say.”

“Daphne this is ridiculous!” Cygnus snapped, “He is a Weasley for crying out loud! His blood status is not the only issue at play here, they have no money whatsoever. How do you expect to raise a child? Where do you expect to live?”

“Because you will not be moving in here with-”

“Don’t worry Mother, I will never be moving back in here now that I have finally left,” Daphne said coolly, “We have a place to live on Bones estate. He has a job, a good job as an Auror. And don’t you think we have enough money? Aren’t we rich enough?”

“You need a husband who will support you Daphne, and if you just adhere to the contract drawn up at birth-”

“What contract would that be?” Daphne spat, “The one binding the Greengrass’s and the Malfoys? You want me to adhere to that? Because the last time I checked Draco was a werewolf, are you saying that it would be okay for me to marry him but not Ron?”

“We have known Draco since he was a child Daphne, he-”

“He is dating one of my best friends!” Daphne yelled, “So no I will not marry him! And that contract was voided when he was bitten so don’t you even try and tell me that I have to! I am marrying Ron, and I am having this baby and if you want to disown me for that, go ahead!”

“Don’t,” A quiet, but confidence voice said from the doorway. 

Daphne sighed and turned around, “Don’t get yourself involved in this Tori, there’s no need for Father to disown both of us.”

Astoria who had always been fairly shy and withdrawn (and the war had only worsened that) stepped forward and glared directly at her Father, “He won’t do that, one of us has to marry well for the family business to stay intact. I know you wanted two boys Father, because boys are easier to control.”

Daphne’s lips quirked into a small, proud smile. She had always rebelled against her Father, but Astoria had silently sat on the side-lines and watched him reign over his family. Cygnus stood and walked around the desk, “Both of you stand in front of me, right now.”

“No,” Daphne and Astoria said, crossing their arms over their chests defiantly. 

Cygnus stared between them in disbelief.

“You have had a bad influence on your sister this year,” He finally said.

“A bad influence?” Astoria all but hissed, “If anyone has been a bad influence on me it was you and you, Mother! Daphne and Ron were the only thing that kept me alive and kept me from being tortured throughout this entire war! Do you know how many times Ron stepped in front of me or Daphne to take the cruciatus curse for us? He protected us when no one else would, he protected us better than you protected Sal!”

Cygnus stepped forward, rage burning in his eyes.

“Don’t you dare touch her,” Lareina said, stepping in front of her husband, her own eyes glowing angrily, “Don’t you dare Cygnus.”

Cygnus took a step back, and Lareina turned her cold gaze on Astoria, “How dare you blame your father for that tragic accident?”

“It happened under his watch,” Daphne said.

“And he did nothing to punish the monster that did it!” Astoria shouted, “Daphne killed Greyback, Daphne did!”

“Astoria, stop,” Daphne mumbled, grabbing her sisters hand, “This isn’t about Sal, he’s happy alright? He’s in a better place, a world far less cruel than this one.”

Astoria nodded tearfully, and Daphne kissed her on the cheek, “I hope you will sneak away for the wedding,” she murmured before walking towards the door.

“And where do you think you are going?” Cygnus asked before she could leave.

“Well Father, you have made it very clear that I and my blood traitor of a fiancé are not welcome here,” Daphne said, turning from the doorway to face him, “So I will be taking my leave.”

“Is this really what you want?” Cygnus asked, as if the words themselves pained him.

“Yes,” Daphne said calmly, “Is that really so hard to believe? I was always the rebellious daughter while Astoria was the angel. Are you surprised by the fact that I’m the one who got knocked up at 17?”

“Do not speak about yourself like that,” Lareina said sharply, “Are you happy Daphne? Or are you doing this because you feel obliged to?”

“Of course she’s happy!” Astoria exclaimed, “You have never met Ron! I spent a whole year watching them fall in love!”

Daphne smiled slightly at the younger girl, “I am happy, and I do love Ron. The ironic thing is that I think you will to if you only took the time to get to know him.”

After a moment of intense silence Cygnus gave the smallest of nods, “When is the wedding?”

Daphne’s surprise must have shown in her eyes, because her Mother smirked triumphantly. She was probably rejoicing the fact they had finally managed to get one over on the daughter who had been rebelling against them since she was 11.

“Saturday the 30th of May,” Daphne replied, aware that Astoria was just as stunned by this sudden turn of events.

“Then we must start planning right away,” Lareina said, getting to her feet (a little shakily) and putting her hand on Daphne’s shoulder, gently pushing her out of the room, “Come Astoria, you will be needed in this discussion too. We have a theme to think about, and a colour scheme, and there will be the cake to organise, not to mention the invitations and wherever will we have it my dear? Oh and of course the dress...” she trailed off thoughtfully as she pushed her daughters into the living room, “I do suppose you could wear my dress if you so wished. I think you will find it will fit perfectly.”

Daphne could have snorted at her Mother’s attempt at a joke. It would fit perfectly because her Mother had also been 3 months pregnant when she was married. Merlin, the whole thing was laughable. She did smile however, because being forced into a seat to discuss wedding preparations with her Mother and sister was one of the most normal things Daphne had ever done with her family, and for the first time in a very long time they didn’t seem quite as dysfunctional as she had always credited them.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Have you seen Neville?”

Harry snorted, “Yes, he’s still repairing the greenhouses.”

Ron rolled his eyes, which was more difficult than ever considering the fake eye could see through his head when he did that, “What’s with his love affair with the greenhouses?”

“It’s his happy place I think,” Harry said as he used Reparo on a huge pile of rubble to make it resemble bricks once more, “He goes there to relax when things aren’t great and he hates seeing it as a wreck.”

“Well it was going to need repaired at some point I suppose,” Ron agreed, repairing the smashed window in front of him.

“I thought you weren’t going to help with this,” Harry said, they were currently trying to restore order to the 6th floor. The 7th floor was going to be a lot more difficult considering large parts of the corridors had been open to the air and therefore the elements since the final battle. 

“I wasn’t,” Ron admitted, “I thought I would be pretty busy with Auror training but its 9 to 5 Monday to Friday, so I figured I could help at the weekend.”

“How is Auror training?” Harry asked curiously.

“Intensive,” Ron said with a shake of his head, “I mean it’s only a yearlong thing and you have to get your physical strength up in that time as well as do all of these classes in law, and disguise and everything.”

Harry smiled slightly, “Sounds like you’re enjoying it though.”

“Yeah, it’s just pretty hectic,” Ron admitted sheepishly, “And Daphne is handling me being off doing that all of the time pretty well.”

“Yeah well you should probably be spending the weekend with her, rather than fixing the 6th floor with me,” Harry pointed out.

Ron grimaced, “Yeah I know, but she went to talk to her parents today, about the wedding and the baby so...”

“So you’re hiding out at Hogwarts?” Harry grinned, “Some things never change about you Ron.”

Ron looked sheepish, “Her Dad scares the crap out of me, I figured it would be easier if she got the shock out of the way on her own and then gradually eased me in or...”

“Or she gets disowned,” Harry added in amusement, “Speaking of that, did you hear that Draco might be going back to Malfoy?”

“Nah,” Ron said, “What’s wrong with being a Black?”

“Well I think part of it is that he feels bad,” Harry admitted, “Lilly is legally going to change her name to McKinnon-Black and she should have the rightful claim to Grimmauld Place and the Black title. I don’t think she’s massively bothered by it, but Draco thinks she should have what is rightfully hers...”

“And his Father is dead so he would be Head of the Family,” Ron said.

“Yeah, but I think his Mother is the one pushing for him to become a Malfoy again. He said he was going to talk to Hermione about it before he made a decision but it would be weird if he did go back wouldn’t it?” Harry asked his friend thoughtfully, “I mean Hermione Malfoy sounds...”

“Weird, yeah,” Ron said with a nodded, “Like Lilly, she’s really going to have the same name as your Mother when you marry her.”

“She’ll be Lillian Potter, not Lily Potter,” Harry said with a wave of his wand, “But yeah...it is weird.”

Ron just snorted, “Only you could get yourself into that situation Harry.”

“I know,” Harry chuckled.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Uh Remus?”

Footsteps thudded down the stairs and Remus came to a halt in the kitchen doorway.

“A little help?” Draco asked as he dragged in the unconscious body of Hermione’s Father.

“You knocked him out?” Remus asked in disbelief.

“We knocked both of them out,” Draco said as Hermione levitated her Mother’s body inside and dropped her on the sofa.

“They thought we were crazy,” Hermione said breathlessly, “They were refusing to come back with us.”

“We didn’t exactly have another option,” Draco said sheepishly.

“Can you fix their memories while they are unconscious?” Hermione asked, biting her lip anxiously.

“Yes,” Remus said, “I can, luckily for you. But when they wake up they will still remember the fact you knocked them out and dragged them back to the UK.”

“Well we’ll have to deal with that when they wake up then,” Draco said matter of factly as he sat down on a bar stool.

Hermione gave a stiff nod, “I’m sure they’ll forgive us...eventually.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Hey Nev, how you doing?”

“Nearly done,” Neville said cheerfully as he mopped the floor of the greenhouse which was looking sparkling and new.

Harry chuckled, “So this is your pride and joy now huh?”

“Hopefully,” Neville said, leaning on the mop and looking at Harry, “Pomona said she was thinking of stepping down a little. She was hurt in the battle and she thinks maybe she should train someone else up for a few years.”

“You’re going to work here?” Harry asked eagerly, “That’s great!”

Neville grinned, “Yeah, it’s pretty great. But don’t get me wrong I’ll be her assistant to begin with. She’ll show me the ropes so that I can be harvesting ingredients to go in the potions cupboard, or for Madam Pomfrey to use in the hospital wing. Then I’ll be allowed to teach the younger classes, but I won’t be a fully qualified professor for at least 5 years.”

“Well at least you know what you’re doing,” Harry said honestly, “That’s more direction than I have right now.”

Neville smiled and patted his friend on the back, “You’ll get there,” he said confidently.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Hermione?”

Hermione drew in a sharp breath, “You remember me?”

“Of course we do,” Mrs. Granger said with a frown, “You’re our daughter.”

“The last year is just a little...fuzzy,” Mr. Granger admitted, looking bemused.

“That’s my fault,” Hermione said, biting down hard on her lip, “I altered your memories so yo would forget that you had a daughter. I convinced you to move to Australia until the war was over so you could be safe.”

“You sent us to Australia?” Mrs. Granger asked in disbelief, “Without our permission?”

“Yes, but I swear it was for your safety,” Hermione said, “Voldemort was killing muggles everywhere and I was on the run with Harry. They would have targeted anyone close to me.”

“No, we understand,” Mr. Granger said with a shake of his head, “It’s over now you say?”

“Yes,” Draco replied from Hermione’s side, “Hermione sent you to Australia in July 1997 and it is now May 1998. Voldemort was defeated on the 1st of April.”

“By Harry?” Mrs. Granger asked weakly.

Hermione nodded, “Yes, but Draco helped.”

“And so did Hermione,” Draco said with a slight smile.

“Heavens,” Mrs. Granger sighed, “I imagine you have much to catch us up on.”

“Yes,” Hermione said with a slightly sheepish look at Draco, “But we can catch you up when we get home. We’re in my friends Manor at the moment in Perthshire, but we have to get back to the house in Oxford. All of your things are in storage, but Draco and I will help you restore normalcy to the place.”

Mr. Granger nodded and got to his feet a little shakily, “Of course, that sounds like a perfectly acceptable idea.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Harry, what did you do with the Elder Wand?’”

“Oh, I forgot about that,” Harry said with a sheepish look at Ginny. 

“You didn’t keep it, did you?” The redhead asked, and Lilly smiled slightly from her spot beside Harry because she knew what had happened to it.

“Uh, no,” Harry admitted as they repainted the roof of the Great Hall, “I put it back in its rightful place with its rightful owner.”

“You put it in Dumbledore’s tomb?” Ginny asked in surprise, “Don’t you think somebody else will work out he had it and steal it? In the hands of the wrong person that thing could create another Voldemort...”

“I know,” Harry said honestly, “Which is why I snapped it in half first.”

“Somebody could use magic to put it back together, or torture a wand maker like Ollivander to fix it,” Ginny pointed out.

Harry smirked slightly, “Which is why I incinerated the two halves and put the ashes into Dumbledore’s tomb.”

Ginny spun around in surprise, “Seriously?”

“Yep,” Harry said, “That wand is too powerful for any witch or wizard. It had to be destroyed.”

“And what you did was very wise,” Lilly said, shooting a grin his way, “Enough to make any Ravenclaw proud in fact.”

“Funny that,” Harry grinned, “You would almost think it was your idea.”

Ginny laughed, “Now that makes more sense. You were just doing what Lilly told you!”

“I was always going to put it back in Dumbledore’s tomb,” Harry admitted, “But Lilly was adamant I destroy it first and as the case she put forward was so convincing, I did.”

“Well I’m glad you did,” Ginny said, “Because nobody should ever have to go through something like that again.”

“No,” Harry agreed solemnly, “They shouldn’t.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Is everyone here?” Hermione asked loudly, scanning the drawing room of Bones Manor.

“You’re back!” Daphne exclaimed.

“We got back earlier today but we had to get the Grangers sorted out,” Draco said, hugging his friend, “But yes we are back. Did you tell your parents yet?”

“Yes,” Daphne said matter of factly, “And would you believe that in the end they were actually okay with it?”

“No I would not believe that,” Draco said in amusement, “But I’m glad they were because we have an announcement to make.”

Hermione nodded, amusement flickering in her eyes, “My parents felt bad for missing a year of our lives so they offered to throw Ron and Daphne an engagement party on Saturday, and trust me they are so determined to do it that there is no way any of us are getting out. You’re all invited, and so are your families,” she added the last part for the benefit of Ron and Daphne.

“An engagement party?” Daphne asked with a raised eyebrow.

“The muggle way,” Hermione added, biting her lip.

“How do muggles do engagement parties?” Ron asked, probably a little bit too eagerly.

“Well there’s alcohol,” Lilly said with a grin, “So that’s a good start.”

“And there’s also karaoke,” Hermione said.

“What in the name of Godric is karaoke?” Neville asked.

Harry snorted, “It’s when you sing along to muggle songs very badly, normally while drunk, in front of lots and lots of people.”

“Well I am definitely in,” Tonks grinned, “I’ll just need to find a babysitter for Teddy.”

“I’ll do it,” Draco said, “I mean as his Godfather it’s my obligation and all.”

“And as his other Godfather it’s also mine, so I’ll help,” Harry piped up.

Ginny grinned at them both, “Oh no, you two are not getting out of this engagement party that easily. We all go, it’s only fair.”

“We can’t all go because then there would be nobody to babysit Teddy,” Remus said calmly, “So I’ll stay.”

“No way,” Tonks said, sending a sly grin her Husband’s way, “Minerva will watch him. She’s been looking for a turn at babysitting.”

“Minerva has?” Draco asked in amusement, “Minerva McGonagall?”

“She is surprisingly soft at heart,” Tonks said with a smile, “So yes Hermione, all of us will be there on Saturday.”

“My parents certainly won’t be,” Daphne said with a roll of her eyes, “You should have heard the things they had to say about the Weasley’s and they’re just blood traitors. I’m not letting them anywhere near your parents, they are far too lovely to have to take my parents shit.”

Hermione smiled slightly, “Very noble of you, but I understand.”

“My lot will be there if they can,” Ron said, glancing to Ginny, “We love a good party.”

“Fred and George in particular,” Ginny laughed, “We’ll spread the news.”

“Fantastic!” Hermione exclaimed, “They will be so pleased!”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The engagement party was a pretty dreadful affair. They all kept false smiles plastered on their faces for the sake of Hermione’s parents who were doing this out of guilt. The night had started out pleasantly enough with drinks on arrival (and Daphne’s explanation that she couldn’t drink because she was pregnant had made Mrs. Granger’s eyes roll into the back of her head). But as the night wore on the small talk became unbearable, especially since Mr. Granger wanted to talk about golf and Mrs. Granger wanted to talk about the theatre and how fantastic Andrew Lloyd Webber’s latest creation was (“You mean to say you have never seen Whistle Down the Wind? But it’s so fabulous!”). And the Weasley’s idea of small talk was chatting about the latest Quidditch game or Celestina Warbeck’s new single. Arthur on the other hand was walking around the house picking up everything and excitedly asking Mr and Mrs. Granger what it did.

The night did improve drastically for everyone when things were moved outside as darkness began to fall. The Grangers had a big house, and therefore a large back garden with a patio, and fairy lights (without real fairies of course). There was also a big summer house that Hermione had promised they would escape to as soon as she could find a way to slip away from her parents.

While they were discussing their escape, Draco slipped away and managed to grab a moment alone with Mr. Granger.

“Ah Draco,” Mr. Granger said brightly, “Do you want me to explain golf to you again?”

“No,” Draco said sheepishly, “I wanted to ask you something actually sir.”

“Sir?” Mr. Granger laughed, “It must be serious.”

“It is,” Draco said, his hands shaking slightly, “I wanted to ask for your permission Mr. Granger. You see, after this war...well I nearly lost Hermione on more than one occasion and that reminded me quite how grateful I am to have her, and how grateful I am that someone as pure as her loves me. So I was hoping you would allow me to ask for her hand in marriage.”

Mr. Granger’s eyes widened, “Son, I have no problem with you at all. But Hermione is only 18 years old.”

“But she isn’t Mr. Granger,” Draco said quietly, “I mean no disrespect at all. But this isn’t the muggle world where getting married young is viewed as a bad thing. It’s perfectly ordinary to get married straight out of Hogwarts in the wizarding world, but that’s not what I’m suggesting. I just want to make sure that you know that this war has aged all of us. It might seem like the war lasted for barely a year, but ever since Hermione and I were 11 years old this has been hanging over us in one way or another. She came face to face with the darkest wizard in our world at 16, and I came face to face with him at 15. We grew up too quickly, and we certainly do not feel like teenagers.”

“I understand that,” Mr. Granger said, placing his hand on Draco’s shoulder, “I understand the sacrifices you made for my daughter Draco, and I can entirely see why they would age you. But is there any reason to rush into this?”

“I don’t intend to rush into it,” Draco said honestly, “But I want to spend the rest of my life with Hermione and I want her to know that. When we get married is entirely up to her, it can be years if that’s what she wants.”

Mr. Granger smiled slightly sadly, “Then I have no reason not to give you my permission. I like you, and Hermione loves you. If I said no, it would be because I’m scared of losing my little girl and that is no reason to stop her happiness.”

“You’ll never lose her,” Draco said, looking over to Hermione who was laughing carelessly with Lilly, “She’s your daughter and she loves you. Nothing will ever change that.”

Mr. Granger gave a stiff nod, “Then by all means, you have my permission.”

Draco smiled at the man, “Thank you,” he said genuinely as he darted around the edge of the garden and stood on the raised patio area. He cleared his throat and drew everyone’s attention to him.

Hermione spun around, surprise shining in her eyes. Draco smiled at her, she was wearing a simple dress and holding a glass of wine but she looked so elegant and beautiful. He knew then that he had picked the perfect moment. 

“Sorry to interrupt the party,” Draco said with a smile, “And sorry to steal your thunder, Daphne and Ron.”

Amongst those in the party was Narcissa who smiled proudly at her son. In response to Draco’s comment Daphne had just smiled knowingly, “By all means take some of the attention away!” she said.

Draco laughed and looked directly at Hermione who seemed to be aware of what was going on, “I don’t want to drone on and on, but I do want Hermione to know that throughout this past year she has not only been the best thing in my life, but the only thing that kept me fighting, that kept me alive, in fact. And I know that we didn’t exactly see eye to eye to begin with.”

Hermione raised an eyebrow at the understatement, but she had a small smile on her face.

“But I love you Hermione, and I want to spend my life with you so...will you do me the honour of agreeing to become my wife?”

Ron shot Daphne a grin and muttered, “See, I’m not an aristocratic arse.”

Daphne grinned back and nudged him in the ribs, “Oh shut up.”

“Are you crying?” Ron asked in amusement.

“It’s the hormones you arse,” Daphne mumbled in response.

They looked back to Draco and Hermione who were now embracing.

“Merlin, I thought you were going to say no,” Draco said as he slipped the simple ring onto her finger.

“Why on earth would I say no?” Hermione mumbled, kissing his lips gently as those around them clapped and cheered.

“It took you long enough to say yes,” Draco said back.

“Well I have to keep you on your toes somehow,” Hermione said with a cheeky smirk, “Honestly, I can’t believe you thought I would say no. You can be a right silly arse.”

“So affectionate love,” Draco murmured, kissing her again.

“I know, I love you too,” Hermione said, positively beaming at him.

The entire thing just made Daphne cry all the more.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“That is not how you make a cake!”

“Yes it is! What is this wooden contraption?”

“It’s a wooden spoon! You stir the cake mixture with it Draco!”

“No Hermione, you use a stirring charm.”

“Right because that worked so well, didn’t it?”

“What are you two - woah,” Lilly cut herself off as she stepped into the kitchen, “Did you have a flour fight?”

Hermione glared at Draco and put her hands on her hips, it was a comical sight considering they were both covered in flour and so was the kitchen, “Draco tried to use a stirring charm before putting the eggs in.”

Lilly snorted, “Why did Daphne ask you two to make the cake?”

“It was a terrible idea,” Harry agreed as he stood in the doorway grinning, “And Tonks is going to go mental when she sees the state of this place.”

“Well that’s easy,” Draco said smugly, “Scourgify!”

The entire kitchen was wiped clean in a matter of seconds and Draco smirked.

Hermione shook her head irritably, “Magic is not always the answer,” she muttered, flicking a handful of flour in his face.

“Oh come on Granger, that was uncalled for!”

Lilly rolled her eyes and glanced at Harry, “Do you think we should stay and help?”

“I think we have to if there’s going to be a wedding cake tomorrow,” Harry said with an amused grin as he conjured up aprons and stepped in to break up Draco and Hermione’s flour fight.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“You look beautiful Daph.”

Daphne smiled weakly, she was wearing her Mother’s wedding dress and as Lareina had predicted it did fit perfectly. She was only 3 months pregnant and her bump was tiny, so hiding it wasn’t particularly difficult. The dress was tucked in and flared out at the right places, but it was beautifully vintage with its ivory and lace design. Daphne had left her hair curled and down, and performed her usual glamour charms so she didn’t actually look much different from every other day.

“Are you nervous?” Lilly asked, she was one of Daphne’s two bridesmaids. This whole affair was small and Daphne liked it that way. She had asked Lilly and Astoria, and although she had not actually said it, the others knew that there was no Maid of Honour because that should have been Susan’s role. 

“No,” Daphne said with a small smile, “Because I know it’s the right thing. I’m excited, more than anything else. Is Ron okay?”

“He’s pale,” Lilly said with an amused grin, “And Harry keeps nudging him and reminding him that he’ll pass out if he doesn’t breathe.”

“But he’s still conscious!” Astoria piped up.

Lareina chuckled, “Then he is doing better than Cygnus. He passed out from the nerves in the middle of the vows.”

“Did he?” Daphne laughed, “I never knew that about Father!”

“As cold and pragmatic as he is these days, he was much of a free spirit in his youth,” Lareina said with a smile, “Rather like his first born daughter in fact.”

Daphne smiled slightly at the sentiment as a knock sounded at the door.

“Come in Cygnus,” Lareina called, smiling at Daphne as the door opened.

Cygnus stepped into the small bedroom inside the cottage and smiled sadly when he saw his daughter, “You look beautiful, as always.”

“We’ll wait outside,” Lilly said, linking her arm through Astoria’s, “We need to practice our walk, right Tori?”

Astoria simply nodded and let Lilly lead her out of the room. Lareina kissed her daughter on the cheek, “I’ll be downstairs as well sweetheart. Chin up, no nerves here yes?”

“Yes,” Daphne said with a nod as her Mother left the room. Leaving her alone with the Father she had spent such a long time rebelling against.

“Are you still certain that this is what you want?” Cygnus asked as he walked to the window and looked out into the ground of Bones Manor, lit by the warm morning sunshine.

“As sure as I was when you asked me two days ago, and a week ago, and two weeks ago,” Daphne said pointedly. She got to her feet and picked up her bouquet, “You said you wanted to walk me down the aisle Father, you can’t stop this wedding now.”

“I would not dream of stopping it Daphne,” Cygnus said, turning around and facing his daughter, “I merely want to be certain that you are sure you want to do this.”

“I am,” Daphne said calmly, “And I don’t want to be late. Ron will start panicking that I won’t show up.”

Cygnus smiled very slightly and opened the door, “Then we best be going.”

It was the closest thing to acceptance she would get, and Daphne knew that. She followed him downstairs and together with Lilly, Astoria and Lareina, they left the cottage. The wedding was fairly small and it was going to take place in the grounds of Bones Manor. There were only 22 ½ guests (Teddy counted as a half since he didn’t eat or require a seat), so the wedding ceremony was in the rose garden. 

Daphne took a breath as they stood to one side of the arch leading into the grand rose garden. In the centre was an old band stand where she and Ron would be saying their vows. The white seats were all filled, and people were murmuring excitedly. 

“You ready for this?” Lilly asked in a whisper.

Daphne blew out the breath she had been holding, “I’ll be fine.”

The soft music began to play, signalling that it was time for the bridal party to walk down the aisle. Lareina slipped away first, and then it was time for Lilly and Astoria to leave.

Lilly winked at Daphne, “You’ll be perfect Daph, see you when you’re Mrs Weasley!”

Astoria grinned at her sister and let Lilly grab her hand, “Good luck Daph,” her sister said as she and Lilly disappeared into the garden.

Daphne took another shaky breath and her Father tightened his grip on her arm. They stepped forward, gracefully turning the corner and walking through the arch into the rose garden. Daphne didn’t particularly mind the fact that all eyes were on her because her eyes were only on Ron.

His face lit up when he saw her and she wondered if he really had been getting worried that she wouldn’t show up. Daphne smiled at him as she floated down the aisle, and she only took her eyes off of his when she and Cygnus came to a halt in front of the bandstand. Cygnus lifted her veil, kissed her cheek and placed her hand into Ron’s. It did not contain any more emotion than that, but it was enough.

Daphne and Ron took a step up into the bandstand. Harry, who was Ron’s best man gave Ron the thumbs up and sat down in the second row next to Lilly. Neville, Ron’s only groomsman was already seated next to Ginny. 

The ceremony itself was fairly short, and it flew by with no problems. When Ron kissed Daphne, and they turned around to walk back down the aisle together they noticed that almost everyone had tears in their eyes, even Draco. They led the small procession through the grounds to the patio-ed area at the back of the house where a marquee had been set up with a top table (set for six) and three circular tables of six had been set up. The cake was there too, protected by bugs in a bubble charm a little too similar to that which Nagini had been encased in by Voldemort. 

They sat down to eat, and things were going perfectly well. The food had been prepared by Susan’s house elves, Gabble and Dabble, who had become the property of Remus and Tonks when the estate had been left to them. They had put on a wonderful spread and the cake, which was served for dessert, was lovely despite the flour fight that had been had over it. 

As the sky began to darken, and the speeches began, the evening got far more eventful. Daphne’s Father stood to give his speech first, and as Ron gripped her hand under the table, Daphne truly did not know what to expect.

“As the Father of the Bride, I would like to personally thank each and every one of you for making the effort to be here to celebrate with us today,” Cygnus said with the smallest of smiles, “And of course I would like to state that I am incredibly proud of Daphne for everything that she has been through in this past year. I also wish to thank her new Husband, Ronald,” Daphne rolled her eyes at his use of Ron’s full name, “For everything that he has done for my daughter and for all of the happiness that he brings her. A toast to Daphne and Ronald.”

Cygnus raised his glass and everyone else did so too. They echoed his sentiment and drank, and Daphne bit her lip to refrain from making a comment along the lines of ‘short and sweet, thanks Dad’.

Ron stood next, looking a little green and shaky as he began to give his speech, “Well I’d like to thank Daphne’s Father, and echo his sentiment. I’m glad you could all make it here today, and speaking on behalf of Daph, I know she is too. I know it was all hobbled together at the last minute, but I think it’s pretty special for it.”

There were much nods of agreement around their guests. Ron continued, “I know almost everyone here went through a lot in the war, and having everyone with us today means a lot to both Daphne and me. Seeing all our family together and whole - well mostly, sorry Fred, oh and you George-”

“Shocking!” Fred and George echoed with grins on their faces.

Ron grinned back, “It’s the best wedding present either of us could wish for. So thank you and thank you Hermione and Draco for making the cake. And to you Harry, for keeping me sane and getting me here.”

Harry mock saluted his best friend.

Ron’s smile remained on his face as he looked to Daphne, “And of course to Lilly for being there for Daphne, and I absolutely cannot forget Astoria who has become like a little sister to me in the past year. But the final and most important thanks goes to you Daphne. Thank you for everything you did for me during the war, thank you for being the one thing that made me smile at the end of the day, and the hope that pushed me forward to survive anything the world threw at me. Thank you for loving me, and thank you for becoming my wife. I hope you don’t live to regret it.”

Daphne laughed weakly, “I won’t,” she promised.

“So this one is to Daphne,” Ron said, raising his glass.

“To Daphne!”

Ron sat back down and put his arm around his wife, breathing a sigh of relief because his speech was over. She simply smiled at him, and resisted the urge to groan when Harry got to his feet to deliver his best man speech. He was smiling far too widely, and looking very smug which was a bad sign, a very bad sign.

“So this speech is supposed to be about Ron and Daphne’s love story,” Harry said brightly, “With a few jokes thrown in. I’m not sure how good I am with scripts, not very I imagine so I have written nothing down and I’m winging this thing.”

Ron grinned at these words, and Daphne looked vaguely fearful.

Harry just winked back at them, “Well if you had told me when I was 11, a freshly sorted Gryffindor, naïve to the world of magic, with only one friend in the whole world - this guy - that he would be getting hitched in what technically should still have been his 7th year, I would have laughed in your face. In fact the thought of Ron getting married would have made me laugh because back then he was gangly and clumsy and awkward-”

“He still is!” Charlie shouted.

“Shut up Charlie!” Ron retorted in amusement.

“See, that’s the thing Charlie!” Harry said, jumping up onto the raised platform in front of the top table, “He isn’t. He’s a changed man, Hermione and I noticed that not too long ago and we both realised pretty quickly that the reason for this drastic change was a certain Daphne Greengrass. As much as I joke, that’s one thing that I don’t want anyone to forget. Ron and Daphne on paper don’t make any sense, but the best couples never do and that’s the wonderful thing about their love story. I mean it’s also pretty fitting that the Weasel King of Gryffindor and the Ice Queen of Slytherin have gotten married.”

There was a ripple of laughter and Harry grinned, “But in all honesty, Ron is my best mate and he has been for years. And Daphne, I’ve only known her for a couple of years but she’s lovely and she and Ron really are perfect for each other. So I hope you will join me in wishing them a long, and happy marriage.”

Harry raised his glass and there was a general murmur of agreement as glasses clicked together and the guests began to get drunk on expensive champagne...

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Have we all had the same idea?”

Daphne laughed weakly, “Yes, I think we were all trying to escape,” she said as she stood in the archway of the rose garden, her hand in Ron’s.

“Well feel free to come and get drunk with us,” Neville said as he waved his hipflask.

“I think I’ll pass on the getting drunk part,” Daphne said with an amused grin as she and Ron stepped into the bandstand where Neville, Ginny, Harry, Lilly, Draco and Hermione were sitting on the benched seats. Night had well and truly fallen now, and a cool breeze was whistling through the trees and hedges.

“Since I’m not pregnant I won’t pass,” Ron said, accepting the hipflask from Neville and knocking back some of the liquid. He coughed when it hit his throat, and Neville and Draco shared satisfied grins.

“What the fuck is that?” Ron coughed as he thrust the flask back into Neville’s hand.

“It’s moonshine,” Harry said with a roll of his eyes, “They have werewolf metabolisms, they can’t get drunk unless they drink that stuff. Here, mine is just firewhiskey.”

“Cheers,” Ron said, soothing his throat slightly with a taste of the refreshing classic. He put his arm around his wife and asked, “Why are you lot hiding out here anyway?”

“We weren’t hiding, we were just discussing the future,” Lilly said with a smile, “Working out where we go from here.”

“Did you come to any conclusions or are you all too drunk for that?” Daphne asked in amusement.

“Being drunk actually brought them to sensible conclusions,” Hermione said with a smile, “I already knew what I wanted to do.”

“Of course you did,” Draco said affectionately, “Know-it-all.”

“Only you could say something offensive so fondly Draco,” Hermione said with a smile.

“So what is it then? Head of Campaigns and Events in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures?” Ron teased.

“No,” Hermione smirked, “I’ve decided to go into the DMLE.”

“And Draco is going to pursue experimental potions,” Lilly piped up.

“What about you, Lil?” Daphne asked.

“I haven’t worked that out yet,” Lilly admitted sheepishly.

“Yeah...neither have I,” Harry said, “But definitely not Auror training, I’ve had enough fighting for a lifetime.”

“Understandable,” Daphne mused, “I wonder where our lives will go from here...we’ll all be moving out and getting jobs, having babies and moving on...”

“We won’t be moving on from each other,” Neville said confidently.

“What makes you so sure of that?” Draco asked, “People drift apart all of the time.”

“Well we aren’t normal people,” Neville pointed out, “You and me are part of a pack, we’re stuck together which means so are Ginny and Hermione by association. And since Ginny’s sister in law is now Daphne that links me to her too.”

“And never mind all of that,” Hermione said, “Most people don’t go through a war together and come out of the other side.”

Harry gave them all a firm nod, an impressive feat considering how little was left in his hipflask, “There are some things you can’t share without ending up liking each other, and killing a dark lord together is one of them.”

His slightly drunken, but highly philosophical comment made them all laugh. Neville lifted his hip flask, “Cheers to that!”

“Cheers!” 

End of Part 2 :)


	68. Epilogue: Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue - Four Weddings and a Funeral
> 
> Part 3: The Wedding of Lillian Alison McKinnon-Black and Harry James Potter
> 
> Sunday the 25th of July, 1999

“Minerva, has anyone ever gotten married in Hogwarts?”

McGonagall looked up and raised an eyebrow at Harry, “Why do you ask?”

“Well,” Harry said, closing his book and looking at her across the staff room, “It was Lilly and I’s first home and it means a lot to us. As the wedding is pencilled in for the 25th of July the school will be shut, and I wondered if you might be convinced to let us use it?”

McGonagall considered this for a moment, “I must confess, I don’t think there has ever been a wedding within the grounds of the school. Not since the time of the Founders...but we can have funerals so I fail to see why weddings would be banned.”

“So it’s alright?” Harry asked in surprise, “I thought it would be a tougher fight than that.”

McGonagall smiled slightly, “Harry, I am certain that you could get anything you wanted after what you did for our world, and for this school. The only limit would be that the wedding would have to be held entirely on the grounds.”

“That’s fine, perfect in fact,” Harry said, “It was what we had planned. We thought we should have the ceremony in the stone circle, and we were contemplating the Quidditch Pitch for the reception.”

“Fitting,” McGonagall said with a smile.

“And of course I’ll donate to the school as a thank you,” Harry added, “Would you prefer money or a specific service?”

“The library really does need restocking,” McGonagall said thoughtfully, “Talk to Irma, she will give you a full list of new books that we are lacking.”

“Perfect!” Harry grinned, “Thank you Minerva, you are a star!”

McGonagall actually blushed very slightly as Harry kissed her on the cheek in thanks and dashed from the room to tell his fiancé the good news.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Sorry, sorry, I’m late I know, I’m sorry!” Remus said, incredibly flustered as he barged into the drawing room of Grimmauld Place, “Bloody work got me caught up, am I the last to arrive?”

“Not quite,” Tonks said raising an eyebrow at her Husband as their 1 year old son zoomed around the room on a small broomstick Harry had bought him (Draco being secondary Godfather had managed to get his influence in with the green broom handle...)

“You’re always late,” Harry grinned, “It’s not like you’ve got an important job or anything.”

“I know,” Lilly teased, “It’s like you’re the Minister for Magic or something.”

Remus shot them both an amused grin, “Oh be quiet, I was reviewing a very interesting paper on rights for Werewolves I will have you know.”

“Was that very interesting paper written by my fiancé by any chance?” Draco asked, from where he was sitting on a particularly comfortable armchair in the beautifully renovated old house.

“It was, and I see that she is late too,” Remus said as he scanned the drawing room, everyone was there, Neville and Ginny, Draco, Tonks, Teddy, Harry, Lilly, Daphne and Ron, but there was no sign of Hermione.

“You two are always the last to arrive,” Daphne said matter of factly as she bounced a 6 month old child on her lap, “You work too much.”

Ron nodded his agreement, “Even I don’t work as much as you two and I’m a qualified Auror now.”

“Barely,” Tonks grinned, “You only passed a few months ago.”

“I’m still fully qualified,” Ron said proudly, “Daph, do you want me to take Eve?”

Daphne nodded as the girl began to gurn. She had been born very close to Christmas and thus named Evelyn, Eve for short. Her full name was Evelyn Susan Weasley, a nod on Daphne’s part to her childhood best friend who she still missed. She was the picture of her Mother, with short, slightly curly blonde hair. She had blue eyes, the colour of Ron’s but the shape of Daphne’s. Lareina had breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the baby hadn’t had red hair, and Daphne was hoping their second child (whenever they got around to having another) would be a redhead, just to spite her Mother.

Tonks had lost the battle with Remus, after swearing that she would never go through childbirth again after Teddy, she was now 3 months pregnant and dreading the end result. Daphne liked to tease the older woman because her birth had been seamless and she had been entirely graceful with barely a scream. Ron of course had been forced to wait outside while her Mother sat with her because that was the done thing in pure-blood circles. Harry knew for a fact however that Ron quite liked that pure-blood tradition because he didn’t particularly fancy being in the room while she shouted insults at him, so the arrangement had suited them both perfectly. They had named Draco and Hermione as Evelyn’s godparents, and Harry and Lilly as the secondary pair.

“Well Hermione better hurry up or this pre-wedding meal is going ahead without her,” Lilly said, looking towards the fireplace as it flickered.

With a roar it turned green and a very flustered Hermione stepped out, “I am so sorry! I really am! I was just about to leave the office when this new case came in and I had to take it because it was about a Veela and a forced marriage, and the poor girl would have stood no chance with an ordinary lawyer so-”

“Yes love,” Draco said as he forced her into a seat and poured her a drink, “We know about your fondness for half-breeds and magical creatures, and the rights that they deserve.”

Hermione glared at him as she accepted the drink, “I was just explaining my lateness.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Harry laughed, “Remus only just arrived too, he was reviewing an interesting paper apparently.”

“Oh you liked my paper?” Hermione asked eagerly.

“Hermione,” Ron cut in, “Can we not talk about papers and werewolves for one night? Our best mate is getting married in two days!”

“Right,” Hermione said sheepishly, “Of course.”

Lilly shook her head in amusement and shot her soon-to-be-husband a grin, “Come on then, we better head into the dining room before the food goes cold and Kreacher gets upset.”

“Speaking of Kreacher, did you review the property as the new elf legislation bill asked-”

“Hermione!” Ron said in disbelief, “No house elves, no legal stuff.”

Daphne smiled in amusement as she carried Evelyn downstairs.

“I was just-”

“No,” Ron said with a pointed look, “As Harry’s best man, I am blacklisting the topic.”

Draco shot the redhead a grin and said, “Well she won’t say a word all night then.”

“Draco!’”

Draco smiled sheepishly at her, “Sorry love, but it isn’t exactly pre-wedding talk,” he murmured as they stepped into the dining room and took their seats. Hermione did try to keep her small talk limited to appropriate subjects, but as the night wore on they found themselves talking about work.

“Is Sprout letting you teach yet, Neville?” Daphne asked curiously.

“At the start of the next term I get to teach the 1st and 2nd year students,” Neville said eagerly, “But of course the kids are on holiday at the moment.”

“McGonagall let me start teaching right away,” Harry teased.

“Of course she did,” Hermione scoffed, “You are the boy who lived.”

“I think killing Voldemort was proof enough that you could teach 1st and 2nd years Defence against the Dark Arts,” Ginny agreed in amusement.

“I mean let’s face it mate, you taught people your own age in 5th year,” Ron chortled, “1st and 2nd years must be easy.”

“The topics are,” Harry agreed, “But the kids themselves are hyperactive. All they want to do is ask me questions about Voldemort. One of them asked me once if I cut his head off when I killed him.”

“Maybe they were getting confused with the snake Draco beheaded,” Daphne smirked, “With the sword of Gryffindor.”

“Oh give it a rest,” Draco said with a wave of his hand, “And honestly, I’m starting to think Hogwarts is the only place that will employ half of us these days.”

“Hey you could have found employment,” Neville said with a pointed look, “Slughorn offered to take you on as an apprentice. You chose to go it solo and become an experimental brewer.”

“Well I don’t particularly want to teach little brats how to make mediocre potions,” Draco said stiffly, “Especially not when I can be brewing ground-breaking creations in my own lab.”

“Merlin, you sound like Snape,” Harry snorted.

Ron grinned in amusement, “What was your latest creation Malfoy, an improvement on the pepper up potion?”

Draco smirked, “Joke all you want Weasley, but I am making something that will change the world right now.”

“You’re always making something that will change the world,” Ginny grinned.

Lilly laughed, “What will you do Ginny? Now you’ve finished Hogwarts.”

“Oh I’m staying on as Pomfrey’s apprentice,” Ginny smiled, “After everything in the war and all the help I gave her this year, she decided I should be paid for it. I don’t suppose you can tell us what you’ve been working on?”

“Of course I can’t,” Lilly said with a grin, “It’s top secret, I am an Unspeakable you know.”

“She tells me,” Harry said, “But then again I am Harry Potter.”

“Oh would you two hush?” Hermione laughed, “Have you seen the papers? Your wedding is headline news, they are calling you the golden couple.”

“Golden,” Lilly scoffed, “Honestly, we’re a normal couple like the rest of you.”

“Are any of us normal couples?” Draco asked in amusement, “I mean I’m a werewolf and a general ex-scumbag and Hermione is the saint who will help any creature or half-breed in need.”

“And I’m a werewolf while Ginny’s some top class healer,” Neville pointed out, “A werewolf Herbology teacher at that.”

“I think we might well be the most ordinary couple here,” Daphne said in amusement, “I mean if you forget about the fact my parents can’t stand my husband.”

Draco snorted, “That’s a pretty ordinary thing, can you imagine what my Father would have said about me proposing to Hermione?”

“I for one do not want to think about what he would have said,” Hermione said with a shake of her head.

“No,” Tonks agreed, “But I do think we should toast the happy couple.”

Remus smiled in agreement and held up his glass, “To Harry and Lilly!”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Lil! You look amazing!”

Lilly grinned as she stood before her friends in an ankle length dress decorated with sequins. She was wearing killer heels because she was tiny and wanted to be around the same height as Harry. Her jet black hair had been pulled back into a bun with loose curls of hair at the front, and she looked flawless.

Her Maid of Honour, Daphne, was fixing her veil and her bridesmaids were admiring how fantastic she looked. To avoid any conflict she had asked both Hermione and Ginny to be bridesmaids. Tonks was here too, filling in as Mother of the Bride.

“Do you know what? I don’t feel nervous at all,” Lilly said as Daphne handed out glasses of champagne, “I feel a little sad that my parents and Harry’s parents couldn’t be here, but I’m not nervous.”

“I didn’t feel nervous,” Tonks said thoughtfully, “I found the whole thing a laugh in fact.”

“Well with that speech of Charlies!” Hermione laughed.

“That had to be the most memorable wedding ever,” Lilly agreed through her laughter.

“I’m still gutted that I missed it,” Ginny admitted, “Were you nervous on your wedding day, Daph?”

“I wasn’t nervous until I was waiting to walk down the aisle,” Daphne replied, “And then I thought I would throw up, but I was pregnant...”

The other girls laughed, and Ginny said, “Well not being nervous isn’t a bad thing. It just means you know this is the right thing.”

“Well that much is true,” Lilly said thoughtfully, “I wonder when Neville will pop the question, Gin.”

“I don’t know,” Ginny said as she lounged in an armchair in the antechamber they were using to get ready, “I think me being younger makes a difference to him...”

“Well it shouldn’t,” Hermione said, “I mean look at Harry and Lilly, they’re the same age Harry’s parents were when they got married.”

“I think Neville’s parents were a year older,” Tonks said as she finished fixing up Daphne’s hair, “They were in the year above the Marauders at school.”

“You know what Neville’s like though,” Ginny said, “He won’t rush into anything until he’s sure. And things are great now, he’s of the opinion that you don’t change a good thing.”

“Mark my words, he will propose,” Daphne said, “Just give him time. I’ll bet you now that he proposes before I finish my book.”

Lilly snorted, “The world will end before you finish your book! You have written two chapters in the last year!”

“It’s the new edition of ‘Hogwarts: A History’ Lilly,” Daphne objected, “It has to be perfect.”

Tonks shared an amused smile with Lilly and said, “Shall I stick my head out and call Remus? I think we probably ought to get going soon.”

“Yes,” Lilly agreed as she got to her feet and Daphne fiddled with her veil once more, “We don’t want to keep Harry waiting. Of all of our other halves he’s the most likely to pass out at the altar.”

Ginny laughed loudly, “Have you met Neville?” she asked, quirking up an eyebrow.

“Neville is far less awkward than he used to be Gin,” Hermione chuckled.

“But he’s still Neville,” Ginny smiled, “Which means that he regularly trips over his own feet or accidentally spills venomous tentacula venom down himself.”

Lilly shook her head in amusement, “But you wouldn’t change him,” she said as Tonks stuck her head out of the door.

“I wouldn’t,” Ginny agreed.

“Remus!” Tonks called, “We’re ready!”

She ducked back in and shut the door. Hermione took that moment to look at Lilly, “Merlin, I’m nervous for you. How do you feel Lil?”

“Fine,” Lilly laughed, “Stop fussing Daph.”

“Alright, I’m leaving it alone,” Daphne said with a smile as her hands left Lilly’s veil.

The door opened and Remus stepped in, wearing brand new dress robes and looking incredibly smart, “Oh Lilly, you look so much like your Mother.”

Lilly smiled weakly, “Thank you Remus.”

“We’ll wait in the Great Hall,” Tonks said as she pulled the door open, “Take your time darling.”

“I will,” Lilly said, smiling at them as they left. She looked to Remus who had tears in his eyes, “Merlin Remus, are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Remus said, placing his hand on Lilly’s shoulder, “I just wish that your Mum and Dad could see you today.”

“They can,” Lilly said, “We just can’t see them. They’re here though Remus.”

Remus cleared his throat and gave her a small nod, “Very wise of you. You look beautiful, Harry will faint when he sees you.”

“I hope not,” Lilly said with a sheepish smile, “Have you seen him this morning?”

“I have,” Remus said, “He’s very nervous, but he’s excited too.”

“Trust him to be more nervous than me,” Lilly laughed, her eyes flickering to the clock.

“Are you ready to get going?” Remus asked, holding out his arm.

Lilly took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, “I’m ready,” she said, taking the offered arm and walking into the empty Great Hall with him. The house tables were all pushed against the walls and bright sunshine was streaming in through the windows. The magical roof, which had been beautifully repaired, was showing a clear blue sky. Lilly thanked her lucky stars that the weather had stayed clear for the day.

“Ready for this?” Daphne whispered as the group walked down the hallway together. 

Lilly nodded, she just wished it wasn’t such a long walk to the stone circle. They traipsed through the empty school and exited via the clock tower courtyard. From there they walked over the newly built wooden bridge (the old bridge having been burnt down in the final battle). This bridge was far better built and much wider and cleaner. Their little procession clicked over the long bridge and finally as they neared the end they approached the ceremony location, the stone circle. Like Daphne and Ron, they had opted for a very small wedding which encompassed their close friends and their families. The Weasley’s took over the guest list, especially now that so many of the Weasley boys had other halves. They had around 30 guests who were all seated in the vicinity of the circle, Harry and Lilly would say their vows inside the circle itself. 

As Daphne had predicted, Lilly’s nerves only kicked in when the music began to play. Tonks gave her a hug, being careful not to mess up her dress or her hair, “You’ll be fine,” she whispered as she disappeared from view first.

“Deep breaths,” Hermione said with a smile as she disappeared, followed by Ginny.

“See you when you’re Mrs. Potter,” Daphne winked, disappearing from view.

“Oh Jesus, I think I’m going to throw up Remus.”

Remus laughed weakly, “You’re marrying the man you love Lilly. There is nothing to be afraid of.”

Lilly blew out a breath and nodded shakily. Remus gently tugged her towards the doorway and they stepped down the stairs onto the red carpet that led the way to the circle. Lilly tried her best to smile fearlessly at their friends and family as she walked down the aisle towards Harry. He looked terrified, she had never seen him so scared and that made the whole thing comical because he had defeated Lord Voldemort, for crying out loud!

It seemed to take a lifetime to reach him, but Lilly eventually did. Remus lifted her veil and kissed her on the cheek, “Good luck,” he said softly, placing her hand into Harry’s.

Harry sent her a sheepish smile, and Lilly just grinned at him as they both turned towards the wizard conducting the ceremony, their hearts pounding in their chests. The ceremony began as an ordinary wizarding ceremony did. Which in all fairness was very similar to a Muggle ceremony, with the added factor of the bonding of magic. When they made their vows, both Harry and Lilly couldn’t resist the grins that came to their faces as they said, “Till death do us part.”

Their friends, the ones who knew about the forest and the horcrux at least, grinned at this. It was an important moment for Harry and Lilly because they had both thought that death would part them before they could make these promises and swear themselves to each other. It came as no surprise to anyone in attendance when their magic was bound and a golden glow surrounded them.

Fleur gasped in surprise and murmured to Bill that their glow had only been silver. Tonks and Remus shared an amused smile, because their glow had been golden too.

“Ours was kind of golden,” Ron murmured as Daphne huffed next to him, trying to settle Evelyn on her lap.

“It was bronze,” Daphne said pointedly.

“So? Harry’s the golden boy, did you expect any less of him?” Ron quipped with a raised eyebrow.

Daphne chuckled and turned back to the ceremony as Evelyn began to jabber and bounce excitedly.

“You may now kiss your bride.”

Harry grinned cheekily and swooped Lilly, kissing her to a loud cheer from their guests. When he pulled her up and released her she was pink in the cheeks, but smiling from ear to ear. They walked down the aisle together, and led the procession towards the Quidditch Pitch which had been transformed. It was a small wedding, but that didn’t mean it was a low budget one and if it had a theme, well that theme would be Quidditch. 

There was a large marquee in the centre of the pitch where the tables were set up and charms protected the food and the cake. The cake was a simple three tiered creation, with two golden snitches (expertly made out of fondant) sitting atop it. For Harry and Lilly the snitches weren’t just symbolic of their love of Quidditch, they were symbolic of that night in the forest and of Harry’s survival. They were symbolic of the only time that they had ever gotten to speak to their parents.

The favours on each table were cookies in the shape of broomsticks, lovingly baked by Mrs. Weasley, and the after-dinner entertainment before the evening reception kicked off was a game of Quidditch with the bride’s team versus the grooms. 

However, before that there was a beautiful meal which the house elves at the castle had kindly prepared. And when the beautiful meal was over, it was time for the speeches. His Best Man would make one, and Harry hoped that Ron wouldn’t want revenge too badly for the speech Harry had given at his wedding. He knew that Neville and Draco were grateful to be selected as Groomsmen, but they would sit and smirk evilly while Ron gave his speech no doubt.

As the stand-in for the Father of the Bride (which of course should have been Sirius) Remus began. He looked more nervous than he had at his own wedding as he got to his feet and smiled weakly at the guests, “As I play the role of Father of the Bride today I must first and foremost thank each and every one of you for making the effort to be here with us today. I know some of you have travelled many miles, and fought through the press waiting outside those gates-”

There was a chuckle, and Harry smiled at Lilly. It was part of the reason that they had wanted to get married in Hogwarts, it was one of the few places where they would actually be able to escape the press and the fame that followed them around wherever they went. 

“As you all know of course, I am not Lilly’s Father, but I am standing in for him today and I know for certain that he would be very proud of you Lilly, and of course he would have been thrilled to see her marry his Godson,” Remus said, smiling at the couple, “For those of you who knew Sirius Black in his youth, the words ‘Father figure’ are probably not the ones you would attribute to him-” another ripple of laughter, “-but if he had been able to know Lilly I know she would have melted his heart, like she melted Harry’s heart. And like she melted the heart of myself and my wife Dora. She jokes that we have a habit of taking in poor, orphaned children and I suppose she’s right,” Remus continued with a smile on his face, “But it is never out of pity, it is out of love and today, seeing Lilly look so beautiful and seeing her make her vows to Harry, I know that I will always love her and Harry as much as I love my own children. So today I want to toast them and their love; to Lilly and Harry!”

Lilly was actually a little tearful as Remus raised his glass and the rest of the guests toasted with him. Even Harry’s eyes were even brimming with tears. He quickly wiped them, aware that he would have to get up and do his speech, and he didn’t want to be crying throughout the whole thing. He cleared his throat as Remus sat down next to Lilly, who murmured a thank you.

“I would like to reiterate everything Remus has just said,” Harry said as he stood before the guests, “And I think it’s only fitting that my first thanks goes to himself and to Tonks for giving not only myself, but Lilly too, a family when we needed one the most. I also have to thank you for all of your help in planning this wedding, I realised pretty early on that I have great ideas but absolutely no way to implement them.”

This comment made the others laugh, in particularly Hermione, who had spent years trying to get Harry’s homework up to scratch. 

“But I also have to thank Molly and Arthur,” Harry said, looking to the Weasley’s who were sitting at the top table, acting as Mother and Father of the Groom, “Because you took me under your wing when I was an 11 year old kid with no family and you gave me that when nobody else would or could. I wouldn’t be who I am without your guidance and your kindness, so I really do owe you a heartfelt thank you.”

Arthur smiled appreciatively and gave Harry a small nod, while Molly broke down into tears and reached for her handkerchief. Ron shook his head in amusement and looked at his brothers and Ginny who were just as amused by their Mother’s behaviour.

Harry tried not to laugh as he continued, “I also have to thank Daphne for being Lilly’s Maid of Honour and keeping her sane in these past few weeks. I really can’t thank you for dragging her into the house at 4am in the morning drunk after the hen night though.”

Lilly and Daphne both laughed loudly at the joke, and Harry continued, “By association I suppose I should thank my best man and my best friend Ron. But I’m kind of wary about doing that until after I’ve heard his speech, I wasn’t too brutal in my speech on his wedding day though so I’m expecting the same treatment, Ron!”

Ron grinned at his best friend, “Just you wait, mate!”

Harry laughed and so did the guests, anticipating Ron’s speech no doubt, “So what I am trying to say is thank you to everyone who helped make today possible, and thank you to everyone who has been with Lilly and I on this crazy adventure. But most of all, thank you Lilly. Thank you for sticking with me when things were at their most desperate, and thank you for being my anchor in the worst storms. To my wife, Lilly!”

Lilly grinned as they raised their glasses and toasted her, and when Harry sat back down next to her she kissed him gently, “That was beautiful.”

“It was only the truth,” Harry murmured as Ron got to his feet grinning, “And I am dreading this.”

“You should,” Lilly giggled, “Daphne about wet herself when Ron practiced it to her last night.”

“Merlin’s hairy balls,” Harry muttered as Ron began to speak.

“Harry and I go way back,” Ron grinned, “Way before Lilly was in the picture. I mean way back when she was just an innocent little Ravenclaw, reading her books and studying while Harry and I, occasionally with the help of Hermione and Neville, were up to stuff every other year.”

The teachers in particular had already begun to chuckle, and Harry had to wonder where the hell Ron was going to go with this, “So I will get around to discussing Lilly, and how in love she and Harry are. But first of all I have to get to the part of the story where Lilly appears...so let us begin with 1st year, this was when I learned that being the best friend of Harry Potter was no easy gig. We spent the entire year scheming against my now good friend, Draco Malfoy, and assuming that our potions professor was actually a dark lord-” a ripple of laughter went around the tent, “And then we ended up knocking out my other good friend Neville, so that we could sneak out and try to defeat Voldemort, when we were 11 years old. I went home at the end of that year and decided that being the best friend of Harry Potter was going to be a full-time job, apart from there was never any payment.”

Harry shook his head in amusement as Ron continued, “In the course of our friendship we battled mountain trolls, and giant snakes, and werewolves, which is ironic really-” he grinned at Remus who was laughing at his own expense, “- and then there were dragons and teenage girls. That was the worst one I reckon, don’t you agree Harry?”

Harry nodded, grinning at the hilarity of the speech, “Definitely!” he agreed thinking back to Ron’s escapades with Lavender and Harry’s awkward relationship with Cho.

“So all in all we had our ups and our downs, granted the downs were usually near death experiences, but there you have it!”

He had created chaos, Harry should have known that Ron’s best man speech was going to blow his out of the water but he didn’t mind because he was laughing as much as the guests were, and Lilly could hardly breathe for laughing.

“But one thing I can be entirely serious on here is Lilly,” Ron said, smiling in her direction, “Because from the moment she and Harry met I knew she was something special. We clicked right away, which I have to admit was over mutual winding up and humiliation of Harry, right Lil?”

“Oh yeah,” Lilly said through her laughter.

“And I honestly could not have picked anyone more perfect for Harry if I tried,” Ron said with a smile, “She kicks him in the arse when he’s brooding, and we all know he needs someone to do that. I mean he practical went emo in 5th year-” Another ripple of laughter, “- and as cheesy as it sounds they really do complete each other. So I want to echo Remus’s congratulations and raise my glass to Harry and Lilly!”

“To Harry and Lilly!” The others agreed, and Ron sat back down.

“That was hilarious,” Harry said as he looked along the table, “A million times better than mine. Who knew you were such a showman?”

“Well I did have some help,” Ron admitted, looking over to the twins who winked at them. Fred was wearing one of his false legs (he had several), and leaning on his girlfriend, Angelina. George was raising his glass and shouting, “Ear, ear!” which had become his favourite joke. The Weasley clan was all moving on, Fleur had a very small baby with her, having only given birth to Victoire Apolline Weasley 3 months earlier, and Bill’s hair had grown back but he was keeping it short and respectable now. Charlie was here with a date, and that date rather appropriately was Oliver Wood. They had been dating for a few months, and the amount of times the joke about Oliver being a Keeper had been thrown about was ridiculous. Even Percy had a girlfriend, a young woman named Audrey who worked in the DMLE alongside Hermione. 

With the speeches over they disembarked from the tent which had to be reconfigured for the evening reception which the remainder of their friends were invited to. That was the reason for the Quidditch game, and Lilly, despite being the bride, transfigured the skirt of her dress into trousers, to form a sort of jumpsuit. 

“Alright then Potter,” Lilly grinned as she stood opposite him, “Who gets to pick their team first?”

“Dragons head or tail?” Ron asked as he pulled out a galleon.

“Tail,” Lilly replied.

“Head it is then,” Harry said, grinning at his new wife.

Ron flicked the coin and said, “Tail, Lilly picks first.”

“Alright,” Lilly said, scanning those who had stepped forward to play. Tonks of course was staying out of things because she was pregnant and Remus was keeping a close eye on Teddy. For the same reason Fleur was staying out of the game. Daphne however had handed Evelyn over to Molly, transfigured the skirt of her dress and stepped forward with her Husband. Hermione still hated flying, but Draco had put himself forward and so had Neville. The Weasley boys had all put themselves forward with the exception of Arthur, and Ginny had come forward to play too. Angelina and Oliver were always up for a Quidditch game, and Seamus and Dean had been up for it too.

“So we have two more people than we need. Do we have an extra chaser each or beater, Harry?”

“An extra chaser,” Harry said.

Lilly nodded, trying to pick the best player amongst them, but Harry had an advantage because he knew exactly how good the Weasley’s were and what their strengths were, “I’ll play Seeker for my team and I pick...Oliver as the Keeper.”

Oliver grinned, “Good choice,” he said with a wink as he stood beside her.

“I’ll also play Seeker,” Harry grinned, “And I pick Ron as my Keeper.”

“Cheers mate,” Ron said, patting him on the back as he stood beside his best friend.

“I’ll have Ginny as my Lead Chaser,” Lilly said, and the Weasley girl grinned and walked over to her.

“And I’ll have Angelina as mine,” Harry said, the older girl grinned and stepped forward.

“My second chaser is....Daphne,” Lilly said after some consideration.

Daphne smirked at Ron, “Now this will be fun, getting goals past my Husband.”

Ron just winked at her.

Harry laughed, “I’ll have Charlie as my first beater.”

Charlie grinned wickedly and stepped forward to join his team.

Lilly was quiet for a moment as she scanned those left, “My third chaser is Draco,” she said eventually.

Draco stepped forward, “Thank Merlin, I couldn’t have handled playing on the same team as Harry Potter.”

Harry laughed, “Years of rivalry are ingrained into us, Draco,” he said, “And my next pick is Neville as my second chaser.”

Neville raised an eyebrow at his friend as he joined his team, “I know you and Draco have been teaching me, but I’m still pretty shit.”

“Ah it’s a bit of fun Nev,” Harry said with a wave of his hand.

Lilly personally felt like her team was coming along pretty well, “My next pick is George, as my first beater.”

George winked at her, “Good pick, pocket rocket.”

Harry looked to the crowd which was gradually getting smaller, “I’ll have Dean as my third chaser.”

“And I’ll have Bill as my second beater,” Lilly said.

There were only three people left now; Percy, Seamus and Fred. Harry frowned slightly, “Yeah I’ll have Seamus as my last chaser.”

“And I’ll have Percy as mine,” Lilly said immediately.

“Oh come on,” Fred joked, “The guy with one leg is picked last? I mean what is that about? Can any of you lot do this?”

He pulled up his trouser leg, pressed a button on the side of his metal leg and pulled a beaters bat from it, “Excellent storage space for your lucky bat.”

Harry (along with everyone else) laughed loudly, “Come on Fred, you’re my second beater.”

“Old peg leg himself,” George grinned.

“Hey your balance is terrible since your ear got the chop,” Fred teased.

“And yours isn’t considering you only have one real leg?” George asked with a raised eyebrow.

Harry laughed at their antics as he conjured the brooms from the broom shed. 

Fred said, “Now that is easily fixed,” he swung his leg over and steadied himself on the broom, then clipped off his false leg (his leg had been amputated below the knee), “See? I can still beat all your arses.”

“Quit the puns,” Arthur said, although he was laughing himself. He stood in the middle of the part of the pitch they were using with the box of balls open in front of them. He released the snitch and the bludgers and then held the quaffle.

“Chasers ready for the toss?” Arthur called as they took their positions in the air.

There was a resounding yes, so he threw the quaffle into the air and sounded his whistle to signify the start of the game. The rest of the party moved to one of the stands to get a good view of the game, the sight was hilarious considering that they were all in dress robes or dresses modified into jumpsuits.

The game lasted for around 45 minutes, and the weather stayed perfect for it. Harry caught the snitch in the end, winning his team the victory by just 5 points. Everyone agreed that it had been fun however as they reconvened for the evening reception, and Lilly forced Harry to embarrass himself by dancing with her.

As the night wore on, Neville, not one for public displays of affection, subtly pulled Ginny out of the marquee for a walk.

“I’m not actually that drunk you know,” Ginny said matter of factly, “I know my dancing looks like drunk dancing but I’m not at that point where you have to take me for a walk to sober me up. Not like the hen night...”

“You couldn’t walk when you got in from the hen night,” Neville pointed out, amusement shining in his eyes.

“I could walk,” Ginny grinned, “Just not un-supported.”

“Are you having a good time?” Neville asked, slipping his hand into hers and leading her into the grounds.

“Of course I am, I love weddings,” Ginny said cheerfully, “And there’s so many of them. I mean Draco and Hermione are going to be getting married next year and Percy is already talking about proposing to Audrey. I’m not sure if Fred will ever settle down, and Charlie can’t get married, can he?”

“He can have a magical bonding ceremony, but not a wedding. Not yet anyway, we’re gradually making this world a more equal place though,” Neville replied as they came to a halt on the high ground above the Quidditch Pitch. They could hear the music from below faintly playing, and could see the fairy lights lighting up the pitch.

“Nice view,” Ginny commented thoughtfully.

“Look Ginny, I know you aren’t drunk,” Neville admitted sheepishly, “I just wanted to talk to you alone and you’re such a social butterfly so that makes doing that pretty hard and I’m not like Draco, I don’t like crowds of people watching me when I’m saying things I think should be intimate-”

“Nev,” Ginny laughed, “Slow down.”

“Sorry,” Neville said, gulping in a breath, “I’m just nervous.”

“I guessed,” Ginny said with a fond smile, “Nobody is watching you alright? It’s just me.”

Neville swallowed and nodded, “The thing is Ginny, I love you and I’ve admired you for even longer than I’ve loved you. I know this past year has been awkward with me sort of teaching and you being at school, but it’s a new start now, you know?”

Ginny nodded, “Uh-huh.”

“So I spoke to your Dad the other day, and he gave me permission, but then I had to try and work up the courage to actually ask you because I thought you might say no. I know I fought in the war and all, but I’m still a bumbling idiot at times, I know I am-”

“Neville,” Ginny laughed, smiling broadly at him, “I can’t say no to a question you haven’t asked, can I?”

Neville’s cheeks flushed, “Right. Well then, will you marry me?”

Ginny cocked her head at him, “You really thought I might say no?”

“I earn next to nothing teaching, and I’m a werewolf,” Neville pointed out, “And you haven’t said yes yet either.”

“Yes,” Ginny said with a smile, “Of course I will! I’m a Weasley, do you really think money matters over love in my eyes? And you know I like the fact you’re a werewolf,” she added, her eyes sparkling mischievously.

Neville grinned at her and pulled a black box from his pocket, “I’m terrible at this, I didn’t even go down on my knee.”

“I don’t care,” Ginny laughed, “Just let me see this ring.”

Neville slipped it onto her finger where it fit perfectly. All of the others girls had diamond engagement rings and Ginny had always teased them for being boring and following like sheep. Neville had clearly listened to those rants because sparkling on her finger was a beautiful ruby ring.

“Thank you,” Ginny said, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him.

“Thank me?” Neville mumbled against her lips, “I...should...be...thanking...you,” he breathed in between kisses.

“You have nothing to thank me for,” Ginny beamed, “I agreed to marry the man of my dreams, it wasn’t exactly a chore.”

Neville grinned against her lips, “Merlin, I love you.”

“I know,” Ginny said, maybe a little too smugly as she grabbed his hand and said, “Let’s get back to the party, I want to show this baby off.”

Neville laughed, but let her drag him in the direction of the wedding reception. He grinned to himself in the darkness, because the past year since the war had ended had been the best of his life and he knew that the years were only going to get better now, with Ginny by his side.

End of Part 3 :)


	69. Epilogue: Part 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue - Four Weddings and a Funeral
> 
> Part 4: The Wedding of Hermione Jean Granger and Draco Abraxas Malfoy
> 
> Sunday the 24th of December, 2000

“Oh for the love of Merlin, Teddy! Leave Ella alone!”

“Sibling trouble?” Daphne asked with a raised eyebrow as she stepped into the kitchen of Bones Manor.

“Yes,” Tonks said, wrestling Teddy, who was now 2 ½, off of his little sister.

“You know I still can’t believe you named her Elladora,” Daphne grinned as she picked the 8 month old up, “After rebelling against your family and their penchant for stupid names. Hello Ella!”

Ella clapped her hands eagerly and giggled. She was an adorable little thing, a Metamorphmagus like her brother and Mother. Her full name was Elladora Marlene Andromeda Lupin. Her favourite hair colour (unlike her brother’s turquoise) was pastel pink and she had her Father’s deep green eyes, nothing like the bright emerald green of Harry’s. Daphne smiled down at the little girl and kissed her on the cheek, she and Ron were Ella’s Secondary Godparents, and Harry and Lilly were her primary Godparents.

Tonks rolled her eyes, “I know, but Edward and Elladora sound good together, and so do Teddy and Ella. What brings you here today anyway? Shouldn’t you be at work?”

“I have a free period, and I wanted to see my Goddaughter,” Daphne said matter of factly, “And Eve is with my Mother.”

“Gosh, don’t let her spend too much time there, she’ll become an opinionated cow,” Tonks smirked.

Daphne grinned, “She’s not even 2 yet, I doubt my Mother’s nonsense can rub off on her.”

Tonks laughed, “Are you really just here to see Ella or is this about the wedding?”

“I do need to work out what I’m wearing to this wedding,” Daphne admitted, “I mean it’s a bloody Muggle wedding!”

“Bloody,” Teddy giggled.

“Don’t say that word,” Tonks said, an amused smile on her lips, “Don’t swear in front of Teddy, he’s repeating everything at the moment.”

“Sorry,” Daphne said sheepishly.

“Of course it’s a muggle wedding, if it wasn’t none of Hermione’s family would be there,” Tonks said in amusement, “Just wear a dress, and make sure you have somewhere to tuck your wand.”

“Alright,” Daphne said with a roll of her eyes, “Honestly, trying to get Ron to come out suit shopping is an absolutely nightmare and I need to find a dress for Eve too...then there’s Christmas this year. I swear Draco planned this wedding to get on my nerves, I have Eve’s birthday on the 23rd then this wedding on Christmas Eve, and then Christmas to plan!”

“Aren’t you spending it with the Weasley’s this year?” Tonks laughed.

“Well, yes, but I still have a ton of presents to wrap,” Daphne said.

“Then that’s your problem for not planning well enough,” Tonks smirked, “You should probably head back. Don’t you have a class of 7th years to teach?”

“Yes,” Daphne said, rolling her eyes once more and putting Ella back down in her playpen, “And they will no doubt stare at me throughout the whole class. I thought when I took over as History of Magic professor the students would actually learn things!”

“The girls do!” Tonks teased.

“Oh bugger off!” Daphne said, waving her hand in a rude gesture as she stepped into the fireplace.

Teddy took that moment to look directly in his Mother’s eyes, grin and say, “Bugger off!”

“You little shit,” Tonks muttered under her breath as she cursed herself for marrying a Marauder.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Now this is my idea of a stag night,” Draco said, letting out a sigh of relief as he sat on the comfortable sofa in the outhouse of Bones Manor. It had been transformed into a boy’s only zone (and it had to be repaired after the odd full moon when Draco and Neville got a little bitey or fighty with each other). The girls had the summerhouse that Harry had so lovingly built for Lilly in the back garden of Grimmauld Place, so the outhouse at Bones Manor was theirs. It wasn’t far for Ron to come either, because he and Daphne still lived in the little cottage on the estate. It was the perfect size for them and Evelyn, so they saw no point in moving until they needed a bigger house.

Harry and Lilly had moved into and renovated Grimmauld Place not long after Ron and Daphne’s wedding and the house was actually a pretty welcoming, lovely place these days. Neville and Ginny had a small flat above Madame Puddifoots in Hogsmeade, but they also had quarters inside Hogwarts where they stayed most of the time. 

Draco and Hermione (and Harry and Ron still found this hilarious) lived in a large muggle house in Oxford. It was muggle in the sense that it had a television and a toaster and a kettle and a muggle radio. But the ironic thing was that Draco loved it, and he had gotten completely hooked on television shows like “Dawson’s Creek” and “Star Trek Voyager” and some program Hermione raved about called “Friends”. He had spread the bug to the others, and they now spent most of their Saturday nights in the room of the Granger-Malfoy household that Hermione called the man cave, watching James Bond films and action movies. It had even spread to the children because every time Draco babysat Teddy and Ella, or Evelyn, he put on muggle kids TV and as a result Teddy could now sing the theme tune to “Bear in the Big Blue House” and Evelyn babbled on about some dragon, dinosaur thing called Barney. Every single one of them was cursing Hermione for buying a muggle house. But the fact Draco Malfoy, pure-blood extraordinaire, had gotten so hooked on all things muggle was bloody hilarious. 

“Merlin, do you remember the last time we got rat-arsed in here?” Neville grinned, “And I mean really rat-arsed?”

“No, I don’t remember it very well because we were so rat-arsed,” Harry laughed, “But I do remember Extreme Dares.”

“And I seem to remember you jumping out of tree, conjuring a broom and doing a wronski feint,” Neville said in amusement.

Ron shook his head, “I still can’t believe I missed that.”

“We should recreate it,” Draco said eagerly, “For the sake of my stag night!”

“Do you really want you or one of your groomsmen to get killed before your wedding day?” Neville laughed.

“We won’t get killed, come on! We’re Aurors and DADA teachers and hard-core potion brewers. I mean if anyone is going to get killed it will be you, you fondle plants for a living,” Draco smirked.

Ron snorted at the image, and Harry watched in amusement as Neville squared up, “Alright then, let’s play. Let’s see who can handle more out of me and you, Draco.”

“Jesus, you’re his Best Man Nev,” Ron laughed, “You’re supposed to talk him out of shit like this not into it.”

“Draco challenged him, there’s no going back now,” Harry grinned, “I’ll kick it off, but I need more space, come on.”

The others followed him outside warily, Harry turned to look at them and said, “I’m gonna re-do my dare from last time but I’m upping it a level.”

He spun on his heel and reappeared on the roof of Bones Manor.

“Harry, you arse!” Neville shouted, “Get down from there before you kill yourself!”

“Bloody hell, what is he doing?” Ron asked in alarm.

“Trying to kill himself by the looks of it,” Draco drawled, watching Harry with interest.

“Watch this!” Harry shouted as he dived from the roof and spread his arms. Neville and Ron began to cast cushioning charms on the ground frantically, but a shout of alarm from Draco made them look up, just in time to see Harry become a....

“Why the fuck is there a griffin in my back garden?”

“It’s...it’s not a...”

“It’s....he’s....it’s...”

Neville and Ron stumbled as Remus watched the griffin soar to the ground and land in front of the group.

“It’s not a griffin,” Draco said, an amused smirk on his face, “It’s Harry.”

“What?” Remus barked, “Harry, transform into human form immediately!”

The griffin slowly transformed until Harry was standing in front of them, “I’ve been practicing, what’s the problem?”

“You’re a fucking griffin?” Neville asked in disbelief.

“I told you I was working on being an Animagus so I could be with you guys on the full moon,” Harry said with a wave of his hand as he used accio to bring his drink flying to his hand from the outhouse, “I didn’t know it would be a griffin but it’s pretty cool right?”

“It’s bloody huge,” Ron said in awe.

“And you shouldn’t be transforming after drinking,” Remus said, “You could have not been able to transform a wing and then you’d really be in a state for the wedding. What did I tell you about drinking and doing magic?”

“I’m hardly even drunk,” Harry scoffed.

“Stop being a spoilsport and join in Remus,” Draco agreed, “Not with the extreme dares, with the drinking.”

“You are a groomsman,” Neville agreed, “And you’re part of the pack.”

“I’m really wishing I had taken the optional Animagus class in Auror training right now,” Ron said grudgingly.

Harry just clapped the redhead on the back, “I can teach you if you like,” he said as they sauntered back to the outhouse, “You joining us Remus?”

The older man seemed momentarily conflicted, but then he grinned and said, “Oh alright, but I am not drinking moonshine like you two idiots. Those days are long gone.”

“Coward!” They echoed.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“I just got us booked in for the wizarding ceremony on the 28th,” Hermione said as she walked into living room of the house she and Draco lived in, sheltering herself from the blizzard that was gathering outside.

“Are we allowed to attend, sweetheart?” Mrs. Granger asked as she sat on the sofa with her husband. Narcissa was sitting in a nearby armchair and Draco was leaning in the doorway to the kitchen.

“Of course you are,” Hermione said, “It will just be Draco and I, both of you and you Narcissa. Oh and Neville and Ginny as they are the witnesses. It’s just to bind our magic and make it legal in the wizarding world as well as in the muggle world.”

“So is it very similar to an ordinary wedding ceremony?” Mrs. Granger asked.

“Oh no,” Narcissa said, a mischievous sparkle in her eyes, “Once the magic has been bound we all have to dance around a fire naked to bring the marriage luck, chanting spells at the same time of course. Haven’t you read “Daemonologie” my dear?”

Mrs. Granger’s eyes widened, “Dance...naked...around a fire?”

“Yes of course, you don’t have to join in, but you are welcome to watch,” Narcissa said with a smile.

Draco shook his head, trying to hide his grin, “Mother,” he said in a warning tone.

Narcissa simply smiled sweetly at her son. She had been doing this all week as they got closer to the wedding day. On Monday she had told the Grangers that traditionally at Slytherin weddings they all ate snakes live. On Tuesday she had said that the bride, her Mother and the Maid of Honour had to dance around a cauldron singing “Double, Double, Toil and Trouble”. On Wednesday she had told Mrs. Granger that a Gryffindor bride had to wear a cape made from the fur of a lion she had hunted and killed herself. On Thursday she had told Mr. Granger that on their stag night, the men rode stags through the Scottish mountains. And today it was dancing naked around a fire. Hermione didn’t know if she should be amused or exasperated, and she was stunned at the fact that her incredibly intelligent parents couldn’t tell that Narcissa was being a complete pain and having them on.

“I ought to be going my darling,” Narcissa said, getting to her feet and kissing Draco on both cheeks, “I have a few things I need to check up on before the big day.”

“Of course Mother,” Draco smiled, “We will see you on the day.”

“Indeed you will,” Narcissa said, kissing both of Hermione’s cheeks, “Keep your chin up my dear, this entire scary thing will be over before you know it and you two will be spending Christmas on a beach in the Caribbean!”

Hermione chuckled, “We’ll see you on Sunday, Narcissa.”

“Ta-ra Elizabeth,” Narcissa said with a wave to Mrs. Granger, “And you too John.”

Mr. Granger smiled weakly, “See you on Sunday,” he said as the woman left the house and vanished in a flurry of snow.

“My Mother is being cruel and mischievous,” Draco said the moment his Mother had left, “None of the things she said about a wizarding ceremony are true.”

“Narcissa likes to play with people’s minds,” Hermione said, unsure whether she should laugh or roll her eyes, “It is exactly the same as a normal ceremony, but our magic will bind.”

Mrs. Granger breathed a sigh of relief, “Oh thank heavens, I don’t know what to make of your Mother sometimes, Draco.”

“You and me both,” Draco said honestly, “But I had better go and collect the suits for Sunday. I’ll be back before dinner.”

“Watch yourself apparating on the front step love,” Hermione said, kissing him goodbye, “It’s gotten a little slippery in the storm.’

“I’ll be fine,” Draco said, kissing her back and pulling on his cloak. He stepped out into the storm and vanished, like his Mother had.

“Oh Hermione, I am grateful we managed to get a moment alone with you,” Mrs. Granger said.

Hermione braced herself, “Why is that, Mother?”

“Well your Father and I are a little concerned,” Mrs. Granger said, “About how to act in front of the witches and wizards, and they will act normal for the sake of our family won’t they?”

“They will try not to say anything about magic,” Hermione agreed, “But normal to them and normal to you are very different things. Just be yourself, we’re all human Mother.”

Mr. Granger looked thoughtfully at the blizzard outside, “I wonder if any of them like golf.”

Hermione resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she internally screamed in frustration. This wedding was a complete nightmare. This wedding was going to break the bloody statute of secrecy!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“You look like you’re going to throw up...or faint.”

“I might do both,” Hermione breathed as she looked out of the small window in the little room they were getting ready in. The blizzard was still in full force outside, she had wanted a white wedding but not a treacherous one.

“Calm down,” Ginny said, waving her wand behind Hermione’s back.

She relaxed a little, and Lilly frowned in the redhead’s direction. Ginny winked at her and mouthed, “Soothing charm.”

“There is nothing to worry about honey,” Daphne agreed as she continued to plait Hermione’s hair.

“Yes, there is! How are the guests going to get here with this blizzard raging?”

“They’ll just apparate,” Daphne replied.

“The muggles won’t apparate! They can’t drive in this and the trains aren’t running! Nobody is going to come to this bloody wedding!” Hermione panicked.

Before anyone could combat Hermione or try to calm her down the door to the little room inside the church was opened and Mrs. Granger came flying in, “Nobody is coming!”

“See!” Hermione shrieked, “I told you!”

“Aunt Marie can’t get out of her front door, and Uncle Jimmy says that all of the trains have been cancelled. Sarah and Andrew had to give up when their flight was cancelled last night, it’s chaotic Hermione!” Mrs. Granger said.

“Sorry Mrs. Granger, but shut up,” Ginny said with a firm glare, “You aren’t supposed to panic the bride on her wedding day, so calm the hell down or get your arse out of here!”

Hermione’s jaw dropped, she had never had the courage to speak to her mother like that. Mrs. Granger recoiled in shock, “Excuse me young lady-”

“Ginny is right,” Daphne said calmly, “Hermione needs calming influences around her, and if you cannot stay calm you should leave the room.”

Lilly watched the scene silently, with wide eyes (and a smirk she was trying to hide).

“What are we going to do?” Hermione despaired.

“Hey,” Daphne soothed, “Don’t be irrational. Let’s think about this for a moment, how many muggles are invited, apart from your parents?”

Hermione counted in her head momentarily, “18”. 

“And are you sure nobody will make it?” Lilly asked, “I mean how far do they have to travel?”

“Sarah and Andrew and their other halves both live in Scotland so they certainly won’t make it,” Hermione said, “And Aunt Marie is old, she lives here in St. Albans but she’s snowed in.”

“Alright, what about the others?” Lilly asked calmly.

“Uncle Jimmy has to get the train from Oxford and no trains are running,” Hermione said, “My other two cousins and their other halves live in Reading which is about an hour’s drive and they will never make it in this weather.”

“Is that it?” Daphne asked.

“No, there are my friends from primary school, but they are all at universities in London,” Hermione said with a shake of her head, “And it’s barely half an hour on the train but with no trains...”

“Alright, so we lose 18 guests,” Ginny said, “That’s not so bad. In fact it might be good, if there are no muggles here then we won’t break the statue of secrecy like you’ve been worrying about all week.”

“Do you think Draco engineered this?”

Daphne laughed, “You give him too much credit, he’s a brilliant wizard yes but I doubt he can conjure up a killer storm that’s ravaging the whole of the UK.”

Hermione laughed too, “No, you’re right.”

“So calm down,” Ginny said with a smile, “Let me re-do your glamour charms and we will get you down that aisle.”

Hermione blew out a breath, “Right, of course. I’m calm, perfectly calm.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“The muggles aren’t going to make it,” Harry murmured to Draco as he rushed into the church from the door where he had been greeting guests.

“Does Hermione know?” Draco asked sharply.

Harry nodded, “Yeah and she had a hissy fit, you know Hermione. But they calmed her down again...the Muggles can’t travel here because of the storm.”

“She thinks I conjured it doesn’t she?” Draco asked, raising an eyebrow at the Gryffindor.

Harry grinned, “It did cross her mind until she realised that you were nowhere near that powerful.”

“If any of us had the power to conjure up a storm like that we all know that it would be Harry,” Neville agreed in amusement.

Draco rolled his eyes, “Well I suppose being the golden boy has some merits.”

“Golden man, don’t you think? We’re in our 20’s now,” Harry said.

Draco waved his hand nonchalantly, “I assume she’ll be delayed coming down the aisle.”

“Well her freak out was a bit of a setback, yeah,” Harry said with an amused shake of his head. The church had filled up with the wizarding guests, it was the biggest wedding so far (despite the lack of muggles). There was supposed to have been around 60 guests, but the lack of Muggles brought it down to more like 40.

“Boys, we have another problem.”

Draco turned and looked to Mr. Granger, “Merlin, what now?”

“The roads are completely blocked up,” Mr. Granger said, “There is no way we are going to get everyone to the castle for the reception.”

“Oh no, don’t tell Hermione,” Draco said, beginning to panic.

“It’s fine,” Ron said, stepping in, “There are no muggles here apart from Hermione’s parents and they know about magic. I’ll call the Ministry, we’ll set up a temporary floo link and get everyone to the hotel that way.”

“And then we’ll obliviate the muggles in the hotel,” Neville said in agreement.  
“I’ll get my team in on it, I’ll call it an emergency mass obliviation to save my best friend’s wedding,” Ron joked as he lifted the sleeve of his suit jacket to reveal a bracelet attached to his wrist. He inputted a code and held it up to his ear.

“Auror Command, what is your emergency?”

“Dallas, it’s me, Ron.”

“Ron! Aren’t you on leave for a wedding and your little darling’s birthday?”

“That’s kind of why I’m calling Dallas,” Ron said, “The church has been blocked off from the castle where the reception is being held because of the storm. We’ve got a couple of muggles, they are the bride’s parents so they know about magic but I don’t think we should side-apparate them.”

“They over 40?”

“Yep.”

“No, not worth the risk of side-apparating Muggles over 40,” Dallas, the woman on the other end said, “We can set up a temporary floo link?”

“Dallas, you are a star. I’ll send you the addresses in code alright? Are the team working tonight?”

“Course they are, you’re the only one with leave on account of you being a Daddy,” Dallas said, “I’ll send them over to the hotel to do the obliviating, alright?”

“Perfect, we’ve had cancellations because of the storm, tell them we’ll throw in free food and booze.”

“They’ll be there in a shot. Enjoy your leave my lovely.”

“Thanks again Dallas,” Ron said, inputting a code to end the call.

“My lovely?” Neville grinned.

Ron rolled his eyes, “She’s about 50, she talks to everyone like that.”

Draco sighed and grudgingly said, “Thank you, Ron.”

Ron smirked, “I bet you never thought Ron Weasley would be saving your wedding day, huh?”

“I’m not going to live this one down, am I?”

“Hell no,” Harry grinned.

“Harry!” Mrs. Granger shrieked as she neared the altar, “Do not use such profanities in a church!”

Draco, Neville and Ron snorted in amusement as Harry looked thoroughly told off and apologised to Mrs. Granger. Remus shook his head in disbelief and subtly pushed Harry and Ron towards their seats so that it was only Draco and Neville left standing there.

“Johnathon, darling,” Mrs. Granger said, “Hermione is ready for you.”

Mr. Granger smiled at his wife as she sat down in the front row. He headed out of the side door to find his daughter and her extensive bridal party. They were ready and waiting for him when he entered the antechamber of the church. Hermione’s Maid of Honour was Ginny, on account of them being friends for the longest. But she had also chosen Daphne and Lilly as bridesmaids. It meant that Draco had one more groomsman, but that wasn’t a particularly big problem.

“We’ll wait by the doors,” Ginny said with an encouraging squeeze of the hand to Hermione.

Hermione gave a weak nod and watched Ginny leave, followed closely by Daphne and Lilly. She turned to her Father and smiled.

“You look terrified,” Mr. Granger laughed.

“I am,” Hermione admitted, biting down on her lip, “I don’t know why.”

“It’s an irrational fear,” Mr. Granger said, “But you have nothing to fear whatsoever. You and Draco are completely in love, everybody can see that. And you look like something out of a fairytale today.”

Hermione smiled and looked down at her dress. It was a fairytale dress, it was white with a fairly large ball gown style skirt. The bust was strapless, satin, and covered with lace. She had never felt more elegant, but she was getting married to Draco Malfoy so it was fitting.

They walked up the long, narrow corridor to the door to the main church. Hermione could hear the buzz of speech inside as the organ began to play. Lilly shot Hermione a grin and stepped into the church first, with Daphne right behind her. 

Ginny smiled at Hermione, “You will be fine, just breathe,” she whispered as she slipped away into the church.

The bridal march began to play and Hermione tightened her grip on her Father’s arm. He smiled at her, and she gave him a small nod. She took a breath and they stepped into the doorway. Hermione hated the fact that all eyes were on her as she walked down the aisle as slowly as possible. She fixed her eyes on Draco, who was pale, as if he had been panicking. He smiled when he saw her, and he looked at her in awe. She couldn’t help but smile back and suddenly the long walk seemed a whole lot shorter. 

When she finally reached the altar, her Father put her hand into Draco’s. Hermione wasn’t wearing a veil, because her Mother believed that wearing a veil over your face was very Catholic, although it seemed to be the norm in wizarding weddings. Mr. Granger kissed his daughters cheek, and whispered, “Good luck,” as he retreated to sit down next to his wife who was already crying.

Narcissa just winked at them, and Draco had to resist the shake his head in amusement as he gripped Hermione’s hand tightly and they turned to begin the ceremony. It was longer than a wizarding one, but Draco had been practicing so he got everything right. There were hymns, which astounded the pure-blood guests, and nearly 40 minutes later the ceremony was coming to its close. 

“You may now kiss the bride,” The pastor said with a smile.

Draco gently kissed Hermione’s lips, nothing more or less than it needed to be. It was the proper thing of course, and it made Hermione smile in amusement. He took her hand and whispered, “Now don’t panic but we aren’t going outside. We are leading everyone to the pastor’s room to use the floo.”

Hermione eyes widened, “What?”

“The roads are blocked,” Draco murmured, “But Ron got his team at the Ministry to open a temporary floo link, and his co-workers are at the hotel to obliviate the staff.”

“Oh gosh,” Hermione said, paling significantly, “Why on earth did we decide to get married on Christmas Eve?”

Draco smiled slightly, “Because you thought it would be romantic.”

“Next time I have a terrible idea like this, tell me,” Hermione muttered irritably as she and Draco walked back down the aisle, and the others followed, lining up outside the pastors office as they each went through the fireplace and emerged in the reception hall at the hotel. The theme really carried on here, Hermione supposed she had cursed it by planning a winter wedding on Christmas Eve. But the hall did look fantastic, the roof was lined with muggle fairy lights to create the impression of snow, and there was an ice sculpture of two swans forming a heart shape (Draco’s completely extravagant idea, of course). The tables were all decorated in white and pale blue, it looked stunning and Hermione knew that it was worth the troubles they had endured.

It took longer to get everyone to the venue because of the single fireplace, which meant that the meal started late and thus the speeches began later than they should have too. Hermione grimaced as her Father got up first to give his speech, because she expected that it would contain several jokes that none of the wizards would understand. She had some solace in the fact that there were a few muggle-borns or people like Lilly and Harry in the mix who might understand his jokes, but whether they found them funny...well that was a different story.

Hermione took the brief moment to scan the crowd, she blamed the fact that the numbers were so high on the fact that all of the Weasley’s had other halves now. Ginny and Neville were still together, and were still happily engaged. Charlie and Oliver were still together, and the younger man had all but been accepted as part of the family. Bill and Fleur were here with Victoire who was now 1 ½ years old. 

Fred and Angelina were still together, but there were no signs of a proposal yet. On this occasion Fred was wearing his celebration leg (which he could produce endless bouquets of flowers from). He had taken it up as a side hobby to make the fact he only had one working leg less miserable. He had designed about 20 different legs with varying functions. His funeral leg had a tap and an endless supply of firewhiskey. He had a joke leg which he could pull funny props from, and a babysitting leg which was equipped with foldable nappy changing and bottle warming tools. The list went ever on, and got more and more ridiculous. George, who had been the only single Weasley, at Harry and Lilly’s wedding was here with his new girlfriend. He was dating Sophie Roper, one of Daphne’s best friends from school, she was a half-blood Slytherin, and therefore a rare breed. She was a breath of fresh air to George, and they had gotten on like a house on fire after Daphne had introduced them at Draco and Hermione’s engagement party. 

Percy was here with Audrey, and they both had a lovely tan because they had just gotten back from their own honeymoon. They had been married two weeks before Draco and Hermione. However, possibly the strangest and at the same time most amazing, new pairing was that of Blaise Zabini and Luna. It worked in some odd way, Luna did all of the talking, Blaise nodded sombrely at everything she said and then shook his head in amused disbelief when she turned away. Hermione was fairly certain that Ginny had set that one up.

“Hello and welcome to everybody,” Mr. Granger said with a broad smile, “I want to thank everyone for making the effort to come here today to celebrate Hermione and Draco’s marriage. I know it’s been tough with the storm and with it being so close to Christmas and all. So we appreciate that you all made the effort. I also have to send commiserations out to those who could not make it today, sadly this freak storm has disrupted a fair few of our guests in their travel.”

The wizards looked slightly confused, because a little bit of snow didn’t stop them from travelling. If Mr. Granger noticed, he didn’t say anything. He just went on, reading cards from those who couldn’t make it. Eventually he got back to his speech, “When Hermione came home with Draco, at first I had to admit that I was pretty surprised. I had heard about Draco a lot, in almost every letter Hermione sent me. But it was never anything good, the insults were very varied in fact. A very early one went along the lines of, “that smug git with his slicked back hair” and I have that very letter right here.”

Hermione sunk into her chair, and Draco grinned wickedly as he waited to hear the contents of the letter. Mr. Granger put his glasses on and began to read, “Draco Malfoy struts around as if he owns this school. That smug little git with his slicked back hair! Honestly Daddy, who puts oil in their hair these days? This is not the 1920’s!”

The guests had burst into laughter at this, and Hermione wanted to melt into the floor. Mr. Granger sent an amused smile her way, “And Draco, I wouldn’t be smirking if I were you. Because your Mother has loaned me some of the letters that you sent to her and your Father in your 1st year.”

Draco’s eyes widened, and this time Hermione grinned.

Mr. Granger simply glanced down and read, “That bushy haired Granger girl thinks she’s so smart! Well she isn’t, I know far more than her! Strutting around like she owns this place, the little princess of Gryffindor, I’ll take that crown from her!”

The laughter was even more voluminous, and Hermione grinned at her husband, “You’ll take that crown?”

“Shut up,” Draco mumbled, very red in the face.

Hermione laughed along with the rest of the guests as her Father continued, “So you can imagine my surprise when my daughter came home at the end of her 6th year with this Draco Malfoy she had spent the past 6 years insulting, and introduced him as her boyfriend. If that had been the only shock I think we might just have handled it, but later that night she dropped the werewolf bombshell and I think my wife would have passed out if I hadn’t forced some brandy down her-” Another ripple of laughter, he was doing very well considering he was telling jokes to people with a very different way of life, “- and to be very honest, I was wary at first, not because of Draco being a werewolf. No, the moment Harry and Neville, who had always been good to my daughter, stood up for him I knew that wasn’t going to be a problem.”

Draco smiled slightly at his friends, who gave him a thumbs up, or a wink in Neville’s case.

“The reason I was wary was because I knew that Draco and his family had a certain outlook concerning people like myself and my wife, and people like Hermione,” Mr. Granger said honestly, “But I would never have given Draco my blessing if I thought those worries were founded. He has rebuilt his life and rebuilt his family name, I find that a very honourable thing and I can truly say that I am proud to accept him into the family as my son-in-law. I know that he loves my daughter very much, and anyone with eyes can see that Hermione, as much as she bickers with him, adores Draco. I want to make a toast to Draco and Hermione, to many happy years!”

He raised his glass and everybody toasted. Hermione smiled tearfully because it had been a beautiful speech and there had been no bad golf jokes which was a miracle, frankly. Draco looked honoured too, and Hermione understood why. Her Dad had said some very nice things about him. 

Draco got to his feet next and cleared his throat, “I would like to start by thanking Johnathon for that moving speech, and for welcoming me into the family. I also have to thank Hermione’s Mother, Elizabeth, for all of her help in the planning of this wedding. You have both been fantastic, so thank you.”

They smiled appreciatively and Draco continued, “I have to thank my own Mother as well of course. Many of you may know that I had a difficult childhood because of my Father’s political leanings and without the love my Mother gave me, I very much doubt I would have become the man that I have.”

Narcissa smiled tearfully, and gave Draco a small nod from further along the top table. Draco smiled at her and continued, “Of course my Best Man, Neville deserves a thank you as well. And not just for his help with the wedding preparations, for getting me through some of the toughest times of my life. I was a wreck when I was first bitten, and without Neville I doubt I would have made it this far so that thank you is very heartfelt.”

Neville smiled gratefully, he knew how hard it was for Draco to open up at the best of times, let alone in front of a crowd of people who were listening intently to him. 

“And Ginny, Hermione’s Maid of Honour deserves a huge thank you,” Draco added with a smile, “Hermione, as we all know, likes to plan and has a tendency to stress while doing so. If we hadn’t had Ginny around I think Hermione might actually have killed someone.”

This sent a ripple of laughter around the hall, and Draco’s smile widened, “A general thanks goes out to my groomsmen as well, Harry, Remus and Ron. I’ve got to give a special thanks to Ron for calling in his Auror friends and saving this wedding. We would have been stranded in a church otherwise, we paid the Aurors in free food and alcohol but thank you guys!”

The three Aurors Ron had called on did a mock bow in the back of the room, leaving the rest of the guests laughing heartily. 

“But my last thanks is reserved for my beautiful new wife,” Draco finished as he looked to Hermione, surprise shone in her eyes, “I could spend a very long time thanking her for several things so I have tried to make this concise. I was a sad, angry little boy and a bitter, broken teenager before Hermione truly came into my life. We did get off on the wrong foot, but we both grew as people and Hermione coming into my life in my 6th year changed it drastically. She had faith in me and in my humanity at a time when nobody else did. She trusted me at a time when I barely trusted myself, and she was the guiding light that pushed me towards a better path. I don’t know where my life would have taken me without Hermione, but I love where it has taken me. So thank you Hermione, for everything.”

Hermione had tears running down her cheeks, and when Draco sat back down next to her she saw that he had tears in his eyes too. 

“You never have to thank me,” Hermione whispered, kissing his lips lightly, “Never. I did everything that I did because I loved you, because I love you.”

“That doesn’t mean it doesn’t deserve a thank you, love,” Draco murmured, kissing her again and grabbing her hand underneath the table.

They barely had a minute to speak while Neville gathered his notes and got to his feet, a mischievous sparkle in his eyes that instantly had Draco worried.

“First of all, I want to congratulate the happy couple,” Neville began with a smile, “But secondly, I want to humiliate Draco as much as possible-” Draco groaned and everyone else laughed, “- Draco and I became friends when we were 5 years old, but when we got to Hogwarts, and I became a Gryffindor he decided to be an arsehole to me. So as a result I came back into his life as a result of Hermione. I had always suspected that those two were hiding their feelings with their animosity though. Hermione had a habit of falling out with her friends and ranting to me, the amount of times Draco’s name featured in those rants was unreal.”

Hermione cringed as she remembered the rants in question, and the guests laughed at Neville’s speech.

“She went from cursing how horrible and cruel Draco was to saying things like, “who does he think he is anyway with his blonde hair and his piercing eyes?”. Draco on the other hand, took a muggle philosophy a little too far I think. That old saying that little boys pull the pigtails of little girls because they like them and don’t know how to say it.”

Draco rolled his eyes as he saw the direction the speech was going in, he was going to kill Neville.

“Draco didn’t just pull Hermione’s pigtails, he insulted her and made her think he was an arrogant little sod. So when she found out he actually had a soft side I think she was stunned,” Neville said, smirking at Draco, “But the problem with Draco and Hermione, and their love story, is the same problem that Romeo and Juliet encountered. He wasn’t just afraid of his feelings, he was afraid of the effect they would have in the era riddled with war and spies that we grew up in.”

Draco gave Hermione a sad sort of look, and gripped her hand tighter. She was wearing gloves today, long lace gloves that covered the scar on her left forearm.

“So I think both Draco and Hermione took solace in the literature that they could relate to. After years of claiming she found him hideous and detestable Hermione started dating Draco, and after years of claiming that Hermione was too independent, smart and opinionated he ended up dating her. I think the thing that says it all really, is the fact that they share a favourite book; “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen.”

This sent a ripple of laughter around a large portion of the room, because even some half-bloods and pure-bloods had read Jane Austen’s novels, they were considered such classics. Draco was just smiling at the speech, because it hadn’t been too embarrassing yet.

“So those are my thoughts on Draco and Hermione’s relationship,” Neville smiled, “But as far as Draco’s friendship with me goes. Well I’m part of his pack, which is very awkward because of something that a lot of people forget about werewolves. If we live in packs we can hear each other’s thoughts, and see each other’s dreams. So I have heard all of Draco’s cheesy thoughts about Hermione over the past few years.”

Draco’s cheeks flushed, and Hermione chuckled as Neville continued, “But despite everything I have said about Draco being an arse back in our Hogwarts days, I could not give you one reason why he and Hermione shouldn’t be together now. She has changed him and bettered him in so many ways. So as much as this is a toast to Draco and Hermione’s relationship, it is also a toast to Hermione and the saint that she is!”

He raised his glass and the others all toasted. Draco and Hermione just looked at each other and grinned.

“That wasn’t so bad,” Hermione murmured against his lips.

“I know,” Draco agreed, thinking briefly, “Thank you for not completely humiliating me Nev.”

Neville smirked from further along the table and thought, “You’re welcome, I expect the same treatment at my wedding next year.”

“No promises,” Draco thought his way, kissing his bride once more.

“Stop think speaking to Neville while kissing me,” Hermione chided, “It’s weird.”

“How did you know that?” Draco asked in amusement.

“I can tell when you’re doing it, you make a face,” Hermione quipped.

Draco just laughed and took her hand, “Does it feel real yet, Mrs. Malfoy?”

Hermione shot him a grin, “Now it does.”

“I love you,” Draco said, soft enough so that only she could hear him. His grey eyes found her hazel orbs, “I know I don’t say it enough, but I do Hermione.”

“I know,” Hermione said, a genuine, sweet smile on her face, “I love you too, and I don’t know about you, but I’m kind of looking forward to spending the rest of my life with you.”

Draco caught her eyes once more, a smirk forming on his face, “I should hope so.”

“Oh shut up you cheeky sod!”

“I love you too, Mione.”

End of Part 4 :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is only one chapter left! It's pretty fluffy though, so I hope you will find that it's a good ending point. It's also a really, really long chapter! So I will try and get it uploaded either today or tomorrow :)


	70. Epilogue: Part 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue - Four Weddings and a Funeral
> 
> Part 5: The Wedding of Ginevra Molly Weasley and Neville Frank Longbottom
> 
> Saturday the 17th of November, 2001

“This is going to be the worst hen night ever,” Ginny joked as she sat in the drawing room of Bones Manor with her friends.

“What makes you say that?” Hermione laughed.

“All three of you have tiny kids,” Ginny said with a raised eyebrow, “None of you are going to be able to drink and then another one of you is pregnant again.”

Tonks rolled her eyes, “Don’t blame me, blame my husband. Werewolves are bloody fertile, I was happy with two.”

Daphne laughed loudly, “You do seem to have been permanently pregnant for the last 3 years,” she teased.

“Are you getting broody Gin?” Lilly teased.

Ginny rolled her eyes, “Maybe a little. I am the only one in our friend group without a kid. I mean my brother has two already!”

Daphne grinned, “Well I have to admit, we were happy enough with Evelyn. Fabian was an accident, but it works out well because he’ll be in the same year as Romulus and Orion at Hogwarts.”

“When Neville and I do have kids they’ll have normal names, unlike yours,” Ginny said with a shake of her head, “I mean Fabian is understandable because of my Uncle. But Romulus and Orion? Where did you think that stuff up?”

“Orion was Sirius’s middle name,” Lilly chuckled, “And my Grandfather was called Orion too, his middle name is ordinary at least...”

“Only because Harry convinced you to make it James for his Father,” Ginny pointed out.

***FLASHBACK***

“He’s perfect.”

Lilly smiled down at the little boy in her arms, she was exhausted but she nodded in agreement, “He is.”

“What are we going to call him, Lil?”

Lilly laughed weakly, they had been arguing about his name for the past 6 months, ever since they found out they would be having a little boy. Harry had wanted to name him James or Sirius, but Lilly thought he should have an individual name. She worried he would feel pressure to live up to his namesake if he was named after one of his Grandfathers.

“I know you like James and Sirius, but you know my stance on that,” Lilly said softly as she stared at the little boy. He had a mess of black hair on his head, and blue eyes that already seemed to be turning a greenish colour, “But I fell in love with a name when we were restoring Grimmauld Place...Orion.”

“Your Grandfather’s name?” Harry asked in surprise.

“Orion,” Harry mused, “Ori for short when he’s little, and Ryan when he’s older.”

Lilly nodded, “He looks sort of like an Orion too, don’t you think?”

“Yeah,” Harry said softly.

“As he’s half a Black do you think he should 5 names?” Lilly chuckled.

“I think four would do to be honest,” Harry said, looking up and catching his wife’s sparkling blue eyes, “What do you think of Orion James Sirius Potter?”

“I think it’s perfect,” Lilly whispered, “Just like our son.”

***END FLASHBACK***

“And as for Romulus,” Hermione said with a smile, “You know why we named him that. Plus I had always liked the name... I sometimes wonder if Draco just wanted to piss his Father off though...”

***FLASHBACK***

“Hey Harry, do you still have that stone?” Draco asked matter of factly as he rocked his newborn in his arms, “The one that lets you talk to the dead?”

“I hid it somewhere safe,” Harry said, narrowing his eyes at the blond and putting his own son down in his crib, “Why?”

“I really need to use it,” Draco said, “You’ll see why. You have to be in control don’t you? As its master?”

“Yes,” Harry said, “And because I trust you, I’ll go and get it. Keep an eye on Orion for me?”

“Of course,” Draco said, a mischievous glint in his eye.

Harry returned around half an hour later with the stone. He turned it three times and dropped it into Draco’s hand. The Slytherin smirked when he saw his Father standing before him.

“Draco,” Lucius drawled, “I see you married and bred with the mudblood.”

“Indeed I did, Father,” Draco said calmly, “And I thought you might want to meet your Grandson. We broke from family tradition you see, he isn’t named after a star and he doesn’t have 5 names, as much as Mother tried to insist. Meet Romulus Johnathon Malfoy, he’s named after a werewolf and a muggle, what do you think?”

Lucius said nothing. He simply turned his nose up and looked away. Draco grinned and dropped the stone into Harry’s hand. He then left the Gryffindor looking incredibly amused as he walked from the room cackling.

***END FLASHBACK***

“What did Narcissa think?”

“She turned her nose up at the name,” Hermione admitted, “But she loves him just as much. He is her only Grandchild after all.”

“At the moment anyway,” Lilly said with a knowing look, “I’m sure he’ll gain siblings.”

“He will,” Tonks said with a yawn, she was currently 6 months pregnant, “Remember what I said about werewolves being fertile.”

“Hey by that logic, Ginny would be in the club,” Lilly laughed.

Ginny rolled her eyes, “Clearly I’m more careful than you lot. I mean I actually use the protection charm,” she looked directly at Daphne.

“Oh come on,” Daphne said as the others laughed, “It was a New Year’s party, we were seeing out the millennium!”

“You’re lucky he was born premature,” Tonks snorted, “Or Fabian would realise when he was older that he was the result of a drunken New Year’s Party.”

“I blame you and Harry,” Daphne said as she looked in Lilly’s direction, “You supplied the alcohol for that party in Grimmauld Place.”

“Doesn’t make it our fault,” Lilly smirked, “I mean Harry and I are the only ones with self-control here, apart from you and Nev of course Gin. Little Romy is clearly a wedding night or honeymoon baby.”

Hermione’s cheeks flushed, “Oh hush.”

“How are we going to have fun on this hen night if none of you are drinking?” Ginny asked, surveying her friends.

“Easy!” A new voice said as the fireplace activated. Luna stepped out, dressed up to go out and Ginny grinned, “Luna, hey!”

She got up and hugged her friend, “I didn’t know if you would make it.”

Luna grinned, “I heard you might need some fun. Blaise just went off to Amsterdam with Neville on the stag do.”

“Amsterdam?” Hermione asked in disbelief, “They are in Amsterdam?”

“Merlin, I am going to kill Harry!” Lilly exclaimed, “He said they might hop up to Hogsmeade!”

“It was Neville’s idea,” Luna said nonchalantly.

Ginny rolled her eyes, “Of course it was.”

Tonks just smiled in amusement, as if she had known all about it. She probably had to be fair. 

“So do you want to spend the weekend in Malaga? My friends from Australia are there,” Luna said brightly.

Ginny bit her lip, “Do you guys mind?”

“No, we’re the boring old Mothers,” Hermione laughed, “Go have fun, Gin.”

“You could come too,” Luna said, cocking her head at them.

“We can’t,” Daphne said, “We’ve left all of the kids with Molly. It’s like a crèche at the Burrow, we should probably go and save her...”

Ginny laughed as Luna dragged her towards the fireplace, “See you when we get back!”

They disappeared into the flames and Lilly sighed, “When did we get boring and old?”

“When we had kids?” Hermione suggested.

“You are not boring or old,” Tonks said with a smile, “You can drink again when you stop breast-feeding. Just don’t do what I did and have three in quick succession, god I miss firewhiskey.”

Daphne laughed, “I really should go and take Eve and Fabian off of Molly’s hands.”

“And Romy is going to be due a feed soon,” Hermione said, yawning even though it wasn’t even 9pm yet.

“Having babies is hard work,” Lilly said, as Hermione’s yawn caught on, “It’s so frustrating. He’s 6 months old now and Ori sleeps all of the time for Harry, and then screams for me.”

“At least he doesn’t have colic,” Daphne said, the bags under her eyes said it all, “I never sleep.”

“Try having two kids under 5 and being pregnant,” Tonks said with a raised eyebrow, “And on top of that being married to the Minister for bloody Magic, the workaholic that he is.”

“He isn’t a workaholic,” Daphne said, “He spends lots of time with his kids, and he’s always here in the evenings. Ron has to work nightshifts and he sleeps all day...I wish he would spend more time with them.”

“He’s just working hard so you can afford a new house, Daph,” Hermione said with a slight smile, “With your teachers wage being so small, he has to.”

“I know, but it still isn’t ideal,” Daphne said with a shrug.

“We are old and boring you know,” Lilly said matter of factly, “We’ve become gossiping Mothers.”

“Oh Merlin, no!”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“You always have to trump me, don’t you?” Neville asked, an amused smile on his face as he watched Draco in his potions lab.

The blond looked up, “I have no idea what you mean,” he admitted as he paused in his potion brewing for a moment.

“Well I’m getting married tomorrow,” Neville chuckled, “So the day before my wedding, my best man just has to be awarded an Order of Merlin: 3rd Class, doesn’t he?”

Draco’s eyes widened, “What? Where did you hear that?”

“Ron,” Neville grinned, “They’re making it official on Monday.”

Draco almost knocked his cauldron over in shock, “You’re serious, Neville?”

“Of course I am!” Neville exclaimed, hugging his best friend tightly, “And you deserve it too! They are calling this new potion of yours the first step towards a cure for lycanthropy. It’s a big deal!”

“It’s not a cure, not by a long shot,” Draco said modestly, “It’s just something that makes it easier for us.”

“And that makes us more acceptable to the rest of the world,” Neville pointed out. 

“I think having a werewolf as our Minister for Magic for the last 4 years has done that,” Draco pointed out with a smile, “It has nothing to do with my potion.”

“It has everything to do with your potion Draco, this is so important!” Neville exclaimed, because Draco had to see how worthy he was of this praise, “It enables us to transform painlessly! Not even that, it lets us be peaceful and not harmful.”

“Peaceful, yes,” Draco agreed as he leant against the work surface in the lab, “But we will still transform into wolves, and we can still be dangerous. It takes away the natural aggression that werewolves feel, and it enables us to transform into an ordinary wolf rather than a werewolf, but Neville it is no cure-”

“But it’s the closest thing we have to one,” Neville said, his eyes wide, “We can control our transformation on the full moon, like an Animagus. This is ground breaking.”

“A cure would be ground breaking, a permanent solution would be ground breaking,” Draco argued, “This isn’t. Just like wolfsbane we have to take it every day in the lead up to the full moon, and just like wolfsbane it is not going to be accessible to all werewolves! I need something bigger, something better. A single dose that can enable these effects for a lifetime, or a permanent cure.”

“You sound like Frankenstein,” Neville said with a grin, “You sound like a crazy scientist always looking for the next big thing.”

“I should never have introduced you to muggle horror,” Draco said with a shake of his head.

“But Draco, you don’t get it. This is enough, because it’s piqued the interest of amazing potions brewers across the world! You have created the first step towards a cure, which means one day soon there will be a cure,” Neville said.

“And why do you want a cure so much?” Draco snapped, “Do you really hate what you are so much? Even after everything I have brewed to make it easier for you Neville!”

“You do it for yourself as much as for me,” Neville said quietly.

“No, I don’t. I can handle this, you can’t,” Draco said, meeting his best friend’s eyes.

“That’s a lie and you know it,” Neville said irritably, “You’re getting so desperate because you don’t want it to happen again, don’t lie to me!”

“Of course I don’t want it to happen again!” Draco shouted, “I missed the birth of my first child, my son, because of what I am!”

“Is Hermione pregnant again?” Neville asked quietly, ignoring his outburst.

“1 month,” Draco said, turning his back on his friend, “And if her due date is right, I’ll miss another child being born. Just like Remus is going to miss Teddy’s 4th birthday next year! I’m sick of missing out on the matters of importance in my life Neville, of course I want a fucking cure!”

Neville stepped forward and gripped Draco’s shoulders, “And one way or another, there will be one. You just have to have a little bit of faith and act a bit less crazy. It’s appropriate that Romy was born on the full moon anyway, I mean his name is Romulus.”

“That’s why his name is Romulus you arse,” Draco said, but he was smiling slightly.

***FLASHBACK***

“Hermione, Hermione, I am so sorry.”

“Draco,” Hermione gasped.

He was covered in blood, cuts, gashes and bruises. He dragged himself into the bedroom where she had given birth to their son the previous night. 

Hermione was lying in bed, cradling a tiny child in her arms. He was sleeping softly, his tiny little hands grabbing anything that they could as he dreamed.

“What happened to you?”

“I beat myself up, I was so angry to be missing this,” Draco said tearfully as he knelt by her bed, “I was so upset, Hermione. I missed it, I missed the birth of my first child, of our son.”

“It’s okay,” Hermione said gently as she gripped Draco’s hand, “Harry was here, everything went smoothly. It’s okay.”

“It’s not okay,” Draco half-sobbed, “I don’t want to miss anymore moments. I need to find a cure, there has to be a cure!”

“Shh,” Hermione hushed softly, running her thumb over his hand in a relaxing motion, “Draco, please. Please try to put it out of your mind. You are here now, and our son is here. We are all here and we are all safe.”

Draco swallowed and mumbled a cleaning charm, removing the dry blood that had coated his body. He stared intently at his sleeping son, he had a perfect little nose that looked just like Hermione’s and the fine coating of hair on his head was a dark, dirty blonde. It looked like it would be curly when he grew up. 

“He needs a name, Draco,” Hermione whispered, “I know we threw some names around before he was born. But I don’t think he looks like a Hugo or a Hyperion.”

Draco shook his head, “No...he doesn’t.”

“I thought maybe...well I thought about Romulus,” Hermione said tentatively, “He was born on a full moon and I have always liked the name.”

“Romulus,” Draco said, and it was hard to decipher his thoughts.

Hermione nodded, “Romy for short?”

Draco continued to stare at his son, “Romulus Johnathon Malfoy.”

Hermione’s eyes widened, “Johnathon?”

“For your Father,” Draco said, finally taking his eyes off of the baby so that he could look at Hermione.

Hermione smiled tearfully at her husband. She eventually managed to nod and say, “Romulus Johnathon Malfoy it is.”

***END FLASHBACK***

“So you didn’t just name him Romulus to piss your Father off?”

“That was a slight part of it,” Draco admitted, blowing out a breath, “But you’re right, I’m driving myself crazy at the moment.”

“Come on,” Neville said, “Let’s have a couple of drinks. You’re supposed to be calming me down, I am getting married in the morning.”

“To Ginny Weasley, of all people,” Draco teased as Neville dragged him away from his lab and his crazy musings.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Are you alright?”

“My parents got married here,” Harry said as he stood by the memorial statue to his parents. His eyes on the church in front of them. Lilly stood next to him, her hand in his.

She nodded, tearing her eyes away from her husband to look at the church, “Shh Ori,” she mumbled as the baby on her hip grumbled.

Harry smiled slightly, “You are a fantastic Mother, Lil.”

Lilly glanced down at Ori and adjusted her grip on him. He stopped crying instantly, “Do you think so?”

“I think your worries were completely unfounded,” Harry said honestly.

***FLASHBACK***

“God, Harry. I’m going to be a terrible Mother! Why did I let you talk me into having a baby so young?”

“Lil, 21 isn’t that young,” Harry said as they sat together in the drawing room of Grimmauld Place. Lilly was about ready to burst, at 8 and ½ months pregnant.

Lilly groaned, “Harry, what if I am a complete failure? What if I can’t love him after what happened with my brother? I know he wasn’t really my brother but I still left him! And I haven’t been able to find him since we graduated from school...”

“I know, but we will find him. We’re still trying,” Harry said, gripping Lilly’s hand, “And you are not going to be a complete failure Lilly. Our son is going to be so lucky, he’s going to have two parents who love him to bits. He’s probably going to be spoiled rotten.”

“I hope he won’t be a brat like Draco was,” Lilly said with a feeble laugh.

Harry grinned, “Nah, we’ll make sure he doesn’t spend that much time with his Uncle Draco.”

Lilly smiled at Harry, “Do you really think I’ll be a good Mother?”

“Lilly, you’re going to be a great Mother. I already know it, and you will the second you see him, I promise,” Harry said, leaning across the sofa to kiss her lightly on the lips.

“Thank you,” Lilly said a little tearfully.

“It’s only the truth,” Harry said, smiling genuinely at her, his green eyes sparkling with excitement. It was contagious, and Lilly started to believe that maybe, just maybe, Harry was right.

***END FLASHBACK***

“The funeral must have been here too,” Harry said, absentmindedly reaching down to let Orion grab his finger.

The baby squealed and proceeded to try and bite off his Father’s finger, Harry wasn’t particularly concerned because he knew his son only had one tooth.

“Is this going to be too hard for you?” Lilly asked softly.

Harry shook his head, “No...and I would never not go in there, regardless of how hard it would be for me. I won’t let Neville down today.”

“But you can admit that it hurts, to be here,” Lilly said softly, “You are human Harry, it must be upsetting for you.”

“It’s just a bit surreal,” Harry said honestly, “Being here for a wedding...”

“Think of it this way,” Lilly said thoughtfully, “It’s a perfect example of the fact that life can move on, and that happiness can be found, even in the aftermath of a tragedy.”

“Very wise of - ouch!”

Lilly grinned sheepishly, “Did I forget to tell you that he was teething?”

Harry didn’t have it in him to glare at her as he withdrew his finger from his son’s mouth. The little monster giggled, “God, we’ve tempted fate giving him James as a middle name.”

Lilly laughed and took a step forward, “Are you ready?”

Harry shook his head, he leant forward and kissed her gently, “You and Ori go in, I just want a minute to collect my thoughts.”

“Alright,” Lilly said softly, “See you later love.”

Harry nodded and watched her walk into the church with his son. He closed his eyes and said a brief goodbye to his parents, he gave their deaths the respect they deserved with a solitary moment of silence.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“If all of you are here, and all of your husbands are with my future husband and my Mum is here; where on earth are your kids?” Ginny asked as she and her bridal party got ready in the small antechamber of the little chapel that the wedding was to take place in. This was Neville’s local church, in Godric’s Hollow. The reception afterwards would of course be at the Burrow, in a very nice marquee kitted out with lots and lots of warming charms. It was September after all. 

Her Matron of Honour was Hermione, and she had three bridesmaids; Luna, Daphne and Lilly. Neville on the other hand had Draco as his Best Man and Harry, Ron and Remus as his groomsmen. 

“Your Father has Evie and Fabian,” Molly replied, “They are his Grandchildren after all.”

“And Narcissa has Romy, she’s so grateful you invited her you know,” Hermione said brightly.

“I never thought I would see the day Draco Malfoy stood next to Neville Longbottom on his wedding day,” Ginny laughed, “Or the day I invited Narcissa Malfoy to that wedding.”

“Well Ginevra, a lot has changed since the war,” Molly said.

“I know, Mum,” Ginny said with a glance towards Lilly, “Who is watching Ori, Lil?”

“Tonks,” Lilly admitted sheepishly, “I feel so bad for leaving him with her. She’s in that church trying to control her own 3 year old and 1 year old. I’ve left her with my 6 month old and she’s 6 months pregnant herself...But I had nobody else to leave him with.”

“It’s only until the ceremony is over,” Daphne said with a wave of her hand, “Not even that long. You can grab him back as soon as we go into the church.”

“Which will be soon,” Hermione said with a grin, “It’s getting to that time and you are completely ready Gin.”

“And stunning, as always,” Lilly said.

“Although I still think you should have worn a blibbering humdinger horn instead of that tiara,” Luna mused.

Ginny laughed at her friend’s eccentricity, “Well, I am actually pretty fond of the tiara,” she said, it was of course the infamous tiara that Great Aunt Muriel had handed down. Ginny looked very elegant in a fishtail style dress that showed off her wonderful figure. It was satin, and ivory in colour. Against her pale, freckled skin it looked beautiful. Her long, luxurious red hair had been pulled to one side in an extravagant, curled ponytail that flowed down one side of her body. She really did look like a princess.

“Are you ready for me to fetch your Dad?” Molly asked, a tear in her eye as she surveyed her only daughter.

Ginny didn’t show any nerves at all as she smiled broadly, “Yes please Mum,” she said, allowing Molly to kiss her on the cheek before leaving.

“I feel bad for shuffling Eve and Fabian around their grandparents all day,” Daphne admitted as she watched Molly go, “Maybe I should have just left them with my parents...”

Ginny snorted, ruining the picture of elegance, “Don’t you remember how that went the last time? Evie came back and called Ron a blood traitor.”

Daphne rolled her eyes, “I know, I remember. Merlin, you can’t pick your family, can you?”

“No,” Ginny said as she smiled at the girls in the room, “But you can pick your friends.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Woah I know you’re a little bit invincible with your werewolf blood and all,” Draco said, nudging his friend in the ribs, “But you still have to breathe Nev.”

Neville blew out a shaky breath and looked out of the small window. They were in another antechamber on the other side of the church, just waiting, “I’m freaking out.”

“You’ve got no reason to,” Draco said, patting him on the back, “You’re marrying Ginny, you’ve loved her since you were about 14. And I’m here.”

“I know,” Neville said, swallowing hard, “You’ve always been there for me.”

Draco smiled at the younger man, “That’s what best friends are for, Nev.”

Harry snorted as he stepped into the antechamber, “Sorry, who are you marrying again Neville? Ginny or Draco?”

Draco rolled his eyes, and Neville laughed weakly, “Very funny Harry.”

“I’m serious, you two toe the line between bromance and romance very carefully,” Harry joked, “Ron and me were never that bad.”

“I seem to remember you and Ron having huge falling outs and then awkwardly making up in the middle of the common room,” Neville grinned, “Pretty thin line there too.”

Draco smirked, “It’s a werewolf pack thing Harry, I don’t expect you to understand.”

Harry rolled his eyes, “Right, I’m just a meagre little griffin eh? Oh hang on...I’ m bigger than all of you now that you just transform into plain old boring wolves.”

“Well do you have two Order of Merlin’s, Potter?”

Neville rolled his eyes. They had all received Order of Merlin’s after the war, for helping defeat Voldemort. 

“You have an Order of Merlin: 2nd class and an Order of Merlin: 3rd class, don’t you?” Harry quipped.

“Yes,” Draco said matter of factly, with a whiff of smugness.

“Funny that, I have an Order of Merlin: 1st class,” Harry grinned, “Come back to me when you’ve defeated a dark lord, Malfoy.”

“Would you two quit fighting on my wedding day?” Neville asked in amusement.

“Of course, Nev,” Harry laughed, “I just came to tell you that Ron, Remus and I just welcomed the last of the guests in. So we can head to the altar whenever you want now.”

“Let’s just go,” Neville said with a nod, “It’s one less thing to worry about that way.”

Draco patted his best friend on the back and led him towards the door, “That’s the attitude, Nev!”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Everyone decent?” Arthur’s voice called, as a loud knock sounded on the door.

Hermione pulled it open, “All decent and ready to go. We’ll wait by the main door Gin, are you alright?”

“Perfectly calm,” Ginny replied, waving them out of the little antechamber. 

She was sure she heard Hermione wish that she had been so calm on her wedding day, as the girls continued along the corridor and their voices faded away.

Arthur’s eyes filled with tears when he saw Ginny, “Sometimes I forget you aren’t my little girl anymore,” he admitted.

Ginny smiled slightly, “I’m 20 years old, Dad.”

“I know,” Arthur said, wiping his eyes with a handkerchief and hugging her, “But you’re my only daughter Ginny. You’ll always be my little girl.”

“Don’t make me cry,” Ginny said weakly, dabbing at her own eyes

Arthur chuckled and held out his arm, “No going back on this now.”

“I don’t want to,” Ginny said, a genuine smile on her face. She linked her arm through his and they walked towards the main door together in comfortable silence. The others had all told her that the nerves kicked in when the music began to play (apart from Hermione who said the nerves kicked in the morning of, but Hermione did panic about everything). Ginny had brushed her friends off, but the moment the music began to play her stomach began to churn.

“Told you,” Daphne chuckled, kissing her on the cheek and murmuring good luck as she Lilly, and Luna headed into the church. 

A squeal of, “Mama!” was enough to tell Ginny that Daphne and Lilly had recollected their children. So she waited patiently for the music to change and the bridal march to begin. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and suddenly she just wanted to run away.

Arthur murmured that she should stay calm, and the bridal march finally began. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly and shakily. She gave him a small nod and he gently pulled her forward into the doorway. All eyes were on her, and Ginny smiled at the guests as she walked down the aisle. The wedding was a fairly large one, with about 50 guests, but Ginny blamed that on her large family and all of their other halves and children. Bill and Fleur now had a 3 month old sister for Victoire, and Charlie was still dating Oliver. Percy and Audrey had no children yet, but Fred and Angelina had gotten married earlier that year, and Angelina was 6 months pregnant with their first child. George was still dating Sophie, but there were no wedding bells in the distance, likely due to the age gap between them. Ginny had several cousins here too, and there was Great Aunt Muriel, of course.

Ginny eventually turned her eyes to Neville who looked terrified, and that made her smile slightly. Of course Neville was the one who was terrified while she was perfectly calm. 

After the long walk, Ginny reached Neville, and Arthur lifted her veil. He kissed her cheek, murmured that he loved her, put her hand in Neville’s and retreated to his assigned seat, next to his wife.

Neville and Ginny shared a brief smile, before turning to the wizard conducting the ceremony. The actual ceremony itself was very brief, as wizarding ceremonies tended to be. Everyone held their breath as the magic bonded, and the glow surrounded the couple. It had been a recurring joke really within the friend group. Remus and Tonks had been golden, as had Harry and Lilly. Daphne told everyone she and Ron had been bronze, but Ron insisted it definitely had a gold-ish tinge. In the wizarding ceremony Hermione and Draco had attended a few days after their Muggle wedding, their glow had been a duller gold. 

Neville and Ginny’s however was a bright silver, an almost blinding silver. Certainly brighter than Bill and Fleur’s, Ginny thought a little smugly. 

“You may kiss the bride!”

There was an explosion of cheering, and the younger babies in attendance cried in alarm. Ginny and Neville kissed, and grinned as they split apart, their eyes meeting each other’s.

Neville gripped Ginny’s hand, and they led the way out of the church, apparating away to the Burrow where the reception was all set up. They had opted for an autumn theme, because it was Ginny’s favourite season and Neville loved all things nature. The Burrow provided the perfect setting for their wedding, because the leaves on the trees were turning red and orange and yellow. They scattered the garden and the roof of the marquee. 

Inside the marquee was even more beautiful. The roof was enchanted to look like the sky. They had opted for a wedding ceremony late in the afternoon, so it was already a darkened sky, and the stars would be visible soon. The tables were set up with white table cloths and miniature trees with red, orange and yellow leaves as centrepieces. The whole thing had a rustic feel to it, with the wooden chairs and tables. The top table was set up for 8 with Remus and Tonks acting as Neville’s parents.

There was a small table reserved for the children that were old enough to eat. That was Teddy, Victoire, Elladora and Evelyn. A couple of house-elves were acting as babysitters, while the younger babies (Fabian, Romulus, Orion and Bill and Fleur’s second child, Dominique) were as a whole in their Mother’s arms or in a carrier close by. The exception being Romulus, who was being adored by Narcissa while his parents sat at the top table.

They made small talk throughout the meal, although Ginny and Neville were so absorbed in their own world that they probably seemed very rude. As the meal came to an end and the speeches began Neville found himself dreading Draco’s more than he was dreading giving his own, and public speaking had never been his strong point. 

Arthur stood to give his speech first however, “As the Father of Bride I would like to start by welcoming all of you here today! It is lovely to see our family connecting with the Longbottom family, and to see both Ginny and Neville’s friends come together today. We have always been close to the Longbottom’s and I think it is fitting to say that I am very sorry that Frank, Alice and Augusta could not be here to witness this very happy day.”

There were a few solemn nods, and Neville really appreciated Arthur’s gesture.

“I also want to welcome Neville into the family officially,” Arthur said with a smile, “And I am very proud to have him as my son-in-law. I am proud of everything Ginny and Neville have achieved together in fact, they both received Order of Merlin’s for their service in the war, which neither of them like to brag about but which they both deserve.”

Ginny and Neville shared amused looks, Neville looked particularly embarrassed as a murmur of agreement went around the marquee.

“Ginny is my only daughter and I have always been very protective over her, as have all 6 of her older brothers. So I think it says a lot about Neville, that all of us have completely accepted that he is the perfect match for our only Weasley girl, who is now of course a Longbottom! We all know of course that Ginny has a terrible temper, she has done ever since her royal tantrums as a child-” this sent a ripple of laughter around, “- Molly and I always said that it would take a saint to put up with her outbursts, and Neville, thankfully, has the patience of a saint!”

The others laughed, Neville looked flattered and Ginny was chuckling herself. 

“And who would have known it would take a werewolf to tame my daughter?” Arthur added, which caused roars of laughter.

Even Neville managed an amused grin at that joke, it was public knowledge that he was a werewolf because he had been campaigning for equal rights since the war.

“But all joking aside, I am incredibly happy to stand here today with my daughter and her new husband. So I raise my glass to Ginny and Neville!”

“To Ginny and Neville!” Everyone echoed, as Arthur took his seat and kissed Ginny on the cheek. She was grateful that it hadn’t been too embarrassing. 

Neville stood next, looking pale and nervous. Ginny gave his hand a quick squeeze before he dropped it to focus on his speech, “Firstly, I would like to echo Arthur’s sentiments and thank you all for coming today to celebrate this day with us. Ginny and I are both very grateful that you could all make it here today. I have to thank Molly as well for all of the wedding planning that she helped with while juggling her grandchildren.”

Molly laughed and smiled at the recognition, Arthur put his arm around his wife, a broad smile on his face.

“And I have to thank my stand-in parents too,” Neville added, “Remus and Tonks. You guys have two children of your own to worry about, and a third on the way. But you have been there for me for the past 4 years when I really needed a family and I can’t express how much that means to me.”

Tonks smiled tearfully at him, and Remus just gave Neville a thumbs up. 

“Of course I also have to thank Ginny’s Maid of Honour Hermione, and her Bridesmaids, Daphne, Lilly and Luna for all of their help. I’ve got to thank my groomsmen, Harry and Ron too, for keeping me sane in these past couple of weeks. I rather tentatively thank my Best Man, Draco for everything he has helped with in the lead-up to this wedding and for getting me through, probably the most difficult time of my life. But I’m saying that tentatively because Merlin knows what horrors his speech will hold.”

“But as cheesy as it sounds, and as much of a cliché as it is,” Neville said, turning his body slightly to look at Ginny, “I have to thank my wife. Ginny and I were best friends for so long before we finally stopped being ridiculous and admitted that we had always been madly in love with each other.”

Ginny laughed at his words, as did the majority of the guests.

“And the irony of the whole thing is, that if I hadn’t asked Ginny to the Yule Ball in 4th year, I doubt we would ever be here today. As she was in the year below me she wouldn’t have been able to go to the dance otherwise which was why I asked her, as a friend,” Neville said with a smile on his face, “And in hindsight I began to fall for her that night. Ginny was there for me after I was bitten, at a time when I felt worthless and certainly not worthy of her love. But Ginny changed my perspective on everything, and I really do believe she saved me. So I am incredibly proud, and so grateful to call her my wife.”

“To Ginny!” Harry said, raising his glass as he realised Neville was getting emotional.

Neville shot his friend a grateful smile and subtly wiped his eyes as everyone toasted his new wife. He sat back down and let out a breath.

“Nev, your hands are shaking,” Ginny murmured, gripping his hand tightly.

“That was terrifying,” Neville said, catching her eye.

Ginny smiled fondly at him, “Well it was beautiful, thank you.”

“No, thank you,” Neville whispered, gently kissing her before averting his gaze to look at his Best Man, who was grinning from ear to ear as he got to his feet.

“Don’t humiliate me too much.”

Draco shot Neville a grin and thought, “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

Neville was immediately worried after hearing those words. Draco however, the showman that he was began his speech with ease, “My job as Neville’s Best Man, as I see it at least, is to thoroughly embarrass him. After I’ve done that, I’ll talk about Ginny and her effect on my fellow wolf here. The interesting thing about werewolves is that we are very misunderstood creatures. People think we just transform and attack things, in a solitary environment. But some werewolves can form packs, and Neville and I are part of a pack. Unfortunately for me, Neville decided to fight me for dominance in that pack when he was bitten, which was how I ended up on a roof after Neville’s first full moon-”

Neville cringed in embarrassment as the guests laughed. Draco continued seamlessly, “But I did start that fight, so I suppose I deserved it...”

“You usually do Malfoy!” Harry cut in.

“Now now Potter,” Draco drawled, “I know you like to be the centre of attention, but this is my speech,” he said, to chuckles from all around.

“There are little advantages and quirks of being part of a werewolf pack,” Draco continued, “But when you are a new wolf you can’t control these new powers. One of them is incredibly sensitive hearing, and another is a mind link. You can tell where this is going, can’t you?”

The Weasley’s were already laughing, and Neville already looked absolutely mortified. 

Draco smirked, “So in his early months, Neville couldn’t control the mind link and let me tell you. I saw far more of my best friend’s girlfriend than I ever wanted to see-” There were roars of laughter now, “- and heard things I did not want to hear.”

Neville had sunk into his chair in embarrassment, Molly looked mortified, but even Ginny was laughing heartily.

“Sorry Nev,” Draco said, shooting a completely non-apologetic grin at his best friend, “But this speech does have a serious part, I promise. Neville has been my best friend since we were 5 years old, with a 6 year gap in which I was a Slytherin bastard-” more laughter, “- and as much as Ginny and I had our differences at Hogwarts, I can’t deny that she is the perfect woman for Neville. Sometimes he can be too placid, he needs someone to rile him up, and she needs someone to calm her down. I was there for Neville during that difficult period when he was bitten too, and I saw everything that Ginny did for him. In fact I was lucky enough to watch them both realise that they were in love with each other and I have known from that moment that this day would come. So as much as I joke, I want to wish Neville and Ginny many happy years, and warm congratulations!”

He raised his glass and the others toasted, some of them with tears of laughter in their eyes. Although Draco was fairly sure from the look in Molly’s eyes that she was going to come for him at some point later in the evening. 

“I am going to fucking kill you,” Neville thought Draco’s way.

Draco just winked at Neville in response. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“What the hell happened to you?” Harry asked in amusement as Draco stumbled into the marquee red in the face with his hair all over the place.

“Molly Weasley,” Draco said darkly as he sat down next to Hermione at a large circular table, “That woman is terrifying.”

“Tell me about it,” Ron grinned, “She was so pissed off about your speech mate.”

“I did gather,” Draco remarked sarcastically, “Is Romy sleeping?”

“No, he’s gurning so yes you can take him,” Hermione said, passing their son over to his Father.

Harry chuckled at them and looked around the table, “A lot has changed since your wedding, hasn’t it?” he asked, looking to Ron and Daphne.

“Yes,” Daphne laughed, “It goes to show how much can change in four years.”

“Are you lot reminiscing?” Ginny asked as she and Neville walked over to their table, hand in hand.

“Yes we were sis,” Ron said, “We do have a habit of doing that drunk at weddings.”

“Well none of us are drunk,” Daphne said, raising her eyebrow, “Just you boys.”

Neville chuckled, “What are you reminiscing about, exactly?”

“Quite how much has changed since we hid out in the bandstand at Ron and Daphne’s wedding,” Draco said, smiling down at his son.

“We were all pretty irresponsible back then,” Lilly agreed.

“And we were unemployed,” Hermione laughed, “To think now, we have three teachers and the junior matron of Hogwarts in our midst.”

“And an Unspeakable,” Harry said, looking proudly at his wife.

“And the Potions Brewer who created the 1st step towards a cure for lycanthropy,” Neville said, patting Draco on the back proudly.

Draco just shook his head, “Not to mention the top lawyer for creatures rights cases.”

Hermione smiled sheepishly, “And a top notch Auror.”

Ron snorted, “I’m not that good. But you’re right, a lot has changed.”

“4 kids later and all,” Lilly laughed.

“And not a hipflask in sight,” Draco chuckled.

Harry pulled a photograph from his pocket and enlarged it so that the others could all see it, “We’ve come a long way since this was taken, that’s for sure,” he said.

The photograph was one they had taken on the day of Susan’s funeral while they sat under the oak tree. It was the ‘after’ photograph, and the one with Susan still in it was the ‘before’. It showed quite how much of an effect the war had on them. From Ron’s bandaged eye, to everyone’s pained expressions.

“I never thought we would stick together, after the war,” Daphne admitted, “But I’m so glad that we have.”

“And we’re certainly stuck together now,” Harry said, “Ori, Romy and Fabian are going to go through Hogwarts together.”

“And that is just a disaster waiting to happen,” Hermione laughed.

“But it’s like a wise woman once said to me,” Harry said, smiling around at his friends, and winking at Lilly, “All of this...all of our happiness...today...it’s proof that life moves on, and happiness can be found even after the worst tragedies.”

“Hear, hear,” Ron said.

Neville smiled and raised his glass of champagne, as did Ginny, “I’ll drink to that,” he said.

And they all did, even if some of them were drinking water. They all smiled and laughed, and felt completely joyous because they had not only just survived something as horrific as the war, they had flourished.

The End? Of Part 5 at least :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m umm-ing and aah-ing about a 6th part of this epilogue. I haven’t written one, but part of me is super tempted to write a ‘Orion, Romulus and Fabian’ go to Hogwarts chapter. Opinions? 
> 
> Thank you for reading! :)


	71. Epilogue: Part 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue - Four Weddings & A Funeral (& a Sorting)
> 
> Part 6: The Sorting
> 
> 1st of September, 2012

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the final chapter! I hope you enjoy it, and thank you so much for following this story to its conclusion!

“Well...we sort of have a clan of them.”

Harry grinned in amusement, “Yeah...there are a lot,” he agreed as he stood on Platform 9 ¾ seeing his eldest child off to Hogwarts. Orion was currently talking excitedly with his best friends, Romulus and Fabian. They stuck out in the crowd because Fabian was very tall with distinctive auburn hair. Orion, like both of his parents, was fairly short, but his jet black mop stood out anywhere. Romulus was probably the most ordinary looking, he had dirty blonde curls. But it was when you saw their eyes that you realised whose children they were. Orion had Harry’s bright green eyes, and Fabian had Ron’s blue eyes. Despite having curly hair like his Mother, Romulus had his Father’s grey eyes, but they were far warmer than Draco’s had been at that age.

“Most of them are Weasleys, or Lupins,” Draco smirked as they stood back from the children that were getting ready to board the train. 

“I did tell you werewolves were fertile,” Tonks murmured, “Have you seen Teddy?”

Harry opened his mouth to say that he hadn’t seen Teddy, but before he could say a word someone else interjected. 

“I have! He was snogging Victoire, snogging her!” Harry’s youngest son, Henry said. He had his parents jet black hair, but his Mothers blue eyes and he was only 7 so he wasn’t going to Hogwarts yet.

Tonks raised an eyebrow, “Snogging her?”

Elladora nodded as she appeared from behind her Mother. Her hair was bubblegum pink and reached the bottom of her back. She was the rebellious child, the Slytherin, the prankster. Teddy was just as mischievous, but as a Hufflepuff he was never suspected of his ‘crimes’ so he always got away with them. She was about to enter her 2nd year at Hogwarts, and her older brother was about to start his 4th year.

“She’s his girlfriend Mum,” Elladora said smugly, “He’s dating her, Vicki Weasley!”

Remus scoffed, “Ella, do you really think we don’t know? Your brother is a terrible liar.”

“She’s younger than him though!” Evelyn said as she flicked her blonde hair out of her face, “She’s in my year Mother!”

Daphne raised an eyebrow at her eldest daughter, “What difference does one year make? Your Aunt Dora is about 13 years younger than your Uncle Remus.”

Evelyn made a face, “Gross! I’m going to find Vicki, I want to get a compartment on the train.”

“Alright,” Ron said with an amused smile. Evelyn and Victoire were cousins, and as they were both about to go into 3rd year, they were good friends. It also helped that they were both Gryffindors and that they shared a dorm, “We’ll see you at Christmas,” he said, hugging her.

Daphne hugged her daughter too, “Yes, we will. If you find Teddy attached to your best friend, tell him his Mother wants to talk to him. Oh and Evie, look after your brother this year.”

Evelyn scoffed, “No. What kind of sibling would I be if I didn’t torment him for his whole first year, Mum?” she said before darting out of sight to find Victoire.

“She’s a handful,” Astoria said with an amused smile as she stepped onto the platform, “A bit like her Mother.”

“Tori!” Daphne grinned, hugging her sister.

Astoria smiled and tightened her grip on her only child, Anthony. He was the same age as Fabian, and Daphne was grateful that the shy child would have his cousin to look out for him. Astoria had gone one step further than Daphne and married a muggle-born, she had been cast out of the family and the muggle-born had left her when Anthony was 6. He was quiet, and reserved, but he was a lovely boy.

“Ant!” Fabian shouted, “Come over!”

Anthony’s face lit up and he kissed his Mother on the cheek before running over to his cousin and his friends. Astoria breathed a sigh of relief, “I am so glad that he has made friends Daph, Fabian has really brought him out of his shell.”

“Well Fabian is under strict orders to keep an eye on him while they are at Hogwarts,” Daphne promised.

“And he will,” Ron said with a proud smile, “He’s a good kid.”

“If a mischievous one,” Remus said, narrowing his eyes as his eldest son, Teddy, swaggered towards them. His turquoise hair was around shoulder length, it currently had strands of dark red in it too, a nod to his Gryffindor girlfriend no doubt, “Ah Teddy, where is your girlfriend?”

Teddy’s eyes widened, “Did Ella tell you?”

“Of course she did,” Tonks said, looking knowingly at her son.

“Teddy has a girlfriend!” Athena giggled. She was Remus and Tonks’ third child and was so named because she had been born on Valentine’s Day. She was 10 years old, and would be starting Hogwarts next year along with Draco and Hermione’s second child, Camille, Harry and Lilly’s second child, Annette, and Fred and Angelina’s eldest child, Arthur. Athena was not a Metamorphmagus, so she had mousy brown hair like her Father’s and the same dark green eyes as Remus. Her younger brother, and the youngest Lupin child, Alaric, looked very similar. However he had Tonks’ hazel eyes, and he was 8 years old.

Teddy rolled his eyes, “So what if I do, Atty?”

Tonks smiled slightly, “It’s not a problem if you do. Can I have a hug before you get on the train?”

“I suppose,” Teddy said, hugging his Mother as briefly as possible and shaking Remus’s hand.

“Keep an eye out for your cousins this year Ted,” Remus said, motioning towards Romulus, Orion and Fabian.

Teddy grinned at his Father and backed away, “Sure Dad. See ya Uncle Harry, bye Aunt Lil.”

“Bye Teddy, have a good year,” Lilly said in amusement as the blue haired boy boarded the train.

Hermione shook her head in amusement, “Romy, you had better come and say goodbye or the train will leave without you!”

Romulus walked back over to his Mother, and the others all followed him. They were all put through several hugs, and promises that they would write home all of the time. When the whistle blew for the first time Camille stomped her foot, “I wish I could go to Hogwarts!”

“You’re too young Milly,” Draco said, rustling the girl’s bushy blonde hair.

Camille batted his hand away and crossed her arms. Her brother stuck his tongue out at her, “See you next year Milly.”

“Bye Romy,” Camille huffed.

Orion, a much more conscientious child, hugged his younger sister goodbye, “This will be you next year Netty, don’t cry.”

Annette tried desperately hard not to cry. She had long black hair, like Lilly’s and the strangest mix of her parent’s eye colours. Rather than Harry’s emerald green, or Lilly’s deep blue eyes, Netty had turquoise eyes. She nodded, “Bye Ori.”

Orion kissed her on the cheek and ruffled his younger brother, Henry’s hair, “Take care of Netty for me Henry, won’t you?”

Henry nodded and smiled proudly, “Bye Ori!” the 7 year old said as the second whistle sounded.

Fabian on the other hand just gave his Mother another hug, having no idea where his older sister had disappeared to, “I’ll write to Dad twice a week,” he promised.

“Alright,” Daphne laughed, “Have a good journey sweetheart.”

“And try not to get sorted into Slytherin like your Mum,” Ron joked, winking at his son.

Fabian laughed and gripped his cousin Anthony’s arm, “Time to get on the train Ant! Come on, you can sit in a compartment with us!”

Anthony looked relieved and allowed Fabian to drag him onto the train with the rest of his friends. Harry slipped his hand into Lilly’s as the doors began to get slammed shut, and Draco put his arm around Hermione. 

Neville and Ginny weren’t here because their two children were both too young for Hogwarts. William was 9, and Noah was 7, so there would be a couple more years yet before they were ready for school. Luna had married Blaise, and they had twin boys who were also 7 years old. Lorcan and Lysander were just as strange as their parents, in the best way possible. Lorcan barely ever spoke, and communicated instead with nods, and sign language. Lysander talked enough for both of them, and often answered questions for Lorcan, he also believed in the same strange creatures as his Mother, but both boys were sweet children.

Most of the Weasley’s weren’t on the platform, because their children were too young for Hogwarts. Fred and Angelina’s children were 10 and 5, so Arthur and Roxanne wouldn’t be at Hogwarts just yet. George and Sophie had gotten married, and they had two children. Serena was 8 and Sebastian was 5. Percy and Audrey had two children, Molly was 9 and Lucy was 6. Charlie and Oliver were still together, and they had adopted a little boy who they had named Gideon, he was 9 now. Bill and Fleur were here, seeing off their two eldest children while keeping a close grip on their youngest. Victoire was in 3rd year, and was clearly dating Teddy. Dominique was the same age as Romulus, Orion and Fabian and was going into 1st year with them this year. The youngest child, and the only boy, was Louis. He was only 8, so there would be a few more years before he was boarding the Hogwarts Express.

“Merlin, I can’t believe they’re going to Hogwarts,” Hermione sighed.

“I know,” Draco said with a shake of his head, “To think that I’m going to have to teach them!”

“Draco!” Hermione chastised.

Harry laughed, “They must hate this. From Romy’s point of view, Potions is taught by his Dad, DADA by his Uncle Harry, Herbology by his Uncle Neville and History of Magic by his Aunt Daphne. Merlin, and the school matron is his Aunt Ginny!”

Ron snorted, “Well it’s not their fault that Hogwarts was the only place willing to employ you lot.”

“Well we can’t all be Head Aurors like you,” Harry said in amusement, “Or Assistant Head of the DMLE,” he added as he looked in Hermione’s direction.

“And as I’m an Unspeakable I can’t even tell you my full job title,” Lilly winked.

Remus chuckled, “I am happy to be retired, my brief stint as Minister for Magic was enough for me.”

“Brief stint? You were Minister for 8 years!” Tonks laughed.

Remus grinned, “It would have been longer if the public had their way, but I needed to retire. I already have too many grey hairs, and too many children.”

Tonks raised an eyebrow at him, and murmured something about fertile bloody werewolves.

Draco snorted, “I don’t know how you manage it Dora. Training Aurors by day and keeping track of your own kids by night.”

“Organisation, and lots of help from Molly,” Tonks said with an amused grin.

“I want to be on the train too,” Athena grumbled, gripping her Mother’s hand.

“And I want to go too!” Alaric objected.

“So do I!” Camille said, stomping her foot onto the platform once more.

Henry looked from them, to Annette who was huffily standing with her arms crossed. He frowned slightly, “But at Hogwarts they have to do homework and stuff. We get to do nothing all day!”

Draco laughed and shot Harry an amused grin, “That one is definitely going to be a Ravenclaw, he’s way too smart.”

Harry grinned, “Like his Mum,” he agreed, ruffling Henry’s hair.

The train sounded its final whistle and began to pull out of the station. Everyone on the platform waved as their children waved frantically from the compartments. In a matter of seconds the train was gone, and all that was left was a smoke filled platform.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“What house do you think you’re going to be in?”

“Gryffindor!” Fabian said as he slashed through the air with a fake sword, “Like my Dad.”

Anthony looked between them a little anxiously, “How do they decide what house to put you in?”

“It all depends on your personality and what you’re good at Ant,” Dominique said as she lounged in the compartment with the boys.

Orion nodded, “Yeah, if you are brave and noble you go in Gryffindor.”

“And if you’re sneaky and ambitious you go in Slytherin,” Romulus said with a nod, “That’s where I’m gonna be, Slytherin like my Dad.”

Fabian added, “If you’re smart and wise you go in Ravenclaw, and if you’re loyal and hardworking you go in Hufflepuff.”

Anthony frowned, “What if you are brave, sneaky, smart and loyal?” 

Orion laughed, “Then the hat decides where you best fit in, I guess. It considers your opinion though, my Dad didn’t want to be in Slytherin so the hat put him in Gryffindor!”

“Wow,” Anthony breathed.

“I don’t know what house I’ll be in,” Dominique mused, “I don’t think I’ll be a Gryffindor like Vicki, and they didn’t have houses at my Mum’s school. She went to Beauxbatons.”

“Hey little cousins! What’s the chat?” Teddy asked as he leant in the doorway, Victoire lurking nearby.

Orion rolled his eyes, “We’re talking about houses Teddy.”

“Oh you sneaky little brats are all gonna be Slytherins, I betcha,” Teddy grinned.

“Dad would go mad if I went into Slytherin,” Fabian said with a wicked laugh, “And Mum would laugh so hard...”

Romulus snorted, “Dad told me not to get sorted into Hufflepuff.”

“Oi!” Teddy objected, “Hufflepuff’s are amazing. They are smart, and hard-working, and totally sexy, right Vic?”

Victoire grinned, “Definitely.”

Dominique rolled her eyes, “Ugh, I think I just vomited.”

“Oh shut up Nicki!”

“I had to listen to you read love letters aloud all summer Vicki, go find a room!” Dominique exclaimed.

Victoire raised her head, “For your information, I have to go and find Evie! I was looking for her here, have you seen her, Fabian?”

“Nah, she disappeared to find you,” Fabian said with a wave of his hand, “I dunno where she is.”

“Whatever, see you guys at the sorting. Come on Teddy,” Victoire said, grabbing Teddy’s hand and pulling him away from the compartment.

“Later losers.”

“God, siblings suck,” A new voice said as Elladora slipped into the compartment, “Mind if I join you?”

“Nope,” Orion said cheerfully, “You’ve met Ant, right?”

“You’re Fabian’s cousin, aren’t you?” Elladora said as she sat down opposite Anthony.

Anthony nodded nervously, but Elladora just smiled, “Ella Lupin, these idiots are basically my little cousins.”

“Hey, you’re the one sitting with us,” Romulus pointed out.

“Well my other options suck. Sitting with Teddy, Vicki and Evie consists of watching snogging or listening to gossip,” Ella said with an irritated roll of her eyes, “So I guess that leaves the option of hanging out with my firsty cousins.”

“Ella’s a Slytherin,” Fabian said with a yawn.

“A Slytherin with a Hufflepuff Mother and a Gryffindor Father,” Elladora grinned, “So you lot could end up anywhere!”

“So are the teachers nice at Hogwarts?” Anthony asked curiously.

Elladora grinned once more, “Well I call most of them Aunt and Uncle, so yeah they’re alright. Professor Weasley is super strict, oh actually wait there are two Professor Weasley’s. The Transfiguration teacher is my Uncle Perce, and he’s horrible, but he gives points to Gryffindor a lot...my Dad says hes a prat.”

“So does mine,” Fabian grinned, “And my Mum is the other Professor Weasley, she teaches History of Magic.”

“It’s a really boring class, but Professor Greengrass-Weasley is awesome,” Elladora said, “And she’s the Head of Slytherin too, she’s my favourite Professor.”

“My Dad is a teacher too,” Orion said as he leant back in his seat, “He teaches Defence against the Dark Arts.”

“He’s a great teacher,” Elladora said eagerly, “He lets us do so much practical work, and he’s really funny. He’s the Head of Gryffindor house. Professor Flitwick is the Head of Ravenclaw, and he teaches Charms, he’s a really good teacher too.”

“Who is the Head of Hufflepuff?” Anthony asked.

“Oh that’s Professor Sinistra, she teaches Astronomy which is a pretty cool class,” Elladora said, “The Potions professor is pretty strict, Professor Malfoy.”

“He’s my Dad,” Romulus said in amusement.

Elladora laughed, “He’s a good teacher though, as long as you don’t make stupid mistakes. The last teacher you will have in 1st year is Professor Longbottom, he teaches Herbology and he’s great. There are other classes like Divination and stuff. But you won’t get them until third year. Oh and there’s Flying too, that’s taught by Mr. Wood... oh and there’s Matron Longbottom, she’s married to Professor Longbottom. She’s nice, but not if you get injured in a stupid way, then she’s really harsh.”

Anthony nodded, trying to take all of this information in, “Right.”

“You’ll be great Ant, don’t worry!” Fabian said with a smile as he patted his cousin on the back.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The Great Hall was filled with nervous 1st years, standing before a stool and shuffling from foot to foot. At the Head table the parents of several of those first years watched on with anticipation. This included Harry, Draco and Daphne of course. But Bill was also watching Dominique, because he taught Ancient Runes at the school. Divination was still taught by Trelawney, and Arithmancy by Professor Vector. Hagrid still taught Care of Magical Creatures, but Luna had taken up a job as the Professor of a new subject called Ghoul Studies. 

“Adamson, Anthony.”

Anthony walked up warily and sat down on the stool. He shut his eyes tightly, and Fabian watched anxiously as the hat thought about him for a moment. Eventually it opened the rip that was its mouth and called, “Hufflepuff!”

Anthony looked relieved as the hat was taken off of his head. He darted over to the Hufflepuff table where Teddy was cheering loudly. 

A few more names were called until eventually Professor Flitwick squeaked, “Malfoy, Romulus.”

Romulus strutted towards the stool as if he had no worries in the world. Harry tried not to roll his eyes from the head table at the resemblance he bore to his Father, but Harry also knew that Romy was very much like his Mother. He loved to read, he had a secret obsession with Disney movies and he cried at the ending of the Lion King. Although, his Father still did that too...

The hat didn’t need to think for too long while it was on Romulus’s head. After a few seconds it shouted, “Slytherin.”

The Slytherin table cheered, and Ella jumped to her feet, whooping loudly for her little ‘cousin’. At the head table Draco shouted, “Yes!”

Professor McGonagall, the schools Headmistress, had to force down a smile as this made the hall erupt in laughter, “Impartiality Professor Malfoy,” she said, loudly enough for the rest of the school to hear her words.

Daphne grinned proudly and winked at Romulus, who she considered to be a nephew. Romulus grinned back and turned his grin towards his Father.

“Yes Professor Malfoy, impartiality,” Harry teased.

Draco was too pleased to bite back, instead he just gave Romulus a proud grin and a thumbs up as he took his seat at the Slytherin table. He chuckled a little wickedly and said, “Oh Hermione is going to love this. My first born son a Slytherin, I’m so proud!”

“Yes, yes, the next generation of Malfoy’s,” Neville said in amusement, “You’re a proud Father, we get it.”

Harry hushed them both as Flitwick called the next name on the list, “Potter, Orion.”

Orion was a little more tentative as he walked up to Flitwick. He gave the Professor a small smile and sat down on the stool. He closed his eyes, and the hat was placed atop his head. It sat there, wiggling and umm-ing for a good few minutes. Harry had leant forward in his chair, watching in anticipation. Clearly his son was just as difficult to sort as he had been. After a very long few minutes the hat opened its mouth and roared, “Gryffindor.”

The Gryffindor table cheered, and amongst those cheering were Orion’s older ‘cousins’ Victoire and Evelyn. Teddy shouted from the Hufflepuff, “Yeah, that’s my baby brother!”

From the Head Table Harry jumped to his feet and punched the air, “Yes!”

McGonagall had to work hard to ensure her lips remained pursed together, “Impartiality, Professor Potter!”

Harry at least had the decency to look a little sheepish. Neville smirked, “Yes, impartiality Professor Potter.”

Harry just grinned and gave Orion the biggest, proudest smile that he could muster as his mini-me took a seat at the Gryffindor table next to Evelyn.

“Oh shut up, you’ll be the same when William gets sorted,” Harry murmured, waving to Orion and still beaming.

“Where on earth is Fabian going to end up?” Draco mused.

“Merlin knows,” Neville replied thoughtfully.

There were several more names, until they got onto the next batch of Weasleys. There were only two of them this year, but Harry knew that there would be a gradual trickling of Weasley’s into the school for the next 5 years, at least.

“Weasley, Dominique.”

Dominique pushed her strawberry blonde hair out of her face and walked up to the stool as bravely as she could. She was shaking slightly as she sat on it, and screwed her eyes shut tightly. The hat’s decision was fairly instant, in fact it came to a decision far faster than it had with any of the other children. It opened its mouth and shouted, “Ravenclaw.”

Dominique smiled and walked to the Ravenclaw table as they cheered loudly. She was the first Weasley to be sorted into Ravenclaw, but Harry didn’t find it surprising because he expected that Fleur would have been a Ravenclaw, or at the very least a hat stall between Ravenclaw and Slytherin, had she gone to Hogwarts.

The final name of the list was called out, and Harry shot Daphne an amused smile.

“Weasley, Fabian.”

Daphne didn’t look nervous, simply intrigued. She leant forward slightly as her incredibly tall 11 year old son sat down on the stool. Flitwick had to do a little jump to place the sorting hat on Fabian’s head, and Harry had to try not to chuckle at the sight. The hat shifted from side to side, and hmm-ed a couple of times. But then it opened its mouth and said, “Slytherin.”

Fabian grinned at this and jumped off of the stool, nearly knocking Flitwick over as he did so. He looked towards his Mother, who was clapping very loudly (and looking particularly smug). Then he looked at Romulus who was cheering from the Slytherin table and standing up on the bench. Elladora cheered loudly too and hugged her little ‘cousin’ when Fabian reached the Slytherin table. Orion was just shaking his head in amusement from the other side of the hall. Evelyn was even clapping for her younger brother from the Gryffindor table.

“How many galleons did you and Ron have on that?” Harry asked Daphne with a grin.

Daphne smirked, “Let’s just say that Ron will be buying dinner the next time we go out.”

Neville laughed loudly, and Draco said, “Oh Merlin, I can’t wait to see his face. Can I come home with you tonight? Just to see the look on his face when you tell him that his precious little boy is a snake? Oh please, can I?”

“Not unless you want to get a real shock, because part of the bet was a consolation prize,” Daphne said with a raised eyebrow.

“Ugh Greengrass! That is an image I don’t want!” Draco remarked.

“Draco, it has been Weasley for many years,” Daphne said, amusement shining in her eyes.

“I don’t care,” Draco said with a shake of his head, “I still can’t think of you as a Weasley.”

Harry snorted, “Be careful with that consolation prize. You two don’t exactly have the best track record. Your consolation prizes normally result in accidental children.”

Neville grinned wickedly, “Right, and are we gonna talk about the fact that your little gem of a son, Henry, was a result of England winning the Quidditch world cup?”

Harry looked a little sheepish, “Well that one was hell of an after party.”

“Yeah, we gathered when Henry was born 9 months later,” Draco grinned.

Harry shook his head, “Oh shut up, we still have to go through this so many times. I still have two to get sorted...”

“Well it’s over for me,” Daphne said, leaning back in her chair, “And I have a Slytherin like his Mother, and a Gryffindor like her Father. It all worked out perfectly.”

“Yeah, try not to be too smug about it,” Draco teased.

Their conversation was cut short there as McGonagall got to her feet to give the usual start of term announcements. She gave the standard ones, about the Forbidden Forest being strictly Forbidden, and about Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes products being banned at all costs. Then she got onto the changes in staffing.

“We have some exciting changes in the staffing of Hogwarts this year. As you may have heard in the rumour mill this summer, our very own Professor Potter is stepping up to become Deputy Headmaster so that Professor Flitwick can spend his summers in his log cabin in the Welsh valleys.”

Most of the school cheered at this news, and Draco and Neville both thumped Harry on the back to congratulate him. But amongst all of the cheers, was one very loud thump.

Harry couldn’t hide his amused smile as Teddy had let his head drop onto the table. Orion was just cheering for his Father, not at all concerned about what people would say about the fact his Father was the Deputy Headmaster. But Teddy was mortified, and probably dreading the amount of power this gave Harry to give him detention. He hit his head off of the table for a second time and groaned, but McGonagall paid no attention to the dramatic Hufflepuff.

She continued, “In addition to this, we are introducing a new class this year for 6th and 7th year pupils. It is an optional class called Animagi Studies, and it will be taught by Professor Lupin.

Teddy looked at the door to the antechamber in disbelief as it opened and his Mother walked out. She was wearing simple black robes, and her bright pink hair currently had purple stripes in it.

There was a general round of applause, but Teddy groaned loudly, “You cannot be serious!”

Tonks winked at her 14 year old son as she took her spot at the Head table, and Harry (who Teddy thought was a terrible Godfather in that moment) was laughing hysterically.

McGonagall continued, “As Professor Potter’s new position is going to take up much of his time he will no longer be teaching Defence against the Dark Arts exclusively. Professor Lupin will now teach 1st to 2nd year classes, and half of the 3rd and 4th year classes.”

At this Teddy got to his feet, shaking his head, “Nope, this sucks. I’m out of here, I’m going to Durmstrang!”

Draco joined in with Harry’s laughter as Teddy began to walk out of the hall. McGonagall looked like she wanted to laugh too, but she called, “Mr. Lupin! Sit down immediately!” as the hall was filled with laughter. The loudest of which came from Orion, Romulus and Fabian.

Teddy rolled his eyes and flung himself back down at the Hufflepuff table.

“Detention Mr. Lupin,” McGonagall called over the noise.

“Ugh!” Teddy said, letting his head drop onto the table once more, “This sucks!”

“Is he Remus’s son or did you have an affair with Sirius?” Harry muttered under his breath.

Tonks snorted in amusement, “Merlin, I wonder sometimes.”

Draco smiled, amusement shining in his eyes, “We did good in the end, didn’t we?” he asked quietly as his eyes sought out Romulus.

“Yeah,” Harry said, as the food appeared on the tables. He watched Orion chatting excitedly to Victoire and Evelyn, “We really did.”

Daphne’s smile was genuine too, “And what a kick in the face to all of the people who thought Ron and I weren’t old enough to be good parents...I have two really good kids.”

Draco smiled at her, “You do. And I know how you feel, it feels like a right punch to all of the people who thought Hermione would leave me...who thought I would become my Father.”

“Romy’s a great kid Draco,” Tonks said fondly, “And Milly is a little angel. You all did great.”

Neville smiled at his friends, and glanced along the table to the spot where Ginny sat, several seats away from the Professors. She smiled back at him, and he said, “I can’t wait to see Will get sorted.”

The others nodded, but they were all buried so deep in their thoughts that they didn’t really hear Neville’s words. All that they could really think was that it had been 14 years since the war had ended, and they had been 14 damn good years.

THE END :) (THE ACTUAL VERY END, FINITO, NO MORE. TOTALLY FINISHED)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you who are interested. Here are the houses that I would have sorted the rest of the Potter/Malfoy/Longbottom/Weasley/Lupin clan into;
> 
> Sorted in 2013;  
> Athena Hope Alice Lupin: Slytherin.   
> Camille Elizabeth Narcissa Malfoy: Slytherin.   
> Annette Marlene Lillian Potter: Slytherin.  
> Arthur Barnardo Weasley (Fred & Angelina’s son): Gryffindor.
> 
> Sorted in 2014;
> 
> William Frank Longbottom: Gryffindor.  
> Molly Muriel Weasley (Percy & Audrey’s daughter): Ravenclaw.  
> Gideon Jack Wood-Weasley: Gryffindor.
> 
> Sorted in 2015;  
> Alaric Lyall James Lupin: Hufflepuff.  
> Louis Septimus Weasley (Bill & Fleur’s son): Slytherin.  
> Serena Dorea Weasley (George & Sophie’s daughter): Slytherin.
> 
> Sorted in 2016;  
> Henry Albus Remus Potter: Slytherin.  
> Noah Arthur Longbottom: Gryffindor.  
> Lorcan Antonio Zabini: Ravenclaw.  
> Lysander Xenophilius Zabini: Gryffindor.
> 
> Sorted in 2018;  
> Lucy Weasley (Percy & Audrey’s daughter): Hufflepuff.  
> Roxanne Weasley (Fred & Angelina’s daughter): Gryffindor.  
> Sebastian Weasley (George & Sophie’s Son): Gryffindor.


End file.
